Entries Tagged 'Shaving brushes' ↓

The author of this fascinating and seminal article is Zach, it appeared on a forum a while ago and is credited with changing the attitude of the shaving community towards boar brushes. Recent deletions and shenanigans typical of shaving forums have persuaded Zach to have this published here to give it a safe home and to reach a wider audience:

A beginner’s guide to boar brushes

Boar bristles are very easy to come by, and cost far less than badger, which is a protected species in many parts of the world. The primary supplier of boar bristle is China, but there is a fair amount sourced from India and from Russia as well. Boar bristles are thicker and stronger than badger, but not nearly as flexible. Boar bristle will absorb water, whereas badger will shed water; badger, however can hold more water than boar, likely because of surface tension and water’s attraction to the greater quantity of the finer hairs in the badger brush. If you shake them out, however, they will both give up all the water that they held (minus the amount that the boar bristles have absorbed).

Unlike the many grades of badger hair, boar bristles are not categorized by the area of the boar they are retrieved from. There is no commonly accepted means to classify bristle. Primarily we can describe boar bristles as:

Unbleached (natural bristles, which can be yellow or brown or even gray)
Bleached (natural bristles that have been bleached white)
Sketched (natural bristles bleached white and then dyed with a stripe to resemble badger)
Clipped (instead of being formed, these brushes are clipped to make the rounded bulb)

Here is a picture, with L-R sketched blond, dyed white, blond no sketch

In addition to these basic measures, you can factor in a couple of more variables that do allow for a large variety of boar brush types. Given the above, you must also be aware of:

Hair length (the longer hairs are thicker and the shorter hairs are finer)
Loft (not necessarily the same as the above entry, as the long, thick hairs can be clipped from the bottom to allow for a thick but still short loft)
Hair thickness (finer hair can be more densely packed, and is less scrubby but softer)
Knot size (with boar, a bigger knot primarily means it will hold more soap)

Benefits of boar bristle

One important point about boar bristles, which is very different from badger, is that a natural boar bristle will split, over time, into 2 or 3 individual ‘hair tips’ connected to the same thick shaft. This gives you the benefit of a finer, thinner and softer hair with the support of a thicker, firmer bristle. If the bristles have been clipped, however, this will not likely happen, as the bristle has likely been cut below the area that would normally split. Also, thinner boar bristles will split less and also less often as will their thicker counterparts.

Here is a picture of a split bristle from an Omega 49 Professional:

Boar bristles are thicker and stronger, so they are naturally a better choice with hard soaps. A softer and much more flexible badger hair will require more work and more time to extract the same quantity of soap, simply because it has less ‘bite’. To imagine this, consider how much soap a wire brush would remove from a puck, and the reason why this is so. It’s not nearly as extreme a correlation, of course, but the simple concept is the same. And it’s the reason why boar is referred to as ‘bristle’ and why badger is referred to as ‘hair’.

If you will take a look at the next picture you’ll see a bristle from the #48 boar on the left, with a trident-like split at the tip. Next to it is a hair from a Rooney Super badger; the reason why it’s got a bit of a ‘squiggle’ to it is because I had to pull it out; I was not able to pull out the boar and had to cut it out. Clearly you can see why one is a bristle and the other a hair; close up it’s like 20lb fishing line next to a hair from my head:

Boar brushes hold less water. Why is this an advantage? Because even boar brushes hold more water than you will need, even boar brushes must be allowed to drain some water, or allowed some excess water to be shaken off. Too much water in the mix is the number one problem with bad lather. You’re far less likely to have this problem, simply by using a boar bristle brush. Stated more plainly: if a boar brush can hold too much water for lathering, and a badger brushes can hold WAY too much water, then the ability to hold more water becomes a risk to your lather.

Boar brushes take longer to create a great lather. Why is this an advantage? Because of the simple fact that if you take more time to make lather, you’re more able to catch mistakes and compensate for them; also you won’t be as likely to miss the ‘sweet spot’ in your lather. A simple analogy is slow motion; if you can see things happening in slow motion, you can sidestep a potentially big problem. Boar brushes therefore allow for a more consistent lather than badger does; while this may mean nothing to an expert, recall the title of this post.

Boar brushes are ideal for face lathering. Why is that? Well, because the lathering on the face part is not all about the face, it’s about the hair on your face. Boar works this hair harder, works lather into your pores and into your follicles better, and softens up the hair better by giving it a better workout. Also, contrary to popular belief, a boar brush, when wet, is not prickly, and when broken in, is soft and very easy on even sensitive skin.

Boar brushes are somewhat ‘adjustable’. Since a boar brush will absorb water, if you let it soak in hot water for 5 minutes while you shower, you will get the softest shave possible with that brush. If you do not, however, you will get a stiffer shave. If you have 2 of the same boar and switch between them every other day, allowing the brushes 48 hours each to become bone dry, they will give you the stiffest shave possible for that brush.

So, in summary:
1) Too much water?
2) Not enough soap?
3) Not enough consistency?
4) Like to face lather?

Answers: 1) boar, 2) boar, 3) boar, 4) boar

What to look for in your first boar brush

Boar brushes are not made like badger brushes. There is no manufacturer that will spare no expense to make the finest boar brush possible; you cannot spend $50 on a boar brush. However, in the past couple of years, boar brushes of high quality have been manufactured by various companies in Europe; Omega no longer stands alone as the maker of good boar brushes.
Still, at first, just get an Omega #48/49 professional brush, and get to know it. Then, once you understand it, you can get other boar brushes. You can get this brush, delivered, for under $20. The Omega professional is the standard brush by which all other boar are judged; that’s not to say that it’s the best boar brush, but it is the most popular, for good reason, and it is the reference that we can all use to compare. It has a 26-28mm knot of blond boar bristle; it’s fairly scrubby, even when broken in, and it can hold a copious amount of lather. The handle is extremely functional and useful; it’s made of ABS plastic and comes in chrome, gold, and chrome sketch. This is a very tall brush, over 5” tall.

