Entries Tagged 'Shaving brushes' ↓

Many of you will recognise the picture above of some old shaving brushes I have picked up on my travels. I decided it was time to do something about them and as I am all thumbs this meant finding someone for the restoration job, so I contacted Fido again. He told me that “beejay”, who was making my custom Yew brush at the time, would also be the best man for any restoration job.

So I sat on my hands and waited for my custom brush to arrive, after it did and I saw what a fantastic job “beejay” had done I emailed him: “….which brush do you think is the best candidate, perhaps the “Rooney” on the left of the back row or the tall brush with the dark bristles in the middle of the back row? Is it best for me to buy my own knot from TGN or for you to supply one? If the former then I need to send you the brush first so you can tell me what size to buy.”

He emailed me back: “….Re restoration, either or both would probably restore very nicely. I charge £20-£25 plus the knot at cost so it’s probably best if you choose your preferred knot from Tony. (The charge depends on the amount of work required) they can be slow going at times these old brushes! Once I get the old knot/s out, I can let you know the size required and you can order from him. Let me know if/when you’re ready.” So I went and took some picture of both of the brushes so you can see the “before” condition. Then I posted them to “beejay”.

There were two things that I decided to explore here. One was to increase the diameter of the knot in the Boots (Rooney?) the second was to try and source my knots from someone other than The Golden Knib, just to see what variety was in the market. One supplier I looked at was iKon who sell the same knots that they use in their custom brushes. Here is how they are described on the iKon website: “Classic Chubby Size – Short Loft – 24mm knot, 45mm height – these are hands down the highest quality loose knots you can purchase w/o having them custom made yourself. Use for brush restorations or when making your own shaving handles”

Once he had received the brushes “beejay” emailed me: “I’m hoping to make a start on the two brushes this weekend so should be able to let you know the hole size and depth. I think I’ll be able to enlarge the Boots one to accept a 24mm knot but it depends on the condition of the material inside. Does the Ikon height of 45mm include or exclude the height of the plug? The tall brush is in a sorry state. I don’t know yet if the inner filling which is a plaster of sorts will be stable after I get the old knot out. I may need to take it all out and replace with an alternative fill. The wood base is also in a sorry state so it would probably be easier to make a new one, unless you particularly want the old one left in which case I can take it back a bit and re finish it. You’re likely to lose the stamp on the bottom though so that alone almost suggests a new one could be the way to go. The edges are also pretty chewed up. Your decision of course and we can discuss properly after I’ve actually done some done some work on it. Please don’t order the new knots until we see what condition the handles are in after removing the old ones.”

iKon 24mm stubby silvertip badger shaving brush knot

He followed this up a couple of days later with: “Had a good look at the brushes today, but haven’t removed the old knots yet. The Boots one is fitted with a 19mm knot but could accommodate a 24mm and although the hole would be quite a bit wider It should still look in balance. The other Brush is fitted with a 24mm knot as per the one in your Yew brush. The Ikon knot you’re looking at with a total height of 45mm will therefore eventually fit both handles so you can see it in both before you decide on final placement.” So I ordered the iKon knot.

For the second knot I decided to try and buy one from Frank Shaving, so I emailed Ian Tang. He emailed me back and told me that not only would he do this for free, he would build the knot to my exact specifications. I thought about this and the truth is that the knot in my original $9.99 Finest Badger is just outstanding, so I asked Ian if he could please replicate this but with a 24mm diameter.

“Beejay” soon gave me a progress report on the Boots (Rooney?) butterscotch: “Old knot removed from your Boots brush, cleaned the inside and widened the hole to accept a 24mm diameter knot as you requested. I’ve also taken the hole down to a depth of 18mm but this can be filled or made deeper to suit. I’ve attached some pics including one with a knot to give you an idea of how it could look.  It’s a 70mm x 24mm set at 52mm I’ll wait til you tell me knot loft for this one before I start cleaning as I may need to re-chuck it to alter the hole depth and that could mar the surface slightly.”

This was followed by an update on the other brush, which turns out to be a Rubberset: “Thought you might like you see the Rubberset brush to date. Old knot now completely removed and I’ve removed all traces of the original filler and glue from the inside. The wooden plug/ base will be replaced probably in Beech. I thought about threading it to fit the other part but not advisable as its likely to swell when wet. I think the threaded part was a universal component to accept the multitude of bases this company turned out and and wooden parts would just have been jam fitted. Nice to see how they were put together though. I’ll use the new plug to form the base for the new knot you supply so I need to know now if possible before I turn this, what loft you want the new knot to be set at. It will accept a 24mm base as I mentioned in my earlier e-mail. Meanwhile, I’ll start the cleaning process and see what need to be done to bring this back to best possible condition. I’m going for a full, back to new if possible restore with this one, where as the Boots one will be more sympathetic due to the Butterscotch ageing.”

