Thread: Great Brush Ideas

I started a new thread of whats a good brush. There are so many ideas, I just don't have the hours to donate to reading the 50+ pages of brush posts. I appreciate the time anyone can dedicate to this.

I'm looking for a quality brush. After a hot shower, my course stubble becomes incredibly difficult to shave so I have to act immediately. I am really looking to improve my all around experience, but I will leave this post to just the brush. I used a Dovo Bismark Carbon Steel 6/8 blade for awhile and couldn't get through one shave without it dulling. I blame the prep, but my hair is course.

Whats a good brush for a good price? I've been hearing a lot about Thater Brushes. Also, do I really need the silver tip? Seems expensive and sometimes less is more.

Personally I don't feel a brush does all that much in actually softening facial stubble. More so the technique in stropping and blade care are usually more important in that area.Curious , did you get your blade sharpened to shave ready by a honemaster or did you use it straight from the factory ?

It was from an online seller that claimed to have sharpened and honed the blades before they mail them. The first shave was definitely sharp, but I noticed the excessive dulling by the third or fourth day. I thought the blade was great beyond that.

I would recommend having one of the honemasters from this sight sharpen it to shave ready for you if there is any doubt.They are all quite affordable and you can rest assured on the state of your blade. Good Luck and Happy Holidays.

Dulling after 3-4 days sounds like bad stropping technique - which is a problem most beginners have. Hold the strop taught enough to have no sag, and use very very light pressure (about the weight of your thumb on the tang). If your strop sags, or you use pressure, you'll probably round over the edge. If it's not too bad, you can strop it back to sharp on the linen side. If it's worse, you may need a pasted strop or a finishing hone, to fix the edge (or even a medium hone if it's really bad).

Softening up your wiskers is not that related to the brush... Make sure you let your lather sit on your face while stropping your razor. Wipe that off (since it will be at 1/2-3/4 dry now), and put new lather on. Make the lather with enough water that it doesn't dry out on your face during a shave. Use enough soap or cream that it's creamy, not foamy (ie: semi thick, not bubbly).

If your soap drys out fast, and it's Williams ($1.50 from CVS, etc), try VDH Deluxe ($2.50 from Walmart), or Bigelow cream ($5 rebranded Poraso) from Bath & Body Works. None are quite as good as the stuff you can order from SRD (etc), but all will work. The Poraso works pretty good, and is easiest for a beginner IMO.

A better brush makes lather faster, and holds more water so you don't have to add a teaspoon of water as many times while you are making the lather. A stiffer brush (pure badger) works better for soap, and scrubbing wiskers into an upright position while lathering. A floppier brush (silver tip) whips up foam faster, and feels more luxurious on your skin (rather than scrubby) while lathering. I recommend a 24mm best badger as a middle of the road size & stiffness.

Crabtree & Evelyn (Jagger made), Tweezerman, Frank, & Omega (boar, but good) are all typically recommended as low priced starter brushes. All will beat the $8 VDH brush in Walmart or CVS by a wide margin.

Here's a thread you might find interesting:
http://www.straightrazorplace.com/fo...g-brushes.html

A good brush is any brush that is well made and you like. If you spend a grand for a brush and you don't like it then it's not good. So you have to figure what your budget is and what you will probably like vis a vis the qualities you like. Do you like nice and stiff and scrubby or maybe soft as a cloud or floppy or a combination of qualities? There are many choices out there.

What bigspendur says is true.I have a pure badger brush which I like a lot,I also have a boar brush for traveling and such and boar brushes tend to hold moisture a lot more.I get great lather from both.They are both Col. Conk brand.It's the whole beauty is in the eye of the beholder thing sorta.And budget also. Same goes for blades.Dovo,Boker and Theirs Issard all have lower priced models that shave just as good as their more expensive brothers.The difference really is more bling added to the higher end models .

So there is no perfect, one size fits all brush. But here's my own limited experience.


After owing a best badger cheepo brush, a Crabtree & Evenlyn brush, and a col. conk pure badger travel brush - my favorite is the Semogue 2000 boar brush. It has, in my limited experience, the perfect combination of softness on the face and stiffness in the bristle to handle soaps and creams with equal aplomb. It's also one of the more cost effective brushes out there, as is, I believe the whole semogue line. It seems it would be difficult to beat their price to performance ratio.

The only real way to figure it all out is with experience. The reviews here helped me a lot when I was looking for a brush. It's definitely worth a saturday morning to have look and see what's said about the brushes your interested in.

Cheers!

I've used a badger brush, and I hated it! It is very soft, but add lather, and it expands like crazy! I found it uncontrollable in use, like lathering with a feather duster. I bought a Vulfix boar bristle brush for about $8 and never looked back. I find that the stiffness of the bristles forces the lather between the whiskers, allowing for a better shave. As usual, YMMV.