More to the topic, though, what to look for in a boar brush, and what not to look for:
Don’t buy a cheap $5 boar brush and think that you know boar
Do buy most any Omega brush that you like the handle of and the size of
Boar brushes can shed when new; this is normal, especially for the densely packed brushes. Omegas generally do not shed; some brushes are shedders, though, like the Van Der Hagen brush; try to avoid known shedders, which are many, as most boar brushes made in China wholesale for $1
Unless you are specifically looking for a scratchy brush, don’t buy brushes with clipped bristles, like the Burma Shave brush, and the similar looking, newer stock Ever Ready brush; the Edwin Jagger boar is somewhat of an exception here; scrubby but not annoying. Still, if you have sensitive skin, pass on any clipped boar, Jagger included.
Buy any English made boar from Kent or Vulfix, also Colonel Conk (which is made by Vulfix).
Buy any Semogue made brush in Portugal. If you like a big brush, buy the 2000. If you like a smaller brush, try the 1305. If you’re not sure, try the 1305.
I would pass on boar brushes made by Muehle and Boreal, but that’s a personal observation.
Koh-I-Noor brushes are also very good Italian made boar brushes.
If you want to get multiple passes from one loading, you can adopt an aggressive lathering technique and get this done with any brush, but you will have the most success with medium sized brushes with big knots, like my favorite, the Omega 31064 and family, known by some as Group 66.
Plan on using soap with your boar and lathering directly on the puck; if you plan to use cream, plan on using a mug or lathering in your hand.
A heavier handle works better with boar, as it seems to go along with the added effort in lathering; Vulfix makes wonderful lathe turned handles, and Omega makes solid acrylic handles; these IMHO are best for boar. Also quite to my liking is solid wood, as in the Semogue; this adds a certain ambiance to the ‘old school’ atmosphere of traditional wet shaving that I am quite fond of.
You can buy 5 boar brushes and have them delivered for less than 1 good badger, so if money is not an issue, buy a couple and take them for a spin; if money is an issue, get the #48/49 which is under $20 delivered. If money is really a problem, get a <$3 Delong brush from China, which has a hard to use and cheap plastic handle, but, does lather pretty well. And save $1 a week for 5 months and get the Omega. And do NOT buy that shave soap offered on that site!! (And don’t buy that brush, either, unless you need to, it’s not a good brush, but the knot (thought small) is not terrible).

What to do with your new boar brush

Your new boar brush is going to have a smell on it, that’s all there is to it. It’s an animal product, and it has come from a wild animal. The amount of time and effort necessary to de-skunk these bristles is likely costlier than the manufacturers would like, or else they would do a better job with these brushes. Now, for those who have not smelled it, it’s kind of like wet dog, but it’s not that bad. And you can’t smell it at all, until you bring the brush to your face. Your wife is NOT going to come running upstairs wondering if something died in the bathroom. I am going to describe what it is that I like to do before the first use. I think I can get 90% or more of the smell out this way, and, after that, I just use it, and it eventually goes away completely. Keep in mind that since boar absorbs water, that some of the smell has been absorbed by the bristles, likely, as part of the cleaning process, so you have to account for that as well; this is why it does not come clean the first shot, and takes a couple three shaves to clean out; I wrote the following for a friend; this is what I do:

Instructions for you:
First, rinse the brush under a stream of hot tap water for 1 minute, pretending it’s full of soap. This to rinse off anything on the surface of the hairs. Next, get a very clean mug; boil some water.
Place the brush in the empty mug, bristles down, and eyeball it so that you know more or less exactly how much water to put into the mug to coat the bristles right up to the ring; take the brush out.
Fill the mug with boiling water to the mark you made in your head.
If you have an instant read thermometer you want 165 degrees, enough to kill germs; if you do not, wait about 5-7 mins or so.
Place the brush in the water, and let it sit for 5 mins.
You will notice how the tip that was once tapered is now splayed out; this is key; you need this separation of bristle to de-stink the brush.
Add about ½ teaspoon of borax to the water; if you don’t have borax, you can use a couple of drops of shampoo for hair.
The reason why you waited the first 5 mins with plain water was so that the brush, which absorbs water, does not absorb any soap nor funk (I have been doing this for years).
Now grasp the brush handle between your palms like a stick of wood that you’re going to start a fire with; rub your palms briskly with the brush between them so that the brush spins in the water like a washing machine agitator; if this is messy or uncomfortable just twist it back and forth with your hand; agitate for a good minute, then rinse under running water; you can shave with it now or save it for tomorrow.

Now I know that this super hot water thing is controversial; but this is exactly what I do. I know that Giovanni disagrees with me on this one, and he has been told by at least one brush manufacturer to NOT expose the knot to water, much less really hot water. Boreal, for example, writes on the box itself to not submerge the brush underwater. And maybe I would too, if I were a brush manufacturer. Gio’s recommendation for disinfecting the brush would be to rinse it in a 50% solution of water and Listerine, followed by a quick wash with baby shampoo; you might want to try this; for sure it would be more gentle on the brush.
However, here is something you must always remember:
Never dip the brush into anything that you don’t want to put on your face! For example, Barbicide. This is a toxic chemical, and you don’t want your brush absorbing this.

Before each shave, for at least 20 shaves, place it in a mug of hot water and let is soak while you shower. After about a month, you will notice the tips of the brush are starting to split, and the brush is softer and holding more soap and lather than when it was brand new. I’ve said this before but will repeat myself for the purposes of this guide:
A badger brush is ready to run, right out of the box. Let’s say that it’s 90% of everything that it will ever become on the first use. The boar brush is NOT. It’s a different brush in a week, and again in a month, and again in 3 months. The boar takes 3 months of use to reach 90%.