Frank Shaving (L) and iKon 24mm badger knots

Frank Shaving (L) and iKon (R) shaving brush knots

Eventually the parcels arrived from Thailand and China with two beautiful knots in them, and look at just how different they are from each other. Holding them against each other they have identical diameters at the base, but look at them side by side and you can see the enormous differences. These are going to make two very interesting brushes.

Once “beejay” had received both knots we had to decide which knot went in which handle. He emailed me with the above photos and the following: “The Ikon knot is showing sitting on the base of its plug, any deeper and it really pulls the hair very tightly together and I think the brush would be too firm. Even a couple of mm would make a difference with this knot. My suggestion would be to set it as it shows but your decision of course. The Frank knot is set around 48/49 in both handles and looks nicely balanced. At that loft I would hope it wouldn’t be too floppy for you. I can of course set it higher/lower in either handle if you wish. I haven’t turned the new wood base for the Rubberset yet as the height of this (The bit that goes into the black upper part) will be governed by the knot you decide. For what it’s worth, I like the look of the Boots/Frank combination. Purely personal opinion as they look pretty good whichever way you go.” He is the expert so I took his advice.

“Beejay” then got on with the job and sent me the above photos along with the following: “I’ve got the new handle done for the Rubberset and I’ve polished the Boots handle ready now to set the FS knot. The Boots will be set at 48.5mm loft as per the attached photo. The Rubberset is pretty much to the depth of the plug. The new handle is made from old seasoned Beech and I’ve given it just a hint of colour but not as yellow as the old one. The old handle was varnished and the new one has been sealed with 2 coats of thinned melamine and the given a further 2 coats of regular melamine. It’ll get another two coats before it goes out to you, probably Wednesday. The final finish will be closer to a satin finish, not a high gloss unless you want a gloss? I would ask you to give the Rubberset a further 72 hours just to let the melamine fully cure.” So it was only a few days away from getting my brushes back.

So now I have these two fantastic, unique brushes. The Boots (Rooney?) brush is a much valued “butterscotch”. The handle was made from a phenolic plastic called Catalin which was widely used between 1938 and 1946. It was originally white and has assumed its current colour because the phenolic resin is converted gradually into phenyl alcohol, which is brown, when exposed to ultraviolet light. The Rubberset brush is possibly even older, the company was set up in 1873 and patented their “Genuine Rubberset Process” in 1878, they made very large quantities of shaving brushes in Newark NJ but today they are primarily a paint brush manufacturer and have given up on shaving..

1908 Rubberset shaving brush advertisement

Bloom after one use

Beejay's fine work. A custom shaving brush and two restorations

Back home amongst friends

So what have we got here? If you look at the picture of the two knots side by side and then look at the two finished brushes you will see that the Frank Shaving knot in the Boots handle seems to have shrunk, this is because beejay has mounted it deeper within the handle. This has made for a very interesting brush, it has all the superb qualities of a Frank Shaving Finest Badger brush but with a couple of bonuses. The bigger knot at 24mm means there is just more of everything and the deep mounting gives it more backbone. The iKon knot in the Rubberset also has lots of backbone, but this time it comes from a combination of sheer density, the bulb shape of the knot and the 24mm knot diameter.

You may think that the move up from a 20mm to a 24mm knot is not much but a 20mm knot is 314 square mm in cross sectional area whilst a 24mm knot is 452 square mm. So it is 50% bigger. Add to that the fact that it can support a higher loft (everything else being equal) and you have a significantly bigger brush. This explains the way Simpson’s and Rooney prices ramp up so steeply with size.

In use these two brushes are surprisingly similar to each other, far more so than a cursory look at the knots would have you believe. They are both equally soft at the tips, they both load and release lather much the same and they both paint the same sized swathe across the face. The difference comes when you push the brushes in towards the skin, here the Frank/Boots combination is a little bit more of a mop, and with the Rubberset/iKon combination resistance is met a little earlier. But they are both fantastic pieces of kit and are superb additions to my little collection of brushes.

So there you have it. For not much money you can bring a beautiful old brush to life and in doing so create something that is unique and special that will give decades of luxurious use.

India is a country with hundreds of millions of wet shavers, many of them still using double edged razors. So, naturally, it is the source for much traditional shaving kit that we are familiar with in the West, lots of different shaving creams including the famous Godrej, razors from Parker and blades from Vidyut and Malhotra. All that’s missing is a brush. So I was intrigued when I found that Connaught Shaving were selling an Indian brush on a well known auction website. £4.70 and it was mine.

