Bath/Shower Brush

rustyblade · Post by **rustyblade** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 8:02 am

I need help finding a good quality brush for scrubbing my back the shower. I've had a couple Kent brushes in the past, most recently a Shower Bat which is perfect in size but is now cracked beyond belief now and losing chunks of bristle. While the Kents served me somewhat well, the wood cracks almost right away no matter how I treat them, they just aren't compatible with water which is hilarious for a shower brush. The cracks aren't detrimental at first but begin to open up and drop the bristle bundles along that crack. Plastic would be ideal but those are usually terribly cheap and the cheap bristle knots itself up in short order. A Kent shower bat in Plexi would be nice...but they don't make them.

suffolksupplies · Post by **suffolksupplies** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 9:12 am

I have used a Hydrea Olivewood bath brush for over a year & had no issues.

Nice looking brush to:

I can only find them in the UK, anyone know of a Hydrea seller in Canada?

suffolksupplies · Post by **suffolksupplies** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 9:20 am

Found a place called Hazard Hair but they don't have the Olivewood model:
http://www.foreignexchangearrange.com/i ... ent=search

rustyblade · Post by **rustyblade** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 9:38 am

suffolksupplies wrote:Found a place called Hazard Hair but they don't have the Olivewood model:
http://www.foreignexchangearrange.com/i ... ent=search

That looks very similar to this:

http://www.fendrihan.com/cyril-salter-o ... 119_52_135

I've had trouble with the handle coming off unexpectedly with this style of brush in the past. Maybe a drop of glue will help because I don't plan to use it without the handle. How does olive wood handle the water?

suffolksupplies · Post by **suffolksupplies** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 9:50 am

Yes that's a Hydrea brush.

I find the handle fits well, it does need a good tap to stay in place but it's a bit difficult to remove after that, so a good firm tap should keep it in place

I have just looked at my brush & after year or so there are no cracks or splits & I can't remember it loosing many bristles. The wood looks a little dull but I would think a quick buff should sort that.

It's quite stiff but can be softened by soaking in hot water, I don't normally worry. I keep it in the bathroom & hang it under the shower head.

rustyblade · Post by **rustyblade** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 9:56 am

suffolksupplies wrote:I keep it in the bathroom & hang it under the shower head.

That's what I do and it seems to kill them in short order. Then again, things really dry out here in the winter unlike England where moss will grow anywhere there is shade.

suffolksupplies · Post by **suffolksupplies** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 10:02 am

I don't use it everyday so it does dry out & get saturated a few times each week. I was a little surprised that there were no splits when I checked it.

I may have even had this for two years+, but it's only really had about one year of solid use.

ScottB · Post by **ScottB** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:11 am

rustyblade wrote:I need help finding a good quality brush for scrubbing my back the shower. I've had a couple Kent brushes in the past, most recently a Shower Bat which is perfect in size but is now cracked beyond belief now and losing chunks of bristle. While the Kents served me somewhat well, the wood cracks almost right away no matter how I treat them, they just aren't compatible with water which is hilarious for a shower brush. The cracks aren't detrimental at first but begin to open up and drop the bristle bundles along that crack. Plastic would be ideal but those are usually terribly cheap and the cheap bristle knots itself up in short order. A Kent shower bat in Plexi would be nice...but they don't make them.

A good brush is nice, I use one for underarms and nether regions. But I have to share my secret weapon for back scrubbing (and the rest).

Let me introduce the humble Buf-Puf:

I use Buf-Puf body and face sponges. Honestly I don't think I was ever properly clean after a shower until I used these things. The body sponge has a version that comes with a back-scrubber handle (reuseable, shown). The face sponges are much gentler but still very effective.

Nothing will scrub your back better. With a decent bar of soap you are talking clean clean clean. The body sponge is mildy exfoliating so I use a good brush on sensitive areas. These things are worth every penny and I have a cabinet full of them. Can't recommend enough.

The face sponge I use in the shower before a shave. The mild exfoliation seems to prevent any cuts during shaving that I used to experience (I have a heavy beard with one gray, one red and one blond hair in each folicle so a little prone to bumps). You don't use this around the eyes or in the ears so one generally follows up with a wash cloth. Also a great product.

rsp1202 · Post by **rsp1202** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:24 am

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/search/ ... im=1&nty=1&
The Swissco olivewood brush looks similar to the Hydrea, but I've never examined it. It's twice the price of the boar bristle brush, which I know lasted a long while. The boar bristles were perfect.

Aztecface · Post by **Aztecface** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 2:22 pm

I've used a Kent brush for several years and it has served me very well. Strange that yours should crack and hairs fall out.

Ouchmychin · Post by **Ouchmychin** » Mon Jan 24, 2011 9:09 pm

I haven't used a brush for back washing since I ran across the janitorial/mechanics terry cloth rags at Costco. They are white and come in packs of about 48. Because they are intermediate in size between a large wash cloth and a hand towel, they are ideal for the shower. Just to be safe (mine were made in India) I first dumped the whole lot into the washer and use Chlorox and detergent to wash and kill germs. They are 13" by 16" so you can just soap them up and throw them over your shoulder and wash away with a sawing action. One soaping does me a head to toe wash. As long as I can get new ones at Costco for almost nothing, I have no reason to try anything else. Been a couple of years and I have not worn out half of the last batch.

Chap · Post by **Chap** » Thu Jan 27, 2011 6:52 pm

Thermowood is reputed to not absorb water, and so will not swell or crack, Though I have never used one, so could not comment myself.

jww · Post by **jww** » Thu Jan 27, 2011 7:36 pm

The best back brush I ever used, I picked up from the market in Häämeenlinna, Finland in the summer of 1979 when I was living there. I purchased it for use in the sauna -- and wish I had brought it home with me -- but it seemed like something I could have replaced easily at the time -- little did I know what I would be missing by not bringing it back (no pun intended) with me when I returned home to Canada.

Hoos · Post by **Hoos** » Thu Jan 27, 2011 9:23 pm

rsp1202 wrote:http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/search/ ... im=1&nty=1&
The Swissco olivewood brush looks similar to the Hydrea, but I've never examined it. It's twice the price of the boar bristle brush, which I know lasted a long while. The boar bristles were perfect.

I had the Swissco olivewood brush. The handle broke off after a couple of weeks.

Then I tried a plastic handled nylon brush. Same thing.

I have been using the Swissco Boar Bristle Brush for about a year. It's a solid, single piece of wood.

The only downside is that the wood brush head has darkened over time. The brush gets daily use, but is allowed to hang and dry for 24 hours. It doesn't seem to have affected the brush - no cracks, lost wood or lost bristles. But it's cosmetically unattractive.

So, I keep using it because it works. But I'd also like to find something more robust.

JohnnyO_Jr · Post by **JohnnyO_Jr** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 10:06 pm

Earth Therapeutics is great. I use their back brush and find the quality superb.

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product ... n=shopping

SMF

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