The brush will soften immensely over time, and work much better as well, across the board; your patience will be rewarded with great shaves and a lot of satisfaction.

Lathering soap with your boar brush

Lathering means a lot of different things to different people. Some people like an airy, huge meringue of lather; others like a paste; some like watery lather, others a dry lather. Some like a bowl, others a hand, some like to face lather, and some like a shave stick.
So, for the purposes of making you happy, of course, do as you see fit; for the purposes of this thread, however, I will offer what I think makes the best shave: a thick, protective, and slick layer of soap. If you read this thread you’ll know how I feel about the topic of soap. Use it, and use a lot of it. Lather up before the first pass, then rinse with hot water and re-lather for each subsequent pass. You don’t need less protection for your second or third pass, you need more; you’ve just scraped a layer of skin off your face with a blade. Use a lot of soap!

So with the boar, you’ll notice that it pretty much holds the right amount of water with little help. For the sake of consistency, don’t run your brush under a stream of water, submerge it instead in a cup of hot water. Remove it from the water, and start using it once it’s done dripping; this is the amount of water you want. You will use this water to create lather; the lather will be too wet. Use this wet lather to make better lather, do not shave with this lather. This lather is high water content, and just keep capturing it with the brush and working it into the soap, pulling off more and more soap into your mix, making a thicker and thicker lather, up until the point where you have a brush that’s fully loaded with cream, and you can then use this on your face.
This is an Omega #49 lathered with some Valobra soap until it achieves the proper consistency. Notice the lack of any overwhelming meringue; what is in there is dense, and slick, and protective:

Here are the points on lathering:

• The use of soap, water, and a brush are the ingredients to make a lather
• Start off with a brush full of water, which is more water than you think you need
• Recapture the water with your brush by swirling in a bowl; use this water to make more lather
• Use the lather you are creating to continue the lathering process, mixing in more and more soap until you have built a cream and your brush is loaded with it
• If you lose lather out the side of your bowl, don’t worry about it
• Once that’s done, you lather onto your wet face to further build the into your beard
• You finish with a painting stroke to even it all out
• A hotter water will do more damage to the soap
• A stiffer bristle will also do more damage to the soap
• Use the water in the brush to make more and more cream that will go deeper and deeper into your brush to solve the problem of a long bristled brush ‘eating’ your cream
• If you insist on three passes from one load, you can accomplish this; in the beginning of the break-in process you can squeeze the lather from the base into the tips for the third pass

Lathering creams with a boar brush

Lathering a cream with a boar is easy to do, however, unlike a soap, it’s not completely idiot proof.
With a soap, you can’t have too much water; with a cream, you sure can; with cream it’s more important that you start out with the right amount of water. The best way to assure consistent results with a cream is to start off a little dry, and then wet the tips of the brush to add more water when necessary.

There are several ways that you can go about this:

1) Use a bowl, and place an amount of cream in the bowl. Depending on the cream and the size of your brush, this might be an almond sized amount, or more for some creams. Take the wet brush out of the mug, or run it under water if you like, and hold it until it stops dripping, then give it one good shake. Start working the cream at this time. If you like a thick cream, you can work it for 15 seconds in the bowl, then bring it directly to your wet face, and continue working it on your face for at least 30 seconds, up to a minute if you like. Finish with a painting stroke to even it all out. If you need more water, after having worked the cream onto your face, dip the tips (let’s say 1/2″ to 3/4″ of the tips) into some hot water, and bring that back to your face, and quickly run it over your face to evenly add the moisture, and then continue working it into your beard.

If you like a fluffy lather, you can work the lather in the bowl for 1-2 minutes, adding water as necessary, until you have built up a mug full of lather, and then apply that to your face.
If you like a wet lather, work it in the mug as above, with more water.

2) You can add the dollop of cream into the palm of your hand, and with the wet brush as above (full brush with 1 big shake) start to make lather in the palm of your hand. Continue this for 20-30 seconds; take the soapy palm of your hand and wipe it onto your wet face, followed by the brush, lathering onto your face. If you need more water, dip the tips into some hot water, bring the brush to your face, then quickly and evenly distribute the water, and continue to work the lather; finish off with a painting stroke to even it all out.

3) Dip your wet brush directly into your tub of cream; take the wet brush, invert the tub of cream and swirl your brush into the cream, upside down, until you have a nice load onto your brush; the reason for doing this upside down is so that you don’t accidentally dilute your cream with water from the brush. Take this brush directly to your wet face, work it into your face for a minute or so. If you need more water, dip the tips into some hot water, bring the brush to your face, and then quickly and evenly distribute the water, and continue working the lather; finish off with a painting stroke to even it all out.

4) Spread the cream directly onto your wet face, like using a shave stick, and lather it with a wet brush. This is a very easy and very effective way to lather a cream with any brush, however, if you have sensitive skin, it’s not a good idea with some soaps that can be irritating, for example, Trumper Violet. Other creams can also be drying in this high concentration; you’ll have to experiment with what works for you.

No matter which method you use, start out with a dryer brush, and add water if needed.

The more water you use, and the more air you whip into your soap, the more lather you will create; this lather may look impressive, but it’s not good for shaving. A badger brush, with its finer hairs, can whip more air into lather than a boar can, and can make a more impressive looking lather.

If you have too wet a lather, you can add more cream to compensate.

If you are running out of soap for a touchup pass, you can squeeze the bristles from the knot out to the tips, moving the trapped soap back to where you can use it.

