Badger brush bristle bending barbing breaking & bayoneti

kirkawall · Post by **kirkawall** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 9:09 pm

In the spring and during a Girl's Night Out with his son waking every hour on the hour despite the supposedly soothing presence of his Twilight Turtle, a young man's thoughts naturally turn to contemplation of his brushes. And I've noticed an odd phenomenon in several of them, namely a tendency in the bristles to become barbed. They don't start that way. They start straight. Gradually, however, certain of the hairs start to bend at the tips into tiny upside-down "U"s and some break off entirely and others seem to split or thicken a little into something like a bayonet shape. This seems most prevalent on the outer surface of the brush but there's some on the inside of the knot also. My cheapo camera is incapable of capturing the thing I'm trying to describe but I'm wondering whether this "man-made" barbing is a common occurrence and if so what might cause it? Too-hot water? Excess of speed in lathering? Desire among the bristles to assume a new shape? Any ideas on this subject gratefully received.

best,

k

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 9:49 pm

k, I don't know. Without pictures it's hard to get a clear idea of how severe what you're describing is. I haven't noticed it, even in brushes I've been using for three years and more. I think it is pretty widely accepted on this forum that very hot water can have an effect on bristles something like what you're speaking of. Do you use near boiling water, or anything like that? I doubt that it's the result of...a....vigorous handling, as I'm not all that gentle with my brushes, and I've not had the problem you mention. Beats me. What does the Twilight Turtle have to say on this?
Regards,
Gordon

SharpClaw · Post by **SharpClaw** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 10:30 pm

k are you talking about boar hair brushes.
i have yet to see this with any of my badger
brushes, but i have seen this with my Omega
boar hair brush

.

kirkawall · Post by **kirkawall** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 8:54 am

bernards66 wrote:k, I don't know. Without pictures it's hard to get a clear idea of how severe what you're describing is. I haven't noticed it, even in brushes I've been using for three years and more. I think it is pretty widely accepted on this forum that very hot water can have an effect on bristles something like what you're speaking of. Do you use near boiling water, or anything like that? I doubt that it's the result of...a....vigorous handling, as I'm not all that gentle with my brushes, and I've not had the problem you mention. Beats me. What does the Twilight Turtle have to say on this?
Regards,
Gordon

No, I stay away from hot water now, though it's possible the damage was done earlier. I've always only used tap water though. I'll try to get some pix up later but don't have high hopes. It's mostly a visual thing, and I mention it primarily because the discussions of barbed bristles I've seen indicate that this comes with the brush, as it were, and not as a result of handling. Alas, the Twilight Turtle remains mute on the subject, merely twinkling away sombrely among his many constellations. Sigh.

Sharpclaws: these are indeed badger and not boar brushes. I'm interested to hear more about your experiences however. Maybe it's a water-quality concern?

best,

k

kirkawall · Post by **kirkawall** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 8:12 am

Found this post from Dr. Moss:

Potential causes for hair snapping include repeated flexion at too much of an angle, excess heat or cold, chemical exposures, and ringworm (only in life, not in dead brushes!) The stiffer the brush, the more I would expect the hair to be fracture-prone from flexion-fatigue.

Chris

This seems to answer my question. My brushes are suffering from ringworm. That'll teach me to use thoose raw-foods diets...

best,

k

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 8:23 am

k, Yeah, we tried to warn you about that initially, but you'd have none of it. You were a hardy Canadian now, and it was to be all raw meat for you, you insisted. And now look....your shaving brushes are getting crapped up by ringworms. Maybe you'll pay attention to what we say in future...sigh.
Regards,
Gordon

letterk · Post by **letterk** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 8:58 am

Is the change affecting performance of the brush? I have one brush (an EJ) that has done the same thing. I don't use really hot water because I know how it can affect brushes, so that's out of the question. And I only eat fish and chicken, well cooked, so that's not it either.

