"Inexpensive" Shave Brushes

[mantic]

I just posted a new video about cheap shaving brushes:

Pretty basic stuff for the chaps who have been here for a while, but I wanted to make it so newbies could understand they don't *have* to spend $100 (or even $50) for a brush to get them started. I also encourage those of you who have used any of these brushes to leave a comment with your experiences with them.

[Aztecface]

My father taught me to shave with a brush just like the first one.

[GA Russell]

Mark, I'll look forward to the sequel.

I think that noobies watching that film will be looking for good advice. So you will be doing your audience a disservice if you don't make it clear that some of those brushes are junk, and others are good values.

[King-D]

Your videos are alway entertaining.

"The Body Shop brush can be found hanging around shopping malls, looking for a fight."

[Hoos]

Mantic is right IMHO. I'll look forward to checking out the video.

After a couple of years of this DE shaving stuff, my favorite brushes are the "cheap" ones.

A big fan of the Tweezerman brush, several "no name" brushes picked up at antique stores, and a Gillette travel brush from the 1920s/30s.

The only one of the "modern" brushes that sees regular use is the Rooney 3,1.

[notthesharpest]

You can almost always get a better brush than what you have.

But, unlike cheap blades and unlike cheap razors, even a really cheap brush will almost always do its job without ruining your shave.

[KAV]

I started with a turkey baster.

[notthesharpest]

Luxury.

[jpq5]

while I am both intrigued and tempted to spoil myself with a really nice high end brush, I find no faults with my $45 vulfix. my advise as a newbie, is to use that money to stock up on good soaps and creams. also a nice stock pile of blades once you've found the one for you.

[paperpundit]

I have an antique Ever Ready brush -- aka, the Burma Shave brush -- that I love.

Perhaps it is just nostalgia -- my first brush was a Burma Shave brush also, in the early 80s -- but I love the stiff little scrubby sucker.

It gets my thick beard to stand up better than anything else.

[bernards66]

Well.....I dunno. To be perfectly honest, I'm disinclined to recommend really inexpensive brushes to newbies. Certainly...I understand...they often don't wish to commit greater funds for something that they're unsure that they will get into...but still. I mean, if every last penny REALLY counts, that's one thing, but if things aren't quite THAT tight I think the newcomer would be better served with a somewhat more expensive, higher quality brush. It just makes the learning process easier, IMO. As many of you know, I just finished a month with that $20 Omega boar model, and I've little doubt that it's worth what they charge and is one of the better 'inexpensive' brushes around, but I wouldn't wish it on any newbie. Frankly, it was a relative PITA to use compared with the ease with which almost anyone can whip up good lather with a Vulfix Super and a good cream. Personally, I blundered around for years with a boar brush and good hard soap before I got a really GOOD lather. I think that something like what jpq has is a better starter brush even if it is a few bucks more.
Regards,
Gordon

[Pureslab]

I've used the Vanderhagen Brush when starting out. Not a bad item for the price and the fact most places like CVS carry it.

I keep one of the Body Shop brushes stashed in my gym bag and for that purpose it is great, the synthetic bristles suck at absorbing water but when wet and placed back it my bag it never develops any funk.

[jww]

Luxury.

+1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe1a1wHxTyo

[mpisarcik]

I have always been a fan of the boar brush. And after using even a silver tip badger, I still go back to the $10 and under brushes. Thanks Mark for posting the video!

Matt

[JarmoP]

My vote goes to Tweezerman. I've never been disappointed by it and never found it nothing but gentle as a cheap badger brush.

I had today a bit tugging feeling shave and might have been the soap remains of Tabac or the 4th shave of Red Personna or my Proggress.

I had a better brush than Tweezerman, but see a thought came to my mind, just, that with my trusty tweezer perhaps better shave or If i was in hurry and pushing the shave. Questions questions

Nevertheless it was an irritationless shave.

From Gordon:

I just finished a month with that $20 Omega boar model, and I've little doubt that it's worth what they charge and is one of the better 'inexpensive' brushes around, but I wouldn't wish it on any newbie. Frankly, it was a relative PITA to use compared with the ease with which almost anyone can whip up good lather with a Vulfix Super and a good cream.

I never could get the boar brush work for me also.

Jarmo

[ThePossum]

I never even thought about such inexpensive brushes when I started traditional wetshaving again. I went for badger right away but I did not go top end. Got the now unavailable C&E BBB.

For my money the C&E BBB is the best one in my rotation. After over a year of using the C&E BBB I wanted to get into a silvertip badger. Rather than buying a top end brush from one of the known mfgs I instead found a really nice Ever Ready boar brush with a beautiful handle and a worn out knot. Sent it to Rodd whom you can contact at TSD if not here and he put in a new TGN silvertip knot for me. WoW! What a brush. And the cost plus shipping was less than what I paid for the C&E BBB.

Have recently sent him two more handles and he has reknotted them with TGN badger knots. One the standard silvertip knot set a bit deeper in the handle to make it a bit more dense and the other handle which belonged to my father in law has a grade A TGN silvertip knot. I really love this one and it is very soft but is not floppy at all.

For those of you who are a bit more experienced I suggest finding an old brush which has a bad knot in it and then reknotting it with a TGN knot. You won't be disappointed.