If you like a warm lather with your cream, use the mug method; let the mug soak in hot water to absorb its heat, and this heat can be transferred to your dollop of cream. The worst method would be brush directly into pot of cream, directly to your face; this will be cold. For the best possible hot lather with a cream, of course, invest in a scuttle.

Care of your brush

A good boar brush won’t last as long as a good badger brush, and there are three reasons for this. First, boar bushes are a quantity item, whereas badger brushes are a quality item. Boar is for the masses, and as such is produced en masse. Badger is for the (let’s just say more selective to be polite) and are built in a (more discerning) manner. Oh, and they are priced accordingly.

Second, because the bristle is thicker and less flexible, it will break after some time. After a couple of years of use, what you think is shedding is more likely breaking at the area around the top of the knot, due to flexing.

Third, because the bristles expand when wet, the knot that they are set in experiences this swell on a daily basis, and is therefore more prone to cracking than a badger knot would be. Also, since the bristle is thicker, the holes in the glue knot are larger; subsequently the knot has less glue in it, and is therefore more prone to breaking than a badger knot. Omega puts their glue knot into a plastic ‘cup’ to help counteract this, but most do not (Kent, Vulfix, and every single $5 brush).
Still expect to use a boar for 10 years or so, but, bottom line, it won’t last as long as badger.
With regard to the care of your brush, after the initial cleaning, you can use your brush as you would any other brush. The boar brush doesn’t tend to cake up and require cleaning nearly as often as the badger brush, however, if you like, you can clean it, but, since the bristle will absorb water, be careful of what you use, and of how long you use it. I find that using superheated water as a soak and spin will do just as much good as a borax soak. Boil some water, and then let it cool, till it’s about 165 degrees; then soak, and spin. By spin, I mean just that. Let the brush soak till the bristles splay, then twist it really fast via the rubbing together of your palms, or any means you have to make keep the handle in one place but still spinning back and forth like the agitator of a washing machine.

If you buy a used boar brush and for whatever reason intend to use it, go with 175 degree water to kill as many germs as possible, and a borax soak. Follow the ‘how to clean your new brush’ instructions. If especially funky you might want to use the hot water / borax solution and then an ultrasonic cleaner; this is the best you can do.
With vintage brushes, be careful of the knot, if the brush looks old and dried up, there’s a good chance that the knot can crack. If so, just make use of the handle and replace the knot with a badger knot.
Since boar brushes absorb water, and badger does not, it’s very important to not let your boar brush dry with a load of lather in it; this soap will be absorbed into the bristle and subsequently when the brush dries after rinsing it will feel stiff and inflexible; also, after years of service, if you don’t rinse them well after use, a boar brush will eventually become dryer and inflexible. It’s important that you soak this brush before use, then rinse well and let dry, soaking before each use for at least a month in an effort to try to remedy the damage. If you use a brush in this condition, you stand a very good chance of breaking bristles, and possibly even cracking the knot.

What not to do with your boar brush

I have read all these things on the boards (not just this one) many times.
Don’t do this:

• Don’t hit your tips with a hammer to soften them
• Don’t use sand paper on a boar brush for the same reason
• Don’t soak your brush in Barbicide
• Don’t lather up your brush on a brick or on cement
• Don’t boil your brush

Frequently asked questions

What’s the best way for me to break in my boar brush?
- Just use it to shave with

But what if I want to break it in faster? What if I can’t wait?
- Use a badger brush instead

I’m afraid to use a boar brush, because I have sensitive skin, and I have heard that they are not for people like myself
- All skin is sensitive, and unless it’s a clipped version of the bristle, it’s softer than most badger

I’ve heard a lot of great things about boar brushes; if these are true, then why are they not more popular?
- The truth is that in most parts of the world where people use a brush to shave, people use boar. It is that popular, it always has been.

What is the absolute best boar brush on the market?
- The one that makes you the happiest

In conclusion, I would like to borrow this summation from Ren, who stated quite eloquently the following:

IMO, the boar vs. badger debate is similar to the soap vs. cream debate. Each category is different, but each is perfectly suitable for the task at hand.

Thanks, Ren!
I agree; use what makes you happy.
I use boar for several reasons; the most obvious is that this is how my father taught me, and this is what I have always used. The second is because for me, it works better. And I like to use soap, and I like to use a lot of soap, and I like to load up between passes. But I also like cream, and a broken in 31064 does not fall short with this task, and the Trumper feels just as luxurious with the Omega as it does with the Simpson.
Plus, it suits me.
And I’m very lucky to know that and to be able to say that.
I like everything that I acquire to suit me and not the other way around, and I don’t believe that anything that I acquire makes a statement about who I am.
I am what I am, I cannot be made into anything else.
If you feel this way too, I encourage you to try an old school boar brush!

Fido is a retired senior local government officer who has taken up a series of interests to fill his retirement, which he blogs about. Initially this was bells, the sort that ring not the sort that you drink. Then he turned his attention to traditional shaving with a blog and with more focus to shaving brushes with another blog.

Fido’s shaving brush blog is interesting because he spent a lot of money buying a representative cross section of the world’s current production. He also investigated the whole business model of the shaving brush industry and was surprised to discover that, regardless of the name printed on the brush,  they largely seem to come from China. Sometimes the whole brush and sometimes just the knot.

Fido then realised that there was an immense price differential between the factory door price for these brushes in China and the retail price that customers were being asked for them in the West. This was an opportunity, all he had to do was to be less greedy. Fido was very well positioned because his brush collection and his blog had put him in the position of possessing expert knowledge, something he could pass on to his customers in the brushes that he offered. New Forest Brushes was born.

This is in some ways very similar to what Ian Tang in China does on eBay with Frank Shaving brushes. He also buys from the factory and sells directly to the customer. We shaving brush buyers have become very lucky with both these enterprising gentlemen.

