Thread: Boar Hair vs Badger Hair

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

I find boar hair easier for soaps, at least to load up the brush. my badger hair i find better for face lathering anything, or bowl lathering creams.

My boar bristle brush needs more breaking in, at the mo is too stiff for face lathering

Having used a wide variety of brushes, I get the most pleasure from relatively short lofted silvertip and two band badger brushes. But many boar brushes also do an excellent job and are much better value for money. As always you pay your money and make your choice as to your own preference.

I don't think you can generalize with this. There are many factors affecting how any brush lathers. The type of animal, the size and fill and the grade for badger. This all affects it. I've never used a boar as a shaving brush so I know little about them however historically badger has always been the premium shave brush with horse the common man's alternative. After the anthrax scares they replaced it with boar.

For the past two plus years, I've stuck with my semogue 2000 boar brush and it has served me extremely well. Its lathering ability comes alive on soaps. With cream, it doesn't seem to work as well. The only caveats being, it's my biggest brush, so I may be watering the creams down too much. I'll say that the whole boar vs badger thing is not really the issue - it's what kind of brush are you habituated to using that really affects your results. That and if you're a soap or cream user.

I think the reason I'm not as good with creams is due to lathering directly on my puck of soap(I'm mostly a soap user). So if my water/soap mix isn't perfect, the act of lathering will fix it for me. Creams require a tad more conscious manipulation, in this regard.

Whichever brush we choose, it will require some experimentation to determine it's water capacity and the capacity of the soap/cream we are using, so as to strike the perfect balance between water and lathering agent.

Cheers!

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.