Slick Tips

[divotmax]

I don't recall there have been any posts about this, at least none I could find. I have a couple of brushes that have "slick tips." When they get wet, the tips feel almost oily and very slick. They work fine, make good lather and perform like any other good brush, and the lather rinses clean. When dry, the brushes bloom normally and don't have any residue and the tips don't feel slick or oily at all. The tips kind of stick together when they are wet or damp and look kind of strange, but after fully drying they bloom normally. If you placed these two brushes by any other brushes you could not tell any difference. One brush is a two-band super badger from a well-known brush manufacturer and the other is a custom brush which has super badger/finest badger bristles. I have used the brushes regularly for several years, so they have been cleaned by lather usage for a long time, plus I have cleaned them with borax and alcohol dips now and then, so any extrinsic oil additives would have been removed long ago. Usage over the years has not reduced the oily feeling at all.

Seems like I once saw a post that the condition might just be due to the particular breed of badger that has specific bristles like these to shed water, and is inherent to the bristle. Certainly no kind of cleaning I have found makes any difference. Other than being a curiosity, I suppose as long as the brushes function okay there is no reason to do anything to them; they are not shedders and are good face-latherers. I would be interested if anyone else has any brushes like these and what the explanation might be.

[Squire]

Don't recall anything about this condition Bob, certainly never experienced it.

[ShadowsDad]

I wonder if those are the gel-like tips referred to by others?

[divotmax]

Brian;

I haven't heard the term "gel tips" but it sure would be a good description. The tips do feel like they have a slick, gel feel to them, although nothing comes off on fingers or towels. Strange effect, particularly since it goes away entirely when the bristles are dry. I've never used anything weird on the brushes either to clean them or to lather with. Also strange that one of the brushes is from a name-brand maker and not an off-brand brush.

[jww]

Hmm --weird that, never heard of it before either.

[TRBeck]

The clumping you describe is characteristic of what some call "gel-like" tips. Another telling sign would be some "hooking" on the tips when drying. A gentle brush of the hand across the top and you have a normal bloom, but clumping and hooking occurs during the drying process. If they are the gel-like tips, there's not much you can do to eliminate them. Some guys seek out these tips and would probably buy them from you at a premium.

I have had a couple of brushes like this, and while I liked them initially, in the end I didn't get enough tactile experience from the brushes to fully enjoy the experience. I no longer have those brushes. I know of at least three different well-known brushmakers from whom I received such tips, plus a couple of other sources (including a supplier of knots for custom brushes) that have had such bristle in stock at times. I think it's just luck of the draw, as I ordered two brushes two weeks apart from one maker, and both brushes were made with the same grade of bristle, but one had the gel tips and one didn't. I have seen gel-tip brushes with good "heritage" behind them - ahem - go for a premium price on BST at various forums, FWIW.

Wish I had an explanation as to why the bristles are the way they are - perhaps it has to do with the badgers used, or perhaps there is a treatment done to some otherwise less-premium bristles to improve their feel with this side effect...not that I want to suggest the brushmakers themselves would ever doctor their bristles, rather that perhaps somewhere else in the supply chain this happens.

[drmoss_ca]

The old Shavemac XXLs were famous for developing hooked tips, and they were excellent quality brushes. I went off Shavemac a bit when they had to change to the softer, finer hair typically sold as 'super' these days.

Chris

[TRBeck]

Chris, I've never used the old Shavemacs, but my understanding is these hooked "gel" tips are different to those, which as far as I know were unique to Shavemac and that era. I may be wrong, but from what I have read, most guys have not experienced anything quite like the old Shavemacs. I wish "soft" and "fine" didn't have to go together as they seem to now. Makes for overly dense brushes or else something too soft to really "feel" in use.

[Squire]

I've heard of sneaky badgers so I guess there could be slick ones.