Thread: TI pure badger brush a real disappointment

Originally Posted by Suile

The thing i ben wondering about the brushes is their a difference bewteen the silver tips made in china and not made in china. cause i ben reading 99.99 percent of the badger hair is coming from china.
The silver tip badger brush i bought from the retailer in canada for 64 bucks don't say where it's made just their store name on the box. well worth buying it's so enjoyable soaping up my face with it. It's a much softer brush then my vintage ever ready ones.
not sure what hair those are.

There is no standardized system for grading badger hair. So, it's a matter of the person who grades the hair. I would imagine the larger outfits meaning places like Vulfix and Rooney buy the top of the line material and do a better job grading it. Generic makers get what they can and slap the thing together because price is their main concern.

Back when true 2 band was available only a few places sold brushes with it. Independent makers couldn't get the stuff it was so limited.

my fav brush is super hard, came outa china for 3$ shipping included and is made outa "boar" lol or some other mystery animal!!!! work like a charm.

I think maybe use it a bit to see if it softens a bit. I have a TI Super Badger and its a dream. If it doesn't get better I am sure you could find someone that would adopt it for the right price....

Update on TI disappointment brush:

I've used it every day for the last few weeks and it's only become marginally softer. I've soaked it, soaped it, and scrubbed with it - and it's still prickly and irritating to use. Then, last night I found a post describing different recommended lofts, pros and cons, for different types of knots, and low and behold... enlightenment! The lower the knot is set, the stiffer and pokier the brush becomes. Now, this is not news but it hadn't occurred to me the knot might be set too low and it made perfect sense so I checked the brush against the manufacturer's specs and yup, it's 6 to 7 millimeters lower than it should be. I know shaving brushes aren't assembled to strict engineering tolerances but I think that's a lot off the mark and would explain why the the brush is so stiff (add to that machined tips, and it's a pretty uncomfortable combo that's never going to soften) so I'm going send it back to the vendor in France and see if I can get an exchange for a correctly set one - hopefully THAT one will feel softer! Will keep you posted, thanks!

Wow, that 6 to 7 mm difference from the manufacturers spec is huge and I am guessing would make it feel like a whole different brush. Hope you get the exchange and are happy with the new brush.

Bob

I know it's being said alot, but I think it needs to break in. My first real badger felt very harsh and smelled REALLY bad, but after less than a week I started to really like it and the smell was gone.