The brush certainly looks very different with a two part handle, the base of which is lathe turned wood on top of which there is a black aluminium “socket”. It is made by Single Sons (India) Regd. in Delhi, who also make brushes under the Taiwan Shaver brand name. Interestingly they have a web site which seems to be mainly geared up to tell us that they are ISO certified. However they say: “Single Sons (India) is established since 1948 and is into manufacturing of beauty salonequipments.We thank you for using and appreciating our products since last 60 years, we are proud to serve you with our best quality products to enhance your personality.Also we thank you for making our brands India’s most trusted brands in beauty salon equipments.”

Taking my vernier to it the wooden base has a height of 43mm and the aluminium socket a height of 25mm for an overall handle height of 68mm. The knot has a 20mm diameter and a 59mm loft. So the overall height of the brush is a towering 127mm. The overall finish is quite good with a nice grain to the varnished wooden handle. It is no Rooney but it is a whole lot better than a Jaguar or a Turkish horse hair brush. However the finish is not a good indicator of how good the brush actually is, as the two Turkish brushes have proven.

Boar bristle shaving brushes from Disco, Omega, Semogue, Jaguar and Vulfix

So what is it like to use? Well to start with it is pretty smelly so it might have been an idea to shampoo it a couple of times before initial use, also it is a bit of a shedder to start with, nothing too bad but maybe half a dozen hairs in the first shave. The brush has a relatively small contact area which, combined with the very long handle, makes it very “pointy”. Once the bristles are wet the brush becomes quite floppy, which works well with the shaving creams which dominate in India. You could easily see this brush being used in a barber’s shop.

So should you buy one? Well at the price I paid it would be interesting and fun, but in my opinion the best cheap boar brush is still the Jaguar and the best cheap brush overall is the Turkish horse hair brush. And for just a little bit more you could have a Frank Shaving Finest Badger or a Vulfix 404 boar/badger mix, both of which are in a different world.

Rooney shaving brushes are a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. They do not publicise their physical address and contact details and they have no proper website. Yet several retailers sell extensive ranges of their expensive shaving brushes, sometimes under the Rooney name and sometimes with the name of the retailer on them. I have an old butterscotch brush that was originally sold by Boots in England which is almost certainly a Rooney.

Shaving brushes have been made and sold with the Rooney name for over 300 years (over 200 years made in England, another century or so before that in Brownville, Galway, Ireland) and they have been some of the best and most expensive brushes available. The absolute epitome of classic English shaving brushes. In recent times they have been experimenting with different ranges (all handmade in England with the knots handmade in England), which widens their appeal to shavers and gives collectors more to buy. The Heritage range is even more classical than their already classical standard range.

But now they have suddenly come over all psychedelic with a range of brushes that you need sunglasses on to look at. The handles have been turned out of some very interesting rods, the shapes and the colouring working together to bring something very new and different to the shaving world. You can buy them here. These have only been made in very small quantities.

It just so happens that I was able to buy a couple of Rooney prototypes, one of which which is closely related to this new range. This brush was described thus: Super Badger shaving brush. Hand made shaving brush prototype made by a large British brush maker. Real great face lathering, nice and dense.

Rooney Super Badger is a specific grade, it is Silvertip hair that has been re-graded and re-dressed in England. To do this the badger hair is sorted and short and twisted hairs are removed, leaving the hair softer and whiter, which gives the brush better water holding and lathering capabilities. The knot is then made (in England) using confidential proprietary techniques that have been handed down over the years and which make Rooney brushes unique.

The second brush is also Super Badger but with a shorter loft and a transluscent pearl handle with a chromed base.

Lets take the vernier to both of these brushes. Firstly the candy stripe has a 25mm knot with a 51mm loft, the handle height is 58mm. Then the chrome based brush, this has a 23mm knot with a 47mm loft and a 46mm high handle.

So what are they like to use? Both of these brushes have extremely dense knots that pretty much define them. To pack so much very fine, high quality silvertip hair into a knot is a recipe to give it a very large capacity indeed. And so it proves, lift either of these out of a bowl of water and they are surprisingly heavy with the sheer weight of water they have picked up. They both load up very easily and both release their lather very easily. They hold enough for a lot of passes, they still look pretty full of lather after three. So your consumption of cream or soap is going to go up if you use one.

Where they differ is on the face. They are both ultra soft mops that initially feel like they have no backbone, but press them in and the sheer density makes itself felt. The candy stripe is by far the bigger mop and splays a whole lot further before you hit that backbone. Any bigger and you would be using it to paint rooms. Because it has a smaller knot and splays less the chrome bottomed brush paints a narrower path across your face, but this is no Wee Scot, it still has a lot of hair and a lot of lather.