The first New Forest brush was a limited edition, or in manufacturing terms a batch. Imaginatively it was called the 2201, it has a two band badger knot of 22 mm and a loft of about 50 mm which makes it an all round brush that will handle both soaps and creams and any lathering method. The head is made of redressed and resorted long best badger hair. But the best thing about it was that Fido was doing the quality control, so you knew you were getting a good brush.

Hardly surprisingly word got out very quickly on the grapevine that there was a new £25 brush that outperformed all the traditional brands at that price and even at considerably higher price points. And the 2201 promptly sold out. Those who have them are lucky that they got in when they did. And now Fido had a public who wanted more.

So it follows, in a logical numbering sequence, that we now have the 2211, which is a silvertip with a knot of 22 mm and a loft of 48 mm. It has extra hair to increase density. If you want one then Paypal (with shipping address) £35 to [email protected]

I am 100% positive that this is an excellent brush, that it will get rave reviews and that it will prove to be very popular, especially with Christmas coming up.

Here are a few words from Fido himself:

“My brushes are not a simple  factory produced job with my brand added. To get to my first brush, I had bought and used examples of every type of brush on the market from a few pounds to all the top models, inc the Rooney Finest, Plisson High White Mountain, the Super Simpson grades and many others. It wasn’t until I had assessed and used them all and studied different approaches to manufacturing that I had the idea of designing and specifying my own.

I had many types of brush handle, brush hair, shape and loft sizes made as samples before selecting the specific brush I wanted made – quite different to the standard factory model. A lot of effort also went in to my second brush – which I happen to be delighted with. This venture of mine has taken up a great deal of time and effort and I am open minded about how it will develop. If my brushes continue to be well received I will continue as long as I can keep the work within bounds. I have had several offers from retailers to sell my brushes, but I am reluctant to force the prices up.

The whole point of my operation is a small highly focussed personal one man business that is intended as much for fun as for profit. I certainly don’t want to be seen as a threat to established brush makers or to custom brush makers whose products I highly regard. I am just an eccentric old Englishman who has this peculiar love of shaving brushes!

disclaimer: No product or money changed hands in the writing of this article. Unlike certain shaving forums where vendors pay the forum management. I own a New Forest 2201 and paid for it myself, it is an excellent brush.

Horse hair shaving brushes are absolutely brilliant. I have this model and it is fantastic. I have seen it said that horse has 85% of the good attributes of badger hair and 85% of the good attributes of boar hair. They are also perfect for vegans and vegetarians because no animal is harmed in their manufacture, only clippings from normal grooming are used.  Whichever way you look at it they are really excellent and are inexpensive. So why aren’t they more common?

The answer is that they used to be, but that anthrax ruined their reputation in the West. Below is a brief article from the May 1925 edition of the American Journal of Public Health, read this and you can see why they fell from grace. But don’t let this put you off, a good manufacturer in a first world country is going to make perfectly safe brushes, for instance Vie-Long in Spain make some excellent horse hair brushes.

Horse hair brushes today are very popular in Muslim countries that are in the developing world, badger hair is too expensive and boar hair is unclean. There does not seem to be a medical problem caused by the millions of men who use one of these brushes every day, so presumably public health techniques have advanced since the 1920s. And, of course this form of anthrax is very easily treated with common antibiotics these days.

ANTHRAX FROM SHAVING BRUSHES
THE DANGER from shaving brushes infected with anthrax spores has once more been painfully called to our attention by the sad death of Professor Ellermann of the University of Copenhagen. On December 17, 1924, a small spot appeared on his left cheek. It was soon followed by considerable edema, but without marked general symptoms. An examination of his shaving brush showed that it was dyed Chinese horsehair, made to imitate badger, and from the hair anthrax was isolated. The diagnosis was clear, and in spite of the injection of anthrax serum, Professor Ellermann died on December 24.
The experience of the American army is still fresh in the mind of everyone. During the war shaving brushes supplied by the Quartermaster’s Department of the army were found to be infected with anthrax spores. So many cases occurred both in the army and in civilian life that certain cities and states forbade the sale or handling of horsehair shaving brushes, especially those made in Japan. In the army there were 149 cases with 22 deaths, all of which were believed to be due to shaving brushes.
In England the first case of anthrax traced to a shaving brush occurred in 1915. From 1915 to 1921 in the civilian population 50 cases occurred with 18 deaths. Among the British troops in France between January, 1915, and February, 1917, 28 cases occurred, and in the navy six cases somewhat later than this. It was not possible to demonstrate that the infection in all of these cases came from shaving brushes, but since the majority of them were on some part of the face and neck, the indications were that shaving brushes could be fairly incriminated. So strong were the indications that the government prohibited the importation of shaving brushes manufactured in Japan. A large number of suspected shaving brushes were destroyed, and the infection was brought to an end. This new case, with the history of those which have already been published, indicates a source of danger against which we should constantly be on our guard.

And there is this from The Journal of The American Medical Association in 1921:

OCCURRENCE OF VIRULENT ANTHRAX BACILLI IN CHEAP SHAVING BRUSHES

DOUGLAS SYMMERS, M.D.; D. W. CADY, M.D.

