Avoiding brush damage...

fisherprice · Post by **fisherprice** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 9:40 pm

I abuse my Omega 49, but treat my Omega badger better-- I scrub my face with the boar to stand up my whiskers, then face-lather with the badger.

Everyone make(s) fun of me for using two brushes and scrubbing my face with the boar before lathering... but it works for me. I anticipate the boar abuse will mean that I'll be replacing it in a few more years.

m3m0ryleak · Post by **m3m0ryleak** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 11:53 pm

I recently took my badger beastie (SR 3126) down off the shelf and gave it the "wellie", and it liked it !

Post shave had more bloom than I could recall. In all seriousness, I get better lather response using a genteel method of swirling the tips in my cauldron of a lathering bowl.

DEF · Post by **DEF** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 7:07 am

Tony, is that an old pica pole atop the cauldron?

rsp1202 · Post by **rsp1202** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 10:47 am

I used a pica pole extensively in the old newspaper shop when I was a pup. New production foreman came in and started calling it a "line gauge," and we didn't know what he was referring to. Ah, memories.

As to the subject at hand, I guess I beat up my old brushes pretty good, but am now sufficiently chastised by this thread that I swear upon Odin's Beard I will treat future brushes more carefully.

brothers · Post by **brothers** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 5:49 pm

I remember the day in the 10th grade in typing class when the baseball coach who was also the typing teacher informed us that there were two sizes of type, maybe not type, maybe something else, but anyway there were two of these, and they were "pica" and "elite". We were informed that ours, whatever it was, was "elite". I do know it had something to do with typewriters though. I was a nonconformist, so I was always slightly hacked off that we were being prevented from having the mysterious "pica". Still am.

CMur12 · Post by **CMur12** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 9:08 pm

brothers wrote:I remember the day in the 10th grade in typing class when the baseball coach who was also the typing teacher informed us that there were two sizes of type, maybe not type, maybe something else, but anyway there were two of these, and they were "pica" and "elite". We were informed that ours, whatever it was, was "elite". I do know it had something to do with typewriters though. I was a nonconformist, so I was always slightly hacked off that we were being prevented from having the mysterious "pica". Still am.

Hi Gary -

Elite type was smaller, at 12 characters per inch, while pica was larger, at 10.

- Murray

m3m0ryleak · Post by **m3m0ryleak** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 12:42 am

DEF wrote:Tony, is that an old pica pole atop the cauldron?

It's a pocket sized engraved steel rule from my geek days (yes it fit in a pocket protector). I will look it it more closely when I get home from work and update as to its exact specifications.

Edit, for DEF. It's a pocket sized rule in mm and 64ths from Jensen Tools.

Leon · Post by **Leon** » Fri Jan 21, 2011 3:42 am

Fido wrote:I enjoy face lathering using circular/ scrubby motions, sometimes with quite a bit of pressure. But recently I also followed the advice of some manufacturers to use only the tips of the brush in light to and fro motions. The latter is a very effective and enjoyable way of lathering and also is likely to extend the life of a brush.

bernards66 wrote:Fido, Yes, that was always the advice of the Simpson folks, and a little less forcefully of some other top shelf makers as well.

Hi gents,

The Semogue master craftsman always told me that too. Don't smash the brush into your face, use only the tips, that's what really makes the brush working correctly and gives the brush more healthy years.
Brushes that are used with too much pressure will start to fall apart much sooner that those who only use the tips with less pressure.

gsgo · Post by **gsgo** » Fri Jan 21, 2011 7:53 am

From what I gather, the only solution to brush longevity is to have PLENTY of brushes in your rotation (or buy duplicates of the one's you like and rotate those), maybe some of our favorite on-line stores will help by offering discounts to support this - buy two get the third one for half price - or a two for one.

The more brushes the merrier from what I can see, less wear and tear and if you duplicate the one's you like, all the better!

M6Classic · Post by **M6Classic** » Fri Jan 21, 2011 9:39 am

gsgo wrote:From what I gather, the only solution to brush longevity is to have PLENTY of brushes in your rotation (or buy duplicates of the one's you like and rotate those), maybe some of our favorite on-line stores will help by offering discounts to support this - buy two get the third one for half price - or a two for one.

The more brushes the merrier from what I can see, less wear and tear and if you duplicate the one's you like, all the better!

I am sure that owning multiple brushes satisfies a variety of one's needs, however it isn't really necessary. As everyone on this list knows, I used one brush exclusively for thirty-five years. For reference, I only ever used it with painterly strokes because that is what I was taught when I started.

Buzz

hoffo · Post by **hoffo** » Fri Jan 21, 2011 10:34 am

I have four brushes, but only ever really use two anymore. My primary is an Altesse, and my travel brush is a compact I got from Lee's Safety Razors.

