Thread: Soaking shaving brush in water.

I have always heard that this was a no no, just like drying your brush upside down. Ive often heard the undesired results termed as "knot rot".


I do dry my brushes upside down because I never had a brush good enough to warrant a stand (although I did just order one). I just fill up my mug with water to get th soap nice and wet and soak my brush for a minute at most. Even with my cheap plastic brushes, I dont let the handle get wet if I can help it.

The brush is a big wick, no matter which direction it's stored the only thing keeping water out of the knot is the glue. Similarly, once it starts drying the water will eventually come out of the knot no matter which direction its stored.

But hot water will soften the glue, and the constant expansion and contraction can't be good for the knot's integrity. Hand-tied knots have better reputation for robustness, but they aren't foolproof. I think shavemacs use hand-tied knots, and my rooney has one. I don't know about the other makes.

I dont really know much about this topic, but I did read somewhere the reason for storing the brush "bristle down" was to keep bacteria from breeding at the base of the knot. I guess the bacteria can cause different smells and the term that was just used, Knot rot.

-Billy

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=6184

no further comment on this matter...

Nenad

You have to read between the lines a bit (and go back through some old posts) but I think he's a brush-boiler. It looks like the knot and glue swelled through heat and water absorption and burst the handle. Somebody on SMF was showing a horn-handled Plisson with a similar crack awhile back. Brushes are tough, but some of the soaking fads on the forums are downright abusive.

Thanks Guys for the comments.

I realize that getting the brush wet wasn't that difficult but I actually was putting the brush in the hot water to heat it up as I like a warm brush on my face. I, however, started to become concerned about all of the soaking that I was doing to them and if this soaking was going to hurt the brushes. I thought maybe that since brushes were made to be in water that it wouldn't hurt them plus none of my brushes have wooden handles, my mistake. However, due to your comments I am going back to the way that I used to and that is just put hot water on it and go for a good shave.

Nenad, thanks for the trouble of getting the picture that pretty well did it. That guy must use some pretty not water.

Thanks,

So, how hot is too hot?

I use the adage that if the water is too hot to put your hand in then it's probably too hot for the brush. That means that, for many of us, even our tap water is too hot.

I think most of us like nice "warm" lather. But I'm not a fan of "boiling hot" lather... not only is it uncomfortable for an instant or two, but it dries out on my face too fast, particularly when the humidity drops to under 10% here in Arizona.

So the problem should not be about how hot can the water be for the brush -- instead, it should be about how to make/keep lather comfortably warm throughout the shave?

I use a massive thick-walled ceramic mug (which I fill with water and heat in the microwave... I dump the water and then whip up the lather in the warmed mug). Others use scuttles. Still others float mugs in a hot pot. Point is, you can make it work w/o putting the brush in boiling hot water... just change your technique and/or equipment.

I've tried the "hot pot" method, although I never allowed the water to boil. I've reached the point I believe that I don't need anything hotter than what comes out of my tap. I soak my brush in a coffee mug while selecting my shaving soap or cream, so maybe for a couple of minutes, 5 minutes at the most. I fill the mug up to the top of the bristles, but not high enough that the handle is soaking. I do believe that soaking gives a more uniform saturation.

RT

I probably wouldn't soak a good brush that way either. Especially if you've sunk some major coin into it, just not worth risking it. I'll sometimes run a couple of inches of hot tap water into the sink and plung/swish the bristles around in it to soak them quickly, but I keep the handle out of the water. I only need to do this when I'm nearing time for a brush cleaning and the hairs begin to bead water. Come to think of it, it's about that time again...

Jeff

Originally Posted by threeputt

I probably wouldn't soak a good brush that way either. Especially if you've sunk some major coin into it, just not worth risking it. I'll sometimes run a couple of inches of hot tap water into the sink and plung/swish the bristles around in it to soak them quickly, but I keep the handle out of the water. I only need to do this when I'm nearing time for a brush cleaning and the hairs begin to bead water. Come to think of it, it's about that time again...

Jeff

Stranger,

You look familiar...

Randy