Rooney Prototype Badger Shaving Brushes After Blooming

In conclusion it is always nice to own something “one off” that is totally unique. To own an exclusive, prototype shaving brush by one of the world’s leading manufacturers is a bit special. To have been lucky enough to be able to buy two was a fantastic opportunity.

Disclaimer: I bought and paid for both of these brushes.

A lot of people have recently seen the light and come over to real shaving. They see the products and industry as they are but they don’t see this history, the back story and what is happening and what has happened in the industry that supplies them.

The classical English shaving brush is a prime example. Just after World War II every man in Britain who shaved used a brush, the manufacturers who met this demand also supplied the British Empire and other countries in the world market. So it was a large and thriving industry from inexpensive plastic Culmak brushes to solid gold handled Simpson masterpieces. Then aerosol shaving foams came along which were a lot more convenient (yet far less good) and the whole industry pretty much went the way of the dinosaur. Even Simpson’s went bust.

At the top end there was still some business, mostly from the famous St James’s grooming shops like Trumpers and Taylors of Old Bond Street. These retailers buy their brushes in from Vulfix, Rooney and other workshops but always the brushes are branded up with the name of the retailer, never with the name of the manufacturer. This is sad because each manufacturer has a lot of unique proprietary heritage that goes into their brushes. A Rooney is made a lot differently from a Simpson’s, for instance. The knowledge is handed down through generations of craftsmen and, remarkably, survives changes in company ownership.

Some of the shaving brush workshops survived by putting their skills to different uses. They knew how to machine resin so could make parts for lots of different industries, from pens to backgammon pieces. Then when an order came in from St James they would run off a batch of brushes. To add to the flexibility needed for survival some of the manual processes could be done by home workers, who were trained up with the necessary skills. Jobs like weighing the hair for each knot, for instance.

Morris & Forndran are one of the brush companies that have survived, founded in the 1930s, they were present at the 1947 British Industries Fair where they were listed as manufacturers of Ivory Brushes, Mirrors, Wood Brushes, Tortoiseshell Brush Sets, Silver Mounted Brush Sets. Fitted Dressing Cases. Cigar and Cigarette Boxes in rare Woods and Shagreen. Combs in real and imitation Tortoiseshell.

Recently they have changed ownership and all the original equipment has been moved to a new workshop in London. Traditionally Morris & Forndran sold their brushes under the name of the retailer selling them but under the new ownership they are starting to supply small numbers of high quality, traditional, English brushes under their own brand name. These brushes contain 80 years of Morris & Forndran heritage and manufacturing techniques so they are different, once again, from a Simpson’s or a Rooney.

But they are a very small company. To put it in context the biggest quality brush producer by far is Progress Vulfix in the Isle of Man, they manufacture under the Vulfix and Simpson’s brand names but they also produce the brushes sold under the retailers own name in lots of shops all over the world. Yet this industry giant employs around just 15 people.

Nowadays the customer value in badger shaving brushes lies with the Chinese manufacturers such as Frank Shaving and LiJun who have close access to the raw materials and cheap labour. The next step up are the many Western brush brands that put a Chinese knot into a Western handle. But if you want real hand crafted quality and heritage then you cannot beat a traditional English brush. They cost a lot of money but you are getting what you pay for.

Bloomed after two shaves

In the pictures you can see the brush that Morris & Forndran sent to me. It is classical and beautiful, an exceptionally well made work of art. It is made out of what they are calling Blonde Badger which, as you can see, is a two band with nearly white tips and a pronounced bulb shaped knot which is mounted in a strikingly porcelain white handle. According to my vernier it has a 24mm knot diameter, a 53mm loft and a 47mm handle height. It has plenty of backbone and the tips, whilst soft, are not super soft so provide a good face massage. This will be just amazing at face lathering hard soaps like Mitchell’s Wool Fat as well as being an excellent all round brush.

So what’s it like to use? Pretty close to perfect actually. It is sized somewhere near the top end of a face latherer, which works well for me. The knot shape is primarily bulb (the centre two thirds) with a bit of fan in there (the outer third), this gives lots of control over the lather without being too pointy. The brush loads up very quickly and easily then releases the lather exactly how and when you want, it easily holds enough charge for a three pass shave. The backbone is spot on, certainly not floppy yet not too rigid. Likewise the tip softness, luxury without being a mop. And the density is just perfect for holding a big charge without being a lather hog. All this will get even better as the brush breaks in with a bit more use. Overall if I had to choose just one brush from my collection, right now this would be the one.

