Thread: Brush types with different soaps and creams

Some types of soaps and creams seem to be more suitable with certain types of brushes. What type of brushes have you found to be best for glycerine soaps, hard milled soaps and creams? Do you have a preferences?

Hal

I use a super badger and have used it with creams, hard milled and glycerine types and it does an outstanding job on all of them. I think a quality brush is just that. I don't know that you need to match a brush with a type of soap. I've used lesser badger and other hair types in the past and they just seemed to do a poorer job in general though I have found the size of the brush seems to matter more than the material in many cases.

The water holding capacity of the brush is important. Larger brushes with high quality badger hold lots of water making it easier to generate a good lather. On the otherhand, some types/makes of brushes are stiffer or bouncier, and for some wetshavers these types of brushes work better with hard-milled soaps, whereas they prefer softer types/makes of brushes for creams and glycerine based soaps.

Hal

I've used hard & soft soaps as well as creams with my badger brush from eShave (kudos to my wife on a Christmas present). I've tried the eShave cream and am currently working on a tub of Vulfix from Ray that produces very nice lather. Soaps from Williams, Burma Shave, Ray and somebody else all lathered up nicely too.

I am still having my brush dilema <g>. I have a Tweezerman Badger, a nice older Crabtree & Evelyn badger and my trusty Burma Shave bristle brush. I still grab the Burma Shave 9 out of 10 times as it just whips up a better lather and feels better on my face. Oddly the stiff bristles feel better somehow while the badgers seem limp and weak.
I was at Crabtree a week ago and was lusting after their BIG badger brush but am worried after spending the bucks it will be no better than what I now have.
So, if you had $75 to $95 to spend on a nice badger brush what would you buy?
Tony

Tony,

I bought this one: http://tinyurl.com/dnpoh
But I now lust after this one: http://tinyurl.com/bo48n

I use the Shavemac #181 (the first link) and also have the shavemyface custom brush, also made by Shavemac. I absolutely love them. However, I purchased a Saville Row 241 from Charles at QED, and love it as well. If you primarily use hard soaps, stiffer bristles are what I would suggest. If I am using Williams Mug Shaving Soap, Surrey or Colgate soap, I almost always reach for my Omega Boar bristle brush. With the Shavemac brushes, their lightbulb shape really changes how the brush works. It is almost as though the brush "sucks up" to your face. My biggest problem now is that I want to order the Shavemac #44140, but I also want to order one of the Tortoise Hog Saville Row brushes from QED. Let me see...eat or shaving brush, gas for the car or shaving brush...oh, this is easy, order strop from Tony!

Randy

I only have one brush a Vilfux I don't remember the number but its the next to the biggest super badger they have. It seems to do a superb job no matter the medium I use. usually once I lather I never have to return to the cream or soap during they shave and I relather many times.

I have to agree with the Bigspender on this one. I have two badger brushes and a boar brush. I gave the kids the boar brush to paint with. The other two badgers are, a cheaper one I bought and a silver tip that my father used to use years ago. The silver tip rocks soap, creme, whatever. The other badger is pretty good too.