Brushes

A short brush comparison for beginners

There are many brush options on the market and they are available at many different price points. In this section we will go over some very basic information on brushes. The three basic brush bristles are made: of Badger hair, boars hair or synthetics. Unfortunately I only have seven different brushes (missing the synthetics e.g.) but I'll do my best to share information on what I have thus far and explain why they are different.

Please, notice that everything mentioned in this text is not set in stone. We are human beings and our needs, habits, personal interests and many other things are so individual that you can thrust your learning abilities and see what forks best for you.

When I acquire a new brush and prior to the brushes first use, I wash the brush using a normal shampoo and hair conditioner the same way I do with my hair. It softens the bristles a little bit and the brush starts to work better, although this is not a mandatory for any brush. I like to do everything possible in attempt of obtaining the most luxurious feeling brush possible.

Photo sections and brush conditions explanation chart

• Dry = All brushes are dry and taken from the drip stands.
• 5 min soak= All brushes have soaked in tap hot water for 5 minutes and the extra water is squeezed off the bristles. Not extra shaking, to simulate where you might start to whip the soap or cream. Like here after step 4 in Illustrated quide to making basic soap lather.
• Lather soak= After all three brushes have made a lather
• Post bloom= All brushes have been shaken vigorously and are ready to go to drip stands to wait for another day. Just like after shaving.
• Bloom upper= Upper pictures of post bloom

• Brushes and soaking effects
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  1. Dry 1. From left to right: Kent BK4, Edwin Jagger black horn handle silvertip and Edwin Jagger super badger. EJ silvertip is in bulb shaped and EJ super badger is in fan shaped and the Kent BK4 is inbetween these two. EJ silvertip is the most dense and stiff of these three and yet gives the most luxurious feeling. EJ super badger and Kent BK4 spreads the bristles much wider than silvertip partly due to the fan shape. The bristle height is important characteristic that gives a brush the "stiff" or "Floppy" feeling. Bristle quality is also important but it is hard to measure from on line pictures.

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  2. Dry 2. From left to right: Omega 6191 pure badger and tweezerman pure badger. Here is a good example how two brushes can give totally different feelings. Notice: size, bristle height and color, handle shape and height. Despite the higher bristles of Omega model being closer to fan shape it gives a much more scrubby feel during lathering. I was surprised how stiff the Omega's bristles were when I first tried this brush.

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  3. Dry 3 From left to right: Vintage boar brush and famous China Cheapie. I got that vintage boar brush from my old uncle and it is some sort of heirloom for me. I have used it couple of times succesfully but like I said earlier I prefer a top notch luxurious feeling and boars hair brushes do not give it to me. Anyway it works but do not hold enough water for my liking. I can make a decent lather with this but it requires much more work. Chinese cheapie is a freaking joke and included in here just to make you laugh. It costs 0,85€/$1 and it was a "must" try. It says on the handle that is made of pure bristles and I think it was made with broom bristles or alligator nose hairs. Vintage brushes like this needs much more work to get a lather. One thing where this CC is good is traveling. If I fly to another country I don't want to take my most expensive brush with me so no worries if someone steals it or I lose

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  4. 5 mins soak 1. Brushes have absorbed enough water and are ready to take the soap or cream. They have spread the brisles a little bit during water absorbation.

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  5. 5 mins soak 2. Brushes have absorbed some water and are ready to take the soap or cream. Notice how much less the pure bristles absorb the water and thus not spead so much.

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  6. 5 mins soak 3. Brushes have absorbed slightly water and are ready to take the soap or cream. With boar brushes you must set a proper amount of water in the bowl instead of absorbation.

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  7. Lather soak 1. Kent BK4 after whipping. Soap is Kent luxury (MWF) in all pictures.

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  8. Lather soak 2. Tweezerman after whipping

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  9. Lather soak 3. Vintage boar after whipping

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  10. Lather soak 4. All three after whipping. These brushes are not equally comparable due to different sizes and do not take this too seriously. I hope it gives you decent exaple how different brushes act with lather.

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  11. Lather soak 5. All three after whipping in upper angle

• Blank
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  12. Post bloom 1. Nice and wide post bloom

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  13. Post bloom 2. Nice but much narrow post bloom than first one's

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  14. Post bloom 3. Nice and wide post bloom. Heh

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  15. Bloom upper 1.

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  16. Bloom upper 2.

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  17. Bloom upper 3.

TonyJ 13:17, 18 January 2009 (UTC)