Thread: How to Break-In a Omega Scarlatti Boar Brush?

Does anyone know how to break in a boar brush? I just received a Omega Scarlatti boar brush and have no idea how to break it in or how it will take. Any tips and advice is welcome. I plan on using it on Friday or Saturday.

Cheers!

I have never found any need to do anything special to "break in" any of my 5 boar brushes. Just use it, and enjoy!

Well I'm no expert, but here goes:

I had a Badger Hair Brush for probably 25 years and it was really getting (thin) as in losing bristles. Anyway I bought a Omega Pro Boar Hair brush from Amazon, (delivered for $15) I used ordinary shampoo to clean it.

I just got the brush wet and then added some shampoo to a cup and used the brush to 'Lather up' I then rinsed the brush and repeated. After that, I used some cheap conditioner and worked it into the brush using a cup and my hand. I repeated the process. Finally, I shook the brush well and set on end to dry.

This got rid of 99% of the (Wet Dog Smell) and it also conditioned the bristles very well! Personally, I find that this brush works as well if not better than my old Badger Hair did when it was new! I'd buy another in a Heart Beat!

Please Note: I only paid about $5-$6 dollars for the Badger Brush from an Elk Drug Store all those years ago! However, it served me well, until it went to the Great Beyond to Join With it's Original Host!

Originally Posted by JimR

I have never found any need to do anything special to "break in" any of my 5 boar brushes. Just use it, and enjoy!

Hello, PaulCam:

I heartily concur with JimR on the question of breaking in brushes. Using the brush will break it in, whether badger or boar.

Regards,

Obie

Thanks for all your input. I will put it to good use. No worries there.

The only reason to "break in" the boar brush is the wet dog smell. It will persist for a few days if you don't purposefully try to get rid of it. I find that just using some soap or cream and building a good lather with it (way more than normal, enough to cover the bristles) and letting it sit in that for 15-20 minutes and occasionally swirling it around to distribute soap then give it a good hot rinse and scrub it out on your hand as you rinse gets rid of the smell well. Once the smell is gone you have 2-3 weeks and then all of a sudden your brush will feel amazing.
I just picked up the 98 (the professional) from my local barber supply shop yesterday and other than the smell it already feels pretty soft for boar hair. I think it's going to be an amazing brush.

I clean all of my new brushes before use, but that is only for the smell. I take them in the shower with me and place a little shampoo on my palm and palm lather like the dickens until my pent up frustration from the day subsides. Then I repeat lightly with less shampoo.
I do feel that there is one brush that needed broken in. It was a tall lofted boar in about 22mm I mad a while back and it wanted to hold shape despite a heavy hand so I gave it a shampoo and condition a couple of times and it was fine. I have never experienced that again.

Originally Posted by PaulCam

Does anyone know how to break in a boar brush? I just received a Omega Scarlatti boar brush and have no idea how to break it in or how it will take. Any tips and advice is welcome. I plan on using it on Friday or Saturday.

Cheers!

All I've ever done to break in a boar brush was to soak it for about 15-20 minutes in a solution of baby shampoo and warm water to eliminate the initial "wet dog" smell.

If you can live with the wet dog smell for a week or two, you don't need to do much of anything except begin using it as some of the previous posts note.

Make sure that you thoroughly rinse and properly store all of your brushes, however, whether they are boar or badger brushes.

Thanks for all the great advice. I did give it a wash with shampoo and a little conditioner. I let it air dry on the brush stand it can with. I'm not crazy about the brush stand though. I feel it needs more height so the bristles can breath. My shave on Wednesday was so good that 24 hours later I didn't have the usual growth. Hmmm?

Now that I want to shave I may have to wait until Saturday. Maybe.

In my limited experience it seems like the boar brushes don't stink as bad as the badger. I just used a brand new Best Shave horse hair this morning and it didn't have much of a smell either. In fact, it reminded my of the smell a living horse has; not the most pleasant, but not real bad. Anyway, with just the one shave the smell is gone. Same for my new Semogue 1305 - 1 shave and now it just smells like soap. My badger hair brushes needed a couple of shaves to get de-funked.