However, the change hasn't affected the brush at all, so I haven't worried about it. No snapping/breaking, though...just curling.

kirkawall · Post by **kirkawall** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 9:41 am

letterk wrote:Is the change affecting performance of the brush? I have one brush (an EJ) that has done the same thing. I don't use really hot water because I know how it can affect brushes, so that's out of the question. And I only eat fish and chicken, well cooked, so that's not it either. However, the change hasn't affected the brush at all, so I haven't worried about it. No snapping/breaking, though...just curling.

Hi John,

No, hasn't affected the quality of the brush at all. My T3 still works perfectly, is quite soft at the tips (certainly isn't scratchy, anyway) and hasn't shed a single hair. Purely cosmetic, it seems. I was just wondering how/why it happens. FWIW, my EJ in Best had the same quirk.

best,

k

Gatorade · Post by **Gatorade** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 7:25 pm

Actually, wasn't it Dr. Moss who described a Shavemac that did the same thing but he acutally liked it? He mentioned the tips curling over and saying how they whipped up soaps like you wouldn't believe. I think he called it his Shavemac hooker or something like that. I also recall Joel at B&B talking about micro serations at the tips of the hairs of brushes that did well with soaps as well. I don't think I have time to research it but if I recall correctly it was actually a good quality.

The Moss post also had a good number of pictures that illustrated the hooking effect as well so if someone could dig up that post it may help.

Edit:
Found it myself.

kirkawall · Post by **kirkawall** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 7:31 pm

Gatorade wrote:Actually, wasn't it Dr. Moss who described a Shavemac that did the same thing but he acutally liked it? He mentioned the tips curling over and saying how they whipped up soaps like you wouldn't believe. I think he called it his Shavemac hooker or something like that. I also recall Joel at B&B talking about micro serations at the tips of the hairs of brushes that did well with soaps as well. I don't think I have time to research it but if I recall correctly it was actually a good quality.

The Moss post also had a good number of pictures that illustrated the hooking effect as well so if someone could dig up that post it may help.

Thanks for the tip, Charlie. I'll do a search for that post. It does seem to be a cosmetic issue. I was just wondering what caused it, since most of the discussion of barbed bristles I'd come across indicated that it came with the brush as opposed to being the result of useage.

best,

k

Gatorade · Post by **Gatorade** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 7:54 pm

kirkawall wrote:
Gatorade wrote:Actually, wasn't it Dr. Moss who described a Shavemac that did the same thing but he acutally liked it? He mentioned the tips curling over and saying how they whipped up soaps like you wouldn't believe. I think he called it his Shavemac hooker or something like that. I also recall Joel at B&B talking about micro serations at the tips of the hairs of brushes that did well with soaps as well. I don't think I have time to research it but if I recall correctly it was actually a good quality.

The Moss post also had a good number of pictures that illustrated the hooking effect as well so if someone could dig up that post it may help.
Thanks for the tip, Charlie. I'll do a search for that post. It does seem to be a cosmetic issue. I was just wondering what caused it, since most of the discussion of barbed bristles I'd come across indicated that it came with the brush as opposed to being the result of useage.

best,

k

I found the post. I edited my post above with a link to it.

SilverKarn · Post by **SilverKarn** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 4:11 pm

do you have hard water?

I have very hard water, and ive been noticing this in my C&E best badger brush.

My hypothesis is that when the water evaporates off of the hairs, it leaves the minerals, calcium, and crust. Then the next time you go to use it, the crust prevents the tips from flexing, and they just split and/or bend.

OR

The calcium, crust, and minerals left from evaporation, prevent the hairs from absorbing water, so then you you go to whip up your later, the hair tips bend/split.

Anyway, ive taken to rinsing my brush with conditioner and lightly squeezing/drying the brush with a towel.

Lyrt · Post by **Lyrt** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 4:30 pm

Here’s a macro shot of my Crabtree & Edwin best badger which seems to fit the process you’re describing.