In the six years elapsing between October, 1915, and November, 1921, thirty-six cases of cutaneous anthrax were admitted to the isolation pavilion of Bellevue Hospital and, of this number, ten, or approximately 28 per cent., followed the use of shaving brushes. During a period of one year and nine months ending Oct. 1, 1920, thirty-four cases of cutaneous anthrax were reported to the New York Department of Health and, of this number, seventeen, or 50 per cent., were traceable to shaving brushes.¹ From these figures it appears not only that infested shaving brushes are to be incriminated as carriers of anthrax in an astonishing percentage of cases, but also that this method of conveyance is becoming increasingly common…………more

And to give some content from this side of the pond there is this from 1927:

“BACILLUS ANTHRACOIDES.”
A STUDY OF ITS BIOLOGICAL CHARACTERS AND RELATIONSHIPS
AND ITS PATHOGENIC PROPERTIES UNDER
EXPERIMENTAL CONDITIONS.
BY A. M. M. GRIERSON.
(From the Bacteriology Department, Edinburgh University.)
INTRODUCTION.
IT has long been recognised that within the group of Gram-positive aerobic sporing bacilli there occur saprophytic organisms which simulate the anthrax bacillus closely, both in their morphological and cultural characters, for example, in the specially characteristic appearance of surface colonies on culture medium. Organisms of this type have been described in bacteriological literature as “anthrax-like” bacilli, B. anthracis similis (McFarland, 1898), B. pseudo-anthracis (Burri, 1894; Hartleb and Stutzer, 1897), B. anthracoides (Hiippe and Wood, 1889; Bainbridge, 1903; Ponder, 1912; and others), and the biological relationship of such organisms to B. anthracis and other members of the group is of some interest and practical importance. In the routine examination of pathological and other material for B. anthracis, such organisms may be encountered and inoculation tests in animals may be considered necessary to ensure their differentiation from the anthrax bacillus. These organisms, however, have not been systematically studied and there is some
confusion in the literature regarding their various characters and relationships. Further reference will be made to this later.
The attention of the writer was first drawn to these organisms in the examination of shaving brushes from a consignment which had been reported to be contaminated with B. anthracis. These brushes were found to contain large numbers of organisms presenting the general morphological and cultural characters of the anthrax bacillus, their colonies, for example, being very similar, though the subsequent biological tests and inoculation experiments in animals differentiated them clearly from this organism. The inoculation tests proved that they were not devoid of pathogenic properties and at first raised the question as to whether they were attenuated forms of B. anthracis.
The pathogenicity of this type of organism under experimental conditions seemed therefore not only of considerable biological interest but also of practical importance in view of its apparent relationship to B. anthracis, and the initial observations thus led to a biological and experimental study of various strains from different sources and a further consideration of their relationship both to the anthrax bacillus and other members of the group of Gram-positive aerobic sporing bacilli………………………..more

It is, perhaps these anthrax problems that led to many shaving brushes to be labelled “sterilised” or in America “sterilized” . With modern medicine this is just an interesting footnote in history, it is just a pity that it has led to horse hair brushes being less common.

As I have said before on here badger shaving brush knots are mainly made in China, they are available in the West from companies like The Golden Nib or, in quantities, directly from China. This means that to make your own custom brush all you have to do is turn your own handle, after which you can simply glue the knot you have bought into it. Many hobbyists are doing this.

But it also opens the door to small, artisan, businesses to provide low volume hand crafted brushes that can be unique works of art. Kimson in Vietnam is one such company, they specialise in making handles out of horn which they sell for $30 to $50. But the jewel in the crown is their black buffalo horn brush handle inlaid with abalone which you can see being made in the videos below. For this they charge $60, or $80 with a silvertip knot already glued in. Kimson handles are absolutely beautiful and have been well received by those lucky enough to own one.

As I have stressed repeatedly everything about traditional shaving is personal to you. You do exactly what you want no matter what anyone else says. This is part of the whole anarchic joy and is the exact opposite of the constrained, walled garden, approach that the big global shaving companies try and force on their customers.

To make a lather to shave with we can use either soaps or creams (there are also soft soaps which are half way between) then using a bit of elbow grease, a good brush and some water we magically convert this into a superb, luxuriant cushion and lubricant for our shave. 1,000 times better than any aerosol foam or gel.

There are three techniques to build a lather. Firstly you can use a mug, bowl or scuttle, gradually adding the water and working till you have a rich lather. The second technique is the same but using the cupped palm of your left hand in which to build the lather. Thirdly you can actually build the lather on your face, just load the brush then work it on your face till it delivers the results you want. I go for this third option and here’s why:

• It is simpler, there is no intermediate step. It is also quicker.
• The action of building the lather with the brush is good for you. It massages and exfoliates your face.
• This process gives more time for the lather to soften your stubble which makes the whole shave better and easier.
• It keeps the lather warm.
• A good brush will hold enough lather for multiple passes, you don’t need to use a bowl.
• I shave in the shower, a bowl would tend to get unwanted water in it.
• Face lathering is much less complicated when you travel. One less item required.
• With shaving sticks it is awkward not to face lather.
• It gets the concentrated soap, at the beginning of the process, right into the stubble.

You may well completely disagree with all of this, which is your choice and which does not make either of us right or wrong. But face lathering works just perfectly for me.

Whilst the reaction to Frank Shaving brushes has been very favourable indeed and many people are enjoying these high quality badger brushes having paid very low prices for them, there is always ways that things can be improved and Ian Tang, my supplier, is very keen to look after his customers.

One of the main parameters of a shaving brush is how much stiffness is built into the knot (the bundle of hairs), this is the result of a number of factors in the construction of the brush. Some people prefer their brushes floppy so they can paint their faces, usually with shaving cream lather. At the other extreme there are those who like a lot of backbone to attack hard soaps and to massage the face vigorously. So there was demand for Frank Shaving to produce a brush with more backbone.

Now it is not as if the original $9.99 Frank Shaving Finest Badger brush is floppy. Far from it. It compares well with some expensive European brushes and has no problem with hard soaps. But there are other brushes that are stiffer and this is what some people wanted from Frank Shaving too. The Frank Shaving Silvertip is considerably floppier, but then that is the nature of silvertip hair.

On his eBay adverts Ian has always listed the knot dimensions (which differ quite a lot, these are handmade items) so people have been able to select their brush’s backbone to a degree. When he asked me if I thought that he should go to even shorter lofts I sent him the knot dimensions of the Simpson brush range as a reference point. Even a couple of millimetres change in the loft can make a considerable difference to how the brush behaves.