Disclaimer: I did not pay for this brush.

Map of Siberia. UK top left, Japan bottom right.

This water badger brush with a black buffalo horn handle and gold lettering is for sale at Trumper’s St. James’s Shop at 1 Duke of York Street for £1,100 and is attracting some attention. So I had a chat with someone I know who is in the brush business and who hand ties knots for high end brushes himself. He told me that the water badger hair he uses comes from China and has nothing to do with the spoof water badger of Devon.

In  fact this Chinese water badger is Meles meles, or European badger and is the same animal variety that all badger brush hair comes from, whether the animal lives in Europe or China. What is different about water badger is its lifestyle and this is what makes the hair different. He tells me that it is the most expensive badger hair from China, that it is ginger in colour and that it is very, very soft. In fact he reckons that it is too soft to make a good shaving brush out of, but that he has done so on occasions, mostly for Russian customers.

So I then spoke to Kamil Ozturk who is the manager of that Trumper’s branch. He told me that the hair in this brush came from Siberia (is it Meles leucurus sibiricus?). He also agreed with my other source that this is far too soft for a serious shaving brush and that for this reason he would not be stocking any more. He did, however, say that the supplier of the brush was offering it to other retailers, so they could turn up elsewhere.

Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of this brush. There are pictures of a smaller “sample” brush floating round the web, but none of this one.

There is a Turkish vendor with a website where he sells all sorts of traditional shaving goodies at very good prices. On there he sells “Wooden Handled Shaving Brushes Made of horse hair” for just $2.45. He also sells them on eBay as “Shaving brush (There is no bristle. Is for Muslims.)” for $3.75.

Turkish and Spanish horse hair shaving brushes

I have eulogised on here before about horse hair brushes, they are said to have 85% of the good attributes of badger brushes and 85% of the good attributes of boar brushes. Certainly the ones made in Spain by Vie Long have a very enthusiastic following. And they have the advantage that the hair is the result of natural grooming, so no animals are harmed in their production. So all in all I had no hesitation in buying one of these brushes from Turkey.

Turkish horse hair and Chinese bristle shaving brushes

Wow, this brush is a bundle of fun. A whole world better than the Chinese boar brushes at this price point. It looks very similar in size to a Semogue Owners Club when sat next to one. Around a 24mm knot, 54 mm loft, 56mm handle height. The handle is varnished light wood and the horse hair is very light brown. Build quality is good but the detail finish is not there, varnish thickness etc. Still excellent for the price but nowhere near the presentation of, say, a Frank Shaving brush.

Turkish horse hair and Semogue Owners Club shaving brushes

Brand new you can tell it is horse hair by the smell. I lathered it up twice with Williams and washed it with dishwashing liquid and the smell was gone. During this process it shed half a dozen or so hairs. Then it was time to shave, it loaded up very nicely indeed with MWF and held enough for three passes. It was quite soft to the face but obviously not Silver Tip soft, though I have used badger brushes that are far more scritchy. And it certainly had enough backbone to handle MWF easily.

Turkish shaving brushes. Jaguar and horse hair

All in all this is an excellent brush and at the price it is just silly value for money. Easily the best value shaving brush on the market just now.

5 shaving brushes. Chinese bristle, Jaguar bristle, Turkish horse hair, Semogue Owners Club, Spanish horse hair

Budget shaving brushes. Back row:Jaguar, Shea Moisture, Generic Chinese bristle, LiJüN & 1980, Vulfix 404. Front row: Vulfix VS5, Frank Shaving Finest, Body Shop Synthetic, Tweezerman

When it comes to shaving brushes you definitely don’t get what you pay for. Some brands buy their stock in China and then add on enormous profit margins to inflate the price that the customer pays. Other brands still do some manufacturing work in the West with vastly higher labour costs. Then there are small entrepreneurs  who are buying at the factory gate in China and then selling direct at a sensible price. And there are some fairly big non shaving specialists doing the same thing. So let’s look at what we have here starting with the back row from left to right.

Jaguar. From Turkey this is by far the best boar bristle brush here. The large, flat topped knot really loads up nicely with hard soaps, putting the maximum number of bristles onto the puck. The let down is the detail finish of the handle which is not perfect. But for about £5.50 you can’t expect everything.

Shea Moisture. Ultimate Shave Brush presumably in pure badger. This brush is OK. The plastic handle is a bit light but has no moulding marks, the knot is well made but a bit scritchy and a bit floppy, but it is big enough to hold a good charge of lather. These are sold at Target in America and online by Shea Moisture for $9, which seems fair enough.

