Thread: Boar Hair vs Badger Hair

Originally Posted by dinatali

Why it's boar hair easy to make lather more than badger hair for. Example I have omega Pro 48 and shavemac silvertip# 177 , the omega machine of lathering

You cannot compare this nubile giant, the king of all shaving brushes, the famous Omega 48, with any other shaving brush, and especially the badgers.
The Omega 48 and his brother Omega 80* are soap exterminators.

*Omega 80 is an Omega 48 brush with golden plated handle.

I have an Omega 10049. I think the 10098 is next up for me.

FWIW, I'm pretty sure I prefer boar. Why do I say "pretty" sure...because I've never actually used a badger brush. (I've felt them dry but never used/lathered with one.) They are definitely different animals altogether, no pun intended I LIKE the stiffer boar. I like it even when I use creams and don't "need" to *load* with soap. In fact, after a couple years of either using an antique DE or SR and always using a brush with soap/cream I have yet to wear one out because they finally get too soft and I run out to spend another $5-7 on a new one. The new stink sucks but it only lasts for a week and going badger wouldn't solve that problem. I'm on my 3rd or 4th boar now and I'm almost scared to buy a "better" boar in fear that it'll be softer than the cheap boar.

Ain't nuthin' rong wit liken boar!!

I had always used a badger brush .... used the same one for over 30 years until I found the forums and went daffy for more ... but have only recently delved into boar. I picked up a couple of lightly used Semouge boar brushes and I like them both. I was surprised to find that my two band Rooneys, Simpsons and Plissons have more scritch and backbone than the boar but the boar are good. For me badger is better but they are a nice change of pace. If you want a good badger for soaps IMO a loft of no more than 48 or 50 is preferable to taller badger brushes. The longer lofts will work with soap but are more suited to creams IMO.

I have a brush rotation that includes both badger and boar. I tend to use the boar on the hard soaps and badger on the softer soaps and creams. Badger hair will hold more water then boar and this will often aid in generating a lather. I also find that boar brushes don't need to be fussed with as much as my badger brushes.

I'm a boar brush kind of guy. I like to use hard soaps and face lather so they are just simply perfect for my routine. The only non-boar brush I've used that I liked were the Thater brushes but they are around 140-200$, they have extra back bone though.

I had written earlier in this thread that I rotate now between badger and boar brushes, but after seeing Disburden's post about boar, I revise my earlier comment. I probably use boar 2/3s of the time, if not more. And I like boar brushes more and more, particularly with a hard soap--they create a rich lather that seems to beat the badger brushes. I can see myself in time going 100% boar.

My point is that it's important to try both types of brush, as you may be surprised--as I was--at how what you think is your preference is so changeable. Sort of like swearing you love your hometown and see no need to ever travel, then ending up in a very cool city 1,000 miles away and realizing there's a pretty big world out there. :-)

I am still a novice to all things wetshaving, but I have found a horsehair brush far superior to boar hair; after that said though, my favorite is a badger hair brush made for me by Rudy Vey using a Shavemac ultimate flattop knot, the best yet for face lathering.

Great thread, and I was thinking about this last night, after I'd finished using by Semogue LE boar brush...

Here's my take. Boars make 'better' lather and quicker, than badger. But badger hair produces a lather that lasts more passes.

I can't back any of that up with hard facts, but I honestly believe it to be true

I noticed last night, when I lathered up with Arlington Soap, my boar just destroyed it. The lather just erupted from the sexy wooden bowl in seconds. And the shave was great for two passes, but poor on the third. The lather just seemed to lose all its consistency.

With any of my badgers, be they 2 band or finest, or silvertip or best, I have to put more effort into actually making the lather than with the boar. More swirls in the bowl, more swirls on the face, and just more 'elbow work' in general. But, I'll have enough lather for at least three solid passes with very good lather.

To any new man to wet shaving, I'd say steer clear of badger brushes, just buy two boars and away you go. A good Semogue, 1305 for instance, will easily match a top of the line badger brush in every department, and for a fraction of the price. And the price is important when it comes to comparing badger and boar brushes. I do think 'snobbery' plays a part here chaps. Well, I'm guilty of it.

But would I give up on badgers personally? No. I've invested too much money, and, sad as this sounds, I think I'm a brush collector in the making. I like, no, LOVE, shaving brushes

And whilst I do believe boars are very good, i do actually love using badger brushes too.

So actually, looking back on my post, the advice would be, buy a Semogue 1305 and a Simpsons Chubby 2 in 'best'. You can't go wrong

I never thought I'd say this, but I have to support the boar brush fans here. I started with a big Vulfix super badger, and loved it, but it didn't have enough backbone. Whether bowl or face lathering, I like the massage of a brush with a bit of a backbone. I then picked up a much shorter Rooney super badger that had a lot more backbone, and immediately loved it. I returned from a recent trip to Italy with a new Omega boar hair brush (just for fun), and although it was cheap ($30), I actually really like it. The boar hair is by far the best for soaps - great lather, very quickly, and stays wet easily for 3 passes. I also started rotating between soaps/creams, and brushes more though, and found that each brush has its place. I love the boar hair for soaps (usually MWF), but also like the badgers. I realized that the big, fluffy Vulfix is awesome for mixing up a lather from creams, especially if I want to slap that floppy thing across my face in a painting stroke fashion. The stubby Rooney is a good 'in between' brush for face lathering soaps or creams, and the boar brush is my 'go-to' for soaps. At the end of the day, I've been having a lot of fun matching the right brush with different soaps, creams, oils, DE/straight, and that seems to be the whole point of this hobby. If there was one 'best' brush, we'd all spend whatever it took to get it. This isn't the case, so we'll have to keep finding that 'perfect match' of brush, soap/cream, DE/straight, that is best suited for the given day. For me this comes down to preference, how much time I have, how much stubble I have to deal with, etc. I'll also say that the more I've experimented, the more I've figured out how to get the best result. Changing brushes, soaps, etc. on a regular basis has helped me figure out exactly how much water to add, how much glycerin, etc., and what the result is - slippery, good cushion, good smell, etc. Every time I think I'm figuring this out for good, I try something new and realize why everyone has their own opinion!

Happy shaving gents.