As a result Ian has had some short loft brushes made and sent me two prototypes to sample. One is a Silvertip with a 22mm knot according to my vernier. The other is a 3 band Best Badger, not the 2 band Finest that Frank normally use, with a knot of around 21mm. Both of these brushes have a 50mm loft. This is a full 5mm less than the loft of the original Silvertip and Finest brushes that I bought, a big difference.

Out of the box the softness of the tips is still there, but there is a marked difference between the long and short loft silvertips, the newer brush feeling more luxurious. The long loft Finest and the short loft Best are both less soft than the Silvertips and have the slight pricklyness that you would expect, but they feel exactly the same as each other. Both short loft brushes have more backbone though. I used both of them to work up a lather using a puck of Mitchell’s Wool Fat hard soap which is a stern test. The Silvertip did the job quickly and efficiently the short loft Best even faster, it loaded up the soap as fast as any brush I have used before. So far so good.

Day 1. Used Mitchell’s Wool Fat and the short loft Silvertip on the left of my face with the short loft Best on the right side of my face, face lathering with both which is a very stern test. The Best just romped away, it loaded quick and made a great lather with no effort. The Silvertip was not so happy, it still did the job, but didn’t load or lather so easily. However it was extremely soft and luxurious on the face. So, much as you would expect of a Silvertip.

Day 2. Taylor’s of Old Bond Street (TOBS) Lavender cream. Once again a side of the face each, charged both brushes up and face lathered. Both brushes were excellent at this, honours were even. They held enough charge for four passes with enough left for several more. The difference was that the Best was more prickly whilst the Silvertip was again superbly soft.

Day 3. Proraso cream. This time it was the short lofted silvertip Vs the long lofted silvertip that I bought earlier. The short lofted brush has bloomed much more than the long lofted so may be packed more densely, also when dry the tips are now much softer. I charged both brushes up then face lathered half my face with each through 3 passes. The biggest difference between them was that the short lofted brush was markedly softer and more luxurious at the tips, secondly it released its charge of lather more easily and finally it had a tiny bit more backbone, but you really had to go looking for this.

Day 4 etc I will post in the comments section at the bottom of this article. Plus some conclusions.

Finally, Ian has added another new brush to his listings, this time it is a Silvertip with a massive 28mm knot and a 54mm loft. This is a short loft for such a big brush and it must hold enough lather to shave an entire rugby team. It would certainly be perfect for a lady who wanted to shave her legs.

note: A well known shaving forum has deleted a lot of posts from their members about Frank Shaving brushes. When challenged their moderators came up with reasons that are, at best, spurious and disingenuous. Charges of multiple accounts and shilling are untrue and absurd. You would wonder what their real, ulterior motives were for this action. This same forum has banned many of the key people in today’s traditional shaving renaissance, they have also banned some of the very best suppliers of goods. Once again their stated reasons for doing so are often spurious and disingenuous. They lose relevance and credibility by their actions. It is a great pity that real shaving lacks an unpoliticised, vibrant, well moderated online community, something that is surely holding back the development of the movement.

Meanwhile the members of the offending forum are being deprived of knowledge of one of the great bargains of modern traditional shaving, the Frank Shaving brush. That you can buy such high quality, luxurious items at far lower prices than the competition is something we should all be shouting about. And it is the only reason that I have championed these products.

further note: The other two great bargains of traditional shaving are the Lord L6 razor and the European Palmolive tallow shaving stick.

Absolutely fascinating stuff and interesting to compare with the Edwin Jagger brush making video I posted earlier. This one is in Portuguese, but you can still see what is going on. The Edwin Jagger video didn’t show knot manufacture so taking the two together gives a good overall view of how our shaving brushes are made.

A couple of months ago I was putting together a traditional shaving starter kit for a friend who has high moral scruples concerning the impact that his existence has on other animals. So perhaps I can share with you the issues involved.

With the razor and blade there are no big issues, obviously. These are made of metal. The only possibility for concern would be waxes and glues used in the packaging of blades, but the same applies to the packaging of just about everything in our lives.

The real problem is in making a lather, many of the best shaving soaps are made from tallow, which is animal fat and the best brushes are made from the hair of badgers that have been killed as vermin, mainly in China.

The tallow can be avoided by using creams, which are mainly made of plant oils such as palm oil. Maca Root cream from The Body Shop is a prime example.

Another way of retaining the high moral ground is to use tallow soaps where the tallow was produced without harming animals, such as the wool fat extracted from sheep wool shearing. On Mitchell’s Wool Fat soap’s packet it says “No animal suffers in the preparation of this bio-degradable product”.

And finally you can buy your soaps and creams from artisan makers who have their own high ethical standards. Nanny’s Silly Soap Company say: “I provide a range of soaps all of which are vegetarian, and most of which are vegan. The non vegan ingredients used in some of my products are honey, goat’s milk and tussah silk (wild harvested after the moth has emerged).”

With brushes badger hair is recognised as being by far the best. The first way to avoid harming animals is to use a brush with a synthetic knot, where the hairs are made of plastics derived from petrochemicals, but they are nowhere near as good as badger hair brushes. There are a number of different models of these available. Luckily “Siv” on one of the forums has done a full analysis of ten different offerings. The best value for money is the Body Shop brush and this is what I bought my friend. The best overall is the Taylor’s of Old Bond Street brush. If you have a close look at one of these you will see that the individual hairs have been mechanically flattened to vastly increase their surface area.

A better way to have a good shaving brush without harming animals is to use a horse hair brush, these are made from hairs that come from grooming live animals. The resultant brushes are really excellent and have been described as being 85% badger and 85% boar in their properties. They are common in some countries such as Turkey and Spain. I have one of these which I cannot fault. And they offer a big range of brushes made from horse hair.