Generic Chinese bristle. With red painted wooden handle, if you look you can see how the knot has been shaped with a pair of scissors, so there are no proper ends there to split. This brush will do its job, but you will appreciate it when you upgrade. These sort of brushes are found on eBay and in discount stores at £1 to £2, the pricing is just what the vendor feels like.

LiJüN & 1980 finest pure badger shaving brush and the flimsy packaging it was sent from China in.

LiJüN & 1980. I bought this off eBay for £0.99 (but with £6 carriage from China) and was amazed when it turned up in a thin cloth bag in a polythene bag, with no padding or protection. It is described as “Finest Pure Badger Hair” and is by far the worst badger brush that I own. The handle is light with moulding marks. The knot is well made and not as floppy as the Shea Moisture, however it is very prickly. It is only fair to say that this is just one of a range they offer and some of the more expensive brushes look a lot nicer. In the community experiences are mixed with some favourable reports and some less so.

Vulfix 404. The Grosvenor mixed bristle and badger. One of the best brushes at any price and this costs just £9.20. It has a fantastic, heavy, properly turned handle. Some people buy these brushes just for the handles and re-knot them, you can see why. The 404 mixed will create a lather out of a difficult soap like a Mitchell’s Wool Fat or a Williams better and quicker than just about anything else and it will also work just brilliantly with creams. It has exactly the right firmness and size of knot to be an all round star. But there is something very strange, everyone knows that Vulfix is in the Isle of Man, yet these brushes are marked “Handmade in England” and the Isle of Man is not in England.

Budget shaving brushes. Back row:Jaguar, Shea Moisture, Generic Chinese bristle, LiJüN & 1980, Vulfix 404. Front row: Vulfix VS5, Frank Shaving Finest, Body Shop Synthetic, Tweezerman

Now the front row from left to right:

Vulfix VS5. You wonder why they bother with this pure bristle brush, at £4.39 it is far less than half the brush the 404 is. The handle is far lighter and you can feel the moulding marks and the knot is too small for a boar. Interestingly this one says  “Handmade in UK” and the Isle of Man is not in the UK. I would love to know what is going on here.

Frank Shaving. I have written about these several times, this is my original $9.99 Finest. The handle feels weighty and though it may be moulded there are no signs of this. The knot is well made and has slightly less backbone than the 404, but it has less scritchy tips and holds a fair bit more lather. The Frank Shaving Finest genuinely feel like and behaves like a far more expensive brush. A point that a lot of users have now made.

Body Shop. This small, wooden handled brush cost £5.50 and has synthetic bristles, it still works well and has really soft tips. Best of all it dries rapidly after use so makes an ideal travel brush.

Tweezerman. 100% badger hair, made in South Korea. Presumably with a Chinese knot. Another small, wooden handled brush this has softer tips than the Frank Shaving Finest and a similar backbone, but the bloomed knot has only about half the total volume, which is a huge difference. This brush sells for about $15 which is good value.

So, in conclusion, out of this small batch the Vulfix 404 and the Frank Shaving Finest are way ahead. The Jaguar is a very fine boar bristle brush for the price and the Body Shop brush is good value as a travel brush.

Budget shaving brushes. Back row:Jaguar, Shea Moisture, Generic Chinese bristle, LiJüN & 1980, Vulfix 404. Front row: Vulfix VS5, Frank Shaving Finest, Body Shop Synthetic, Tweezerman

Shaving brushes by Vulfix, Simpson, Rooney, Omega, Semogue, Trumper, Edwin Jagger, Plisson, New Forest and Kent

Firstly a disclaimer, this is not a highly researched academic paper, just a romp around some of what I find interesting. There is a whole lot more information on Fido’s shaving brush blog. Europe is the traditional home of the top quality brands of shaving brushes, though nowadays most of the badger hair and often the whole knots and even the handles come from China. It is very difficult indeed for the buyer to know the true origin of the manufacturing and materials that make up any brush.

Shaving brushes by Vulfix, Simpson, Rooney, Omega, Semogue, Trumper, Edwin Jagger, Plisson, New Forest and Kent

United Kingdom. The main traditional home of the quality shaving brush.

Kent Brush. Established in 1777 they are a general brush manufacturer but make a great range of shaving brushes that come beautifully presented.

Rooney. Once vied for being the very best of all brushes. Nowadays only sold online by a handful of retailers, it is difficult to establish where their factory is. I can’t even find a website for them.

Edwin Jagger. A big range of brushes at good value prices. The handles are hand turned in the UK and bought in knots are used.

New Forest. Fido has relatively small batches of brushes made to his specification in China. These are very highly regarded by the shaving community and are thought to represent fantastic value.