I hope to build such an impressive collection as some of you one day.

LookingGlass · Post by **LookingGlass** » Fri Jan 21, 2011 6:25 pm

paddy wrote:yea, the basic advice that comes with all simpson brushes comes is that you should try to use paint strokes rather than circular scrubbing, so it's hardly a revelation.

i personally ignore this advice and enjoy circular strokes on the first run round the face as i find it works the soap into the beard more and works up the lather a bit better, then i switch to painter strokes to smooth out and evenly distribute the lather on the face before the shave itself.

I do the same as Paddy with my badgers and creams. First pass some scrubbing and then "paint" with the 2nd or 3rd pass.

However, this is totally different when using my Semogue boars and soaps. I love to do some aggressive scrubbing...feels great on my face. And, it does not seem to impact the boars - no hair loss and some of these little guys have a wonderful bloom.

As I have said before, this is one of the great things about DE razor/brush shaving - we have a great selection of reasonably priced products that allows us to "do our on thing".

Ed

LookingGlass · Post by **LookingGlass** » Fri Jan 21, 2011 6:37 pm

Leon wrote:
Fido wrote:I enjoy face lathering using circular/ scrubby motions, sometimes with quite a bit of pressure. But recently I also followed the advice of some manufacturers to use only the tips of the brush in light to and fro motions. The latter is a very effective and enjoyable way of lathering and also is likely to extend the life of a brush.

bernards66 wrote:Fido, Yes, that was always the advice of the Simpson folks, and a little less forcefully of some other top shelf makers as well.
Hi gents,

The Semogue master craftsman always told me that too. Don't smash the brush into your face, use only the tips, that's what really makes the brush working correctly and gives the brush more healthy years.
Brushes that are used with too much pressure will start to fall apart much sooner that those who only use the tips with less pressure.

Leon,

Thank you very much for the Semogue boars...they are the best of the best!!! I have a half a dozen or so and love them all. Plus, you give great service.

Ed

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Fri Jan 21, 2011 9:58 pm

Buzz, Just curious; who taught you to use the paintbrush style lathering approach back then?
Regards,
Gordon

CMur12 · Post by **CMur12** » Sat Jan 22, 2011 1:08 am

I'm wondering if the traditional way to face-lather was with back-and-forth strokes, rather than circular motions. With the former, you don't need to mash the brush, and one could probably face-lather in this manner even with a Vulfix.

Do others get the impression that the trend towards two-banded (stiffer) badger and very short lofts is a more recent development?

- Murray

M6Classic · Post by **M6Classic** » Sat Jan 22, 2011 5:50 am

bernards66 wrote:Buzz, Just curious; who taught you to use the paintbrush style lathering approach back then?
Regards,
Gordon

Certainly from watching my grandfather, but also the guy behind the couinter where I bought my Plisson in 1970. The counter guy made the argument the swirling put too much torsion on the kno0t and would eventually pull out or break hairs. Never having swirled, I cannot really say if the theory is right.

Buzz

Gary Young · Post by **Gary Young** » Sun Jan 23, 2011 3:24 pm

It was always Simpson's policy to say to buyers to use 'paint brush' strokes with our brushes. If you look at it from a business point of view surely it would have been wiser for us to say 'use circular motions' - this circular motion does help break hair and make the knot's life much shorter. If we had provided info that shortens the brush's life it would have meant more sales as our brushes wouldn't have lasted as long! Does that make sense?!
Gary

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Sun Jan 23, 2011 3:45 pm

Buzz, Thanks. Interesting. So you watched your grandfather lather using that back and forth paint brush style, eh? Well then, clearly it was well known some ways back...in his youth, presumably. Yes, the spiel that the chap at C-M gave you in 1970 is the usual arguement as to why it's unwise to use a vigorous circular motion when lathering....from the brush's perspective anyway. I've always used the paint brush style because my skin seems happier with it....and, FWIW, my brushes have always seemed to hold up well.
Regards,
Gordon

drumana · Post by **drumana** » Sun Jan 23, 2011 4:25 pm

Ah well... I guess I'm one of those that beats the hell out of my brushes. Pumping, swirling, painting, etc... whatever feels right in the moment. I'm not too concerned with having the same brush until I die, even my most favorite ones. There are other brushes to be owned and used. If I have a $100 brush and it lasts me 20 years instead of 40 years that's OK with me. I'm not happy treating my brushes like dainty little things...

cadfael_tex · Post by **cadfael_tex** » Mon Jan 24, 2011 9:51 am

Follow on question por favor. Been reading and experimenting with technique along with this thread. The only time that I found that using pressure seemed 'neccessary' was in loading hard soap from the puck. When I tried using just the tips, it just didn't seem to load enough. Is there a trick to this? Or is what I found common?