So there we have it you can enjoy the luxury and pampering of real, traditional shaving whilst retaining the self satisfaction of retaining your moral superiority. But you will never get to enjoy the supreme excellence of a Simpson’s Chubby 2 in Best Badger.

One of the great joys of real, traditional shaving is the huge diversity of kit available. You could have many dozens of razors without having two the same, the same goes for brushes, creams/soaps and for blades. So each day it is possible to choose the exact shaving experience that you want. But if you were forced to narrow this down to just one of each then what would it be? Americans call this choice their “go to” selection.

Of course any “go to” will vary over time when there is so much quality and so much choice available. So someone’s “go to” kit today may well not be what it was a month ago or what it will be a month hence. It is just an ephemeral choice frozen in time. And it is very personal, what works for one person is unique. It may work for other people but it may not. So two good reasons to take the subsequent choices with a big pinch of salt.

Creams and soaps mostly just do the job, however there are a handful, like Mitchell’s Wool Fat and Cella Crema da Sapone that are exceptional. But if forced to choose just the one then right now it would be Taylor of Old Bond Street Avocado Shaving Cream. So lush, so lubricating, it forms a fantastic lather and seems very kind to the skin. There are other TOBS creams and their formulation is no doubt similar, but it is the avocado that seems to perform the best.

To apply this cream the brush has to be the $9.99 Frank Shaving Finest. The combination here of soft tips, backbone and the ability to charge up with a huge amount of lather are a bit special, better even than their own, more expensive, silver tip. However there is one enormous caveat to this choice and that is that whilst I have used shaving brushes for many years and have accumulated a small collection, some famous names are absent.

For the razor the choice is a lot more varied, there is a huge difference between shaving with, say,  an Edwin Jagger DE89L and a Merkur Bakelite, the whole shaving experience is changed completely. Far more than the changes wrought by any other element of the shave. Current “go to” is the 1972 Gillette long handled Super Adjustable. By the time Gillette made this exact razor they had been making adjustables for a very long time and it shows. The balance and weighting are so perfect that it has the agility of a far lighter razor yet the cutting action of a far heavier razor. The handle is just perfect in length, diameter and grip. And it is super smooth. I have tried the other adjustables, the Fat Boy, Slim and Toggle, but just now this is the best for me. However in mid September I am going to have a long run using my Mergress, perhaps more familiarity will elevate this back up to the top.

The blade choice is very simple indeed, Iridium Super from the St Petersburg factory. These really are to me the benchmark against which all other razor blades need to be measured. They are very sharp (but not the sharpest) and are very smooth with a great consistency from blade to blade. But, as with all the choices they may not be for you. I have a small stash of Personna 74s but have not brought them into this reckoning, that they are irreplaceable means they cannot be a daily use blade.

After shaving there is a near infinite variety of balms and moisturisers to choose from, some with fancy brand names, some with magic ingredients. But, just now, the Geo. F. Trumper West Indian Extract of Limes Skin Food comes out on top. And to be honest it would take a lot of beating. Whilst it is expensive you only use a little each day, so you can use this luxury product without breaking the bank. They make it in other flavours but for me the limes are nicely bracing after a shave.

So there you have it, these would be the “go to” choices if forced to choose today. But the really interesting thing is that, as I write this, I have never actually shaved with that exact combination. Maybe tomorrow.

I have written on here before about Frank Shaving brushes from China and how they are remarkably good quality for not much money. The value is so good that I decided to buy a second $9.99 Finest badger  brush from iantang19821024 on eBay. It took less than 2 weeks to arrive and is just perfect. Now they come in stout cardboard boxes with good brush care instructions in English. A nice touch was that the stand supplied was black to match the faux ebony of the handle.

Ian Tang tells me that his brush turnover has tripled since he started receiving publicity on shaving blogs and forums, which is hardly surprising considering the immense value he provides. What is nice is that many people who have now received these brushes are writing their experiences up and are reporting quality of product and service similar to what I have reported here.

The facts are quite simple, virtually all the badger hair in the world used for shaving brushes comes from China. Making the hair into knots is not rocket science but is labour intensive, so it is hardly surprising that most of the badger hair knots that go into brushes are made in China where they have low wages and the raw materials. There are very, very few workshops in the West that now make their own knots. Yet badger hair brushes are traditionally expensive, luxury items. So retailers in the West still charge a lot of money for their brushes even though the knots (and also often the handles) are bought quite cheaply from China.

What Ian Tang is doing on eBay is allowing you to buy direct and cut out the middleman and the huge premium you have to pay for a fancy name on your brush. I am in regular email correspondence with Ian and he seems very keen to continually improve his products and his service. For instance he now offers a range of different handle styles (at least 6 now including a long handle) and also different knot sizes. Also if someone asks for a specific brush specification: handle shape, handle material, hair type and knot size, then Ian tends to make up a batch and add them to his store. So the range of his offering is continually increasing.

The Silver Tip badger brush that he offers is amazing, super soft and able to hold huge amounts of lather, it is perfect for shaving creams. But I prefer his Finest, it is not as soft but it has more backbone so is better for working soaps and for exfoliating the face. However some people look for even more backbone in a brush, so Ian is now experimenting with shorter lofts in order to provide this. He says he will send me a prototype to try.

So I will now tell you my current opinion if you are looking to buy a shaving brush. If you are on a very tight budget then go to your local discount shop and buy a £1 to £2 boar bristle brush. It will do the job after a fashion. If you want something a whole lot nicer then buy a Frank Shaving brush. If you want the best buy a Simpson’s. And the reason that I continue to write about Frank Shaving here is because of the immense value that they offer to any traditional shaver.