Isle of Man. This island nation in the middle of the Irish Sea is not part of the United Kingdom, it is a self governing British crown dependency.

Vulfix. This 60ish year old company moved to the Isle of Man from Manchester in 1954. They employ around 15 people which is a lot for a shaving brush company and make brushes that go out under many different brand names. I have two Trumper’s brushes that are almost certainly made by Vulfix, for instance.

Simpson’s. Originally based in London, then for many years in Somerset they were bought by Vulfix in 2008, since when quality is reckoned to have improved further. These are regarded by many as being the best shaving brushes that money can buy, some keen shavers build up large collections of the many different models. Little surprise that I have already written three articles here about them.

Shaving brushes by Vulfix, Simpson, Rooney, Omega, Semogue, Trumper, Edwin Jagger, Plisson, New Forest and Kent

Portugal.

Semogue. A small family business whose products are very different from those of the British companies. They make badger brushes but are legendary in the shaving community for their boar bristle brushes which are widely held to be the very best available. You can buy them online from The Vintage Scent who have an excellent reputation.

Spain.

Vie Long. A manufacturer of different kinds of brushes and other products they make some beautifully crafted shaving brushes but are most famous in the shaving community for their excellent horse hair range. They can be bought from Gifts and Care who offer a great service.

Italy.

Omega. Possibly the biggest shaving brush company in Europe their massive range encompasses many price points. They vie with Semogue for the quality of their boar bristle brushes and their 48/49 models are very popular with enthusiasts.

France.

Plisson. Making shaving brushes since 1808. Rightfully very expensive and beautifully made they provided Napoleon with the shaving brushes he used as he conquered Europe. One of the few places you can buy some brushes made from genuine European badger hair.

Germany.

Shavemac. Absolutely gorgeous, almost artisan, brushes, many of which are custom made. They also do quality restorations.

Shaving brushes by Vulfix, Simpson, Rooney, Omega, Semogue, Trumper, Edwin Jagger, Plisson, New Forest and Kent

A while back now I bought a handsome looking secondhand shaving brush on eBay, the handle was very fine marble but the knot could have been better. When it arrived I measured the knot size with a vernier and ordered a replacement from The Golden Knib, who are the major supplier of shaving brush knots to the traditional shaving community. The knot I ordered was a 22mm with a 68mm loft silvertip with “extra hair” which cost $13.56 (on special offer!).

Silvertip badger shaving brush knot

I then set about removing the old knot from the brush and promptly broke the marble handle. Totally my own clumsy stupidity and haste. Which left me with a fantastic badger knot with no handle to put it in. Now I believe that when you have a lemon you should make lemonade, that when things go wrong it presents opportunities.

So I got in touch with Fido at New Forest Brushes who also writes the authoritative shaving brush blog and asked him who makes the best custom brushes in the UK. He told me to go to “beejay” (le Tuft) and he gave me his contact details. Now all I needed was something to make the handle out of.

It just so happens that my brother in law buys trees, ones that have been cut down. He then stores them for years and eventually has custom furniture made out of them once the wood is well matured. So I contacted him for a little piece of one of these trees to make a handle from. He emailed me back: “I have some oak at 9X9 cms and some iroko at 8X8 cms and some beech / ash (not sure which) at 9.5X9.5 cms, but the grain on all of them is not very interesting. Oak tends to blacken with prolonged exposure to water, so is not ideal for what you want. I have some smaller cross-section yew in sizes around 5X5X7.5 cms which turns well and is very durable and takes oiling well. If any of these are of use let me know.”

Ennerdale, Cumbria in the English lake district.

I looked up the properties of yew on the interwebs and found that it was very long lasting and tough, it machines nicely and likes to be oiled and that it had been the wood of choice for making the traditional English longbow. So I asked for some of this and my brother in law kindly sent me enough for three handles which I then mailed to “beejay” with the knot. The tree the wood came from had been growing in Ennerdale in the English lake district but about 10 years ago the local council ordered the farmer to cut it down because it was in a dangerous condition.

“Beejay” had emailed me: “If you have a shape in mind, a drawing or brand example will give me enough to work with. Yew is a nice wood but is prone to checking and it can throw up some surprises at times, knots and pips etc which can work loose. The knot you have will probably be 67/68mm total length and normally I set those at 48-50mm but in this instance I would think around 52mm loft will be about right. Tell me though if you want a different loft. I do a mock up first to show shape a loft before I commit to the final material and for this I charge £25 inc del to a UK address. I should explain that this is a hobby for me, and I do work so it’s done at weekends and in my spare time. At present, you’d be looking at 2-3 weeks to complete.”

Custom shaving brush that I liked.

