Frank Synthetic Brush coming soon to me

[brothers]

Star Shaving, Claremore, OK, is selling these, with a generous knot and loft of approximately 65mm. I believe I understand they are produced by Franks (Chinese?). The price is very economical, and it'll be my first synthetic brush. It should be here Monday, if not Saturday. I've bought razor strops from Star Shaving in the past, and have found him to be an honest and helpful fellow. I believe he makes strops and paddles, among other things.

[ShadowsDad]

Good luck with it. Let us know how you like it.

What is the diameter of the knot? Just curious, I don't desire a brush with that much loft.

Whether you like it or not, if you'd like to try a few others I can send you some to try. I won't miss them for a month.

[brothers]

I understand it is 24mm x 64mm. Sometimes the person who provides the information includes the glue plug in the measurement, which results in a false report, which usually means the actual loft is about 5mm shorter than advertised. I'm not saying that has happened here, because the gentleman didn't set the knot, he just received the finished product from Frank Shaving, already made up and ready to go. So I tend to think the loft is 2.5 inches, which means 64mm. I very much want the loft to be 64mm or so. I'll be sure to report on this when I get my hands on it.

[brothers]

Received the brush today. I'ts a pretty little brush, and of course, it's NOT 2 1/2 inches loft, it's barely 2 inches, which measures only 54mm. I reckon I'll keep it, though, because for $12.99 and $3.50 shipping I now own my very own synthetic brush.

[brothers]

So far I've used the Frank Shaving Synthetic today to test lather 2 soaps and 1 cream. Not acceptable with the Trumper Lime, just made suds with big bubbles. Maybe it was operator error. I'll try it again later. Second soap was Penhaligons Sartorial, and the lather was just as excellent as ever. I'm thinking maybe the Trumper soap just requires a badger brush to lather well for me. Then I used a very good cream (XPEC) and face lathered. The Synthetic worked great. Wonderful lather as expected. None of these was for a shave, they were just test lathers. I'm going to take a step down in the face lathering creams, and see if normal shaving creams are going to work as well with the Synthetic as XPEC Unscented cream did. This is a good brush, softer than any, but not in a floppy way. At the end of the day, I'm seeing potential in this brush, even though it isn't as tall a loft as is my preference. If it does as well with the lesser shaving creams, then maybe I'll start using creams to face lather with the synthetic brush more often than I have been.

[ShadowsDad]

Gary, are you dipping the brush? I've found that to be a huge error with synthetics. That could be the problem with your Trumper Lime.

Instead try controlling the water instead of allowing the brush to control it. Synthetics don't work the same as natural fiber. Synthetics also don't require soaking or dipping to wet the bristles. So forego any pre wetting or dipping; the brush simply doesn't care.

[brothers]

Brian, thanks for reminding me that your wrote this just a few days ago, and I missed the point that I just focus on the soap and the water, and leave the brush dry. It'll be able to pick up the water from the soap loading, and then if needed, passing the brush under a small stream of water wil work. That's what I'll do with the GFT next time.

[brothers]

This evening I remembered to keep the synthetic brush dry while I ran some hot tap water onto the soap (L'Occitane Cade). Then I loaded on the soap for 20 seconds, then transferred all of the proto lather into the bowl and made the lather in the bowl. The brush and the soap were very compatible. Got a mountain of rich thick lather, lasted through 3 full passes with plenty left over to rub on my face after the shave. I am still surprised at how completely soft the brush feels on the face.

[Squire]

Proto lather eh, had to look that one up.

[brothers]

The soft synth brush brought out the magic in the Sartorial soap tonight. 20 seconds loading with hot tap water and I'm up to my elbows in thick lather.

[brothers]

Tonight's soap used with the Frank Shaving Synthetic was Synergy Meta Nectar from HTGAM. 20 seconds on the soap with water on it and a dry brush yielded too much lather. More than normal. 15 seconds would have been plenty. Snyergy is one of the best lathering soaps when used with very hot tap water, and the lathering capability of the Frank Shaving Synthetic creates a surprising amount of lather. Tomorrow's soap is a new tub of Proraso soap. I'm looking forward to it, as usual. My other brushes are just sitting idly by, while I use the Frank on each one of my favorites soaps and creams. I'm not going to stop using the other brushes, I'm just going to have to figure out the new routine, so that all the favorite brushes get used.

[brothers]

Thursday night's shave with the Frank synthetic brush was the first shave on a new tub of Proraso soap. I loaded the dry brush on the wet soap for 15 seconds, probably will shorten that to around 10 seconds, because the soap isn't a hard soap, and the brush picked up enough soap to make a ton of beautiful lather. Now I've used the brush with 5 soaps and 1 cream, and haven't had a poor lather. I know if I eventually get a poor lather, it'll be the fault of the soap or the user. Not the brush. The brush works quite well. As soft as an angel's whisper. Doesn't need to be wet before lathering. Does just fine with a cream and face-lathering. Makes and holds more than ample lather. Inexpensive. First time I've used a synth. I'm a believer now.

[brothers]

Face lathered Coates Rose with the Frank for tonight's shave. Understanding it doesn't hold any water, I dipped the tips under a running tap and took the brush directly to the shaving cream I had rubbed on my face. Kept adding water that way during the lathering phase, and it worked great. All of a sudden the lather just exploded, when I got exactly the right amount of water in the mix. The Frank held all of the excess lather until I needed it for all 3 passes and some left over at the end. Overall result was just as I had expected. Now my attention has been drawn toward some larger lofted synthetics from H.I.S. and Edwin Jagger.

[brothers]

And Muhle.