I was looking for a big handle that really showed off the wood and for a floppy brush for using with shaving creams, so I sent “beejay” a picture of a custom brush I had found on the internet that I liked, just to give him a very rough idea of what was on my mind, but said that he was the expert and it was up to him to make the best of the wood.

About a week later “beejay” sent me an email with some photographs of a mock up of the brush. He said: “I’ve mocked up a handle for you to look at. It’s from a piece of yew from my stock so don’t worry. The knot you sent is 77mm ht. and 23mm plug diameter. The cove between the two beads is 29mm and the hole is 25mm diameter to accept the knot and allow some spread. That means of course that wood at that point isn’t terribly thick, viz, 2mm each side. The pics are really to show the loft and to ask if you’re happy with it or do want it set to 50mm. It’s a big knot, 77mm, and at 53mm loft the backbone isn’t too bad. The shape of the handle will change a bit to give more height to the bulb at the expense of the two beads which will be narrower (more compressed) and slightly more rounded, hope that makes sense. Naturally your comments are invited re shape style size etc. At 111mm total height it’s a good size brush and should feel well balanced. The handle is 58/59mm but can be made longer if you wish, there’s enough wood.”

A week later and disaster has struck. “Beejay” sends me this: “I finished your handle yesterday and noticed that the rim had some fine checks (splits) beginning to show through. Although almost hairline they would open up sooner or later. I’ve now cut about 1” off and will do it again. Apologies for the delay, yew is just one those woods I’m afraid, sometimes no problem other times this can happen.”

Decision time. Three Yew shaving brush handles to choose from.

Then another week or so and it was decision time as “beejay” sent me the following email: “Almost done, just a case of you picking the handle you’d like the knot to be set in. I’ve attached 3 pics showing the knot in each one. L-R, Purple Yew from my stock as the piece you had with some showing kept splintering and checking on me and I couldn’t really get a workable piece from it that looked nice. No extra charge for this by the way. Middle one is from the second piece you sent and it’s quite a nice piece with a few pips at the base giving it a bit of character. RH is another piece from my stock with just a hint of sapwood, the rest dark heartwood with some pips showing. Nice pattern on this bit. Again no extra charge if you want this one. They’ve all had one coat of oil and a light buff to show a soft sheen. Let me know which one you’d like and I’ll set the knot, give it a few more coats/buff and get it out to you probably Saturday if that’s Ok. I need that time as it’ll be 1 maybe 2 coats per day.”

Obviously the middle one was the choice as it comes from the original Ennerdale yew tree. And it looks fantastic. “Beejay also sent a travel tube with a lovely wooden lid, the handle on the left in the picture above as a spare, a wooden pen and a letter with more details of the brush and comprehensive usage and care instructions.

Custom Yew Silvertip Badger shaving brush, letter, spare handle, travelling tube and wooden pen.

Custom Yew Silvertip Badger shaving brush in its travel tube

Custom Yew Silvertip Badger shaving brush handles

Custom Yew Silvertip Badger shaving brush

So out of the disaster of breaking the marble brush handle I now a have a special, unique, very high quality brush which is a work of art as well as being a functional tool. “Beejay” has excelled himself in delivering such a great product with a great service. And the whole exercise has cost very little compared with buying an equivalent top end shaving brush off a shop shelf.

Here you can see a few pictures of some of the old shaving brushes I have acquired in my travels. On the front row are some Culmak brushes that are very common in the UK, in the centre of which is a small Bakelite brush. On the left of the back row are three of the prized “butterscotch” handled brushes, these were made from a thermosetting polymer called Catalin which oxidises over time to this colour. The big one on the left is very faintly branded “Boots” so is probably a rebranded Rooney, the next one looks like it could be a Culmak or maybe a Simpson’s shape, the next two I don’t know anything about. On the right are probably two Kent BK2s.

Now I am sure that there are some people who collect these, just as there are people who collect postage stamps, but their real value is in being brought back into use, many keen traditional shavers see brush restoration as being a key part of their hobby. The first step is to remove the bundle of hairs (the knot) which is usually held in with epoxy or a vintage equivalent strong glue. This requires great care and the weapon of choice is usually a Dremel. The handle can then be polished, repainted or revarnished as appropriate and a new knot cemented in.

One of the great things about brush restoration is the huge choice of knots that are available from companies like The Golden Knib. Not only that, you can choose how deep to put the knot in the handle, which has a huge effect on the backbone of the brush. So the restored brush is very customised to be exactly what the user wants.

If you are too lazy or impractical to do this for yourself there are some brush manufacturers and some brush restorers who will do it for you. Whichever route you follow you can end up with a very nice shaving brush indeed for a very economic price.