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A new brush for birthday, Edwin Jagger synthetic?

Thank you gents! My birthday will be February 12th, I'm just deciding on the gift. Thanks also for your opinions.
 
The STF knot ( Muhle / EJ ) is
probably the most resilient to “doughnut hole” formation and
most probably the most durable of all the rest of synthetics .
That is the biggest difference
of STF vs the rest synthetics .
I had RR /Maggards Plissoft knots that lasted about a year or so to excessive mashing during everyday face-latherings .Synbad knots lasted a bit more,while the Silksmoke seems a bit more durable than the former.

Omega EVO is the second
best to STF .

No other knot has the durability of STF .
No matter how much I torture
the brush ,uppon drying seems
like brand new .

Too bad that Muhle has
ceased the production of the
XL ( 25 mm ) STF knot...

But EJ seems to still offer it.
And with better handles than Muhle (more convenient to hold and use ) .
 
The STF knot ( Muhle / EJ ) is
probably the most resilient to “doughnut hole” formation and
most probably the most durable of all the rest of synthetics .
That is the biggest difference
of STF vs the rest synthetics .
I had RR /Maggards Plissoft knots that lasted about a year or so to excessive mashing during everyday face-latherings .Synbad knots lasted a bit more,while the Silksmoke seems a bit more durable than the former.

Omega EVO is the second
best to STF .

No other knot has the durability of STF .
No matter how much I torture
the brush ,uppon drying seems
like brand new .

Too bad that Muhle has
ceased the production of the
XL ( 25 mm ) STF knot...

But EJ seems to still offer it.
And with better handles than Muhle (more convenient to hold and use ) .

Thank you very much is just what I wanted to hear. I have a Plissoft and after about 6 uses it has already developed the donut hole, but maybe it is a faulty one. I only do face lathering, both with rotational and painting movements.
I have a small face, which size do you think is better? L or XL? It has a high loft (The Trafalgar is 50mm)
 
The L (23 mm)most probably will suit you more than the XL Or even the M (21mm) will do !
Smaller diameter STF knots perform better at face lathering,
than their larger dia. counterparts.

Plissoft knots are very prone
into developing a doughnut hole ,if they are splayed hard while soap loading and/or face lathering .Very thin fibers ,originally made for cosmetic brushes .Good also for shaving brushes ,but won’t last long ...
 
Nice. This was one of the first synthetic brush in the market together with muhle until the chinese manufacturers came along.

Hope it lathers well for you.
 
I also have a small face and prefer brushes around 22mm in diameter.
I've got a Muhle 31H250 (M - 21x48). In the beginning I thought it was too small and "marked" it" for travel, but after a few uses the knot loosed up a bit, feels great and splays better than the other synthetics I've tried. For me, synthetic brushes still need a few uses to show it's full potential. They won't get any softer, but I would still call it break in period.
I'm now contemplating getting the same brush but with resin handle. I'm also interested in the 23mm knot but muhle doesn't provide the other brush specs, so, if it's higher than 50min I'm not interested.
 
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Just found this specs for the Muhle Classic Handle Ivory/Ebony L (33K256 / 33K257):

Total Lenght - 100mm
Handle Lenght - 47mm
Loft - 53mm
Knot - 23mm
 
The brush has finally arrived, it is aesthetically beautiful but in use it disappointed me. When dry the tips are hard and scritchy and in use it is even worse, it stings like a porcupine, scratches and sticks worse than an S-Brush, is it possible that it is defective? It has the V2 fiber.

IMG_20210223_110923.jpg
 
The brush has finally arrived, it is aesthetically beautiful but in use it disappointed me. When dry the tips are hard and scritchy and in use it is even worse, it stings like a porcupine, scratches and sticks worse than an S-Brush, is it possible that it is defective? It has the V2 fiber.

View attachment 1227187
Interesting. I have found that my first Muehle synthetic, a size large that I bought 7-8 years ago, has grown a bit pokey at this point. The other versions of this knot I have used have been absolutely wonderful, and that first v2 synth is still mostly great, just pokey when I splay it too much. Everyone's skin is different, and these bristles aren't perfect, but I haven't heard of too many complaints that the brush is scritchy.
 
How could you tell the fibers were glued upside down? Was the band down at the bottom of the fiber? Just asking because my EJ STF is wonderfully soft on the fingers, but does feel a little 'pokey' during face lathering. Certainly not scratchy at all though. I still prefer my Turn N Shave Quartermoon fan, but I know I'm in the minority. I still like my STF though, it just has second place in the synthetic category :)
 
The tips of the fibres are chemically tapered
(dipped in special solvent and
then raised out of it ) .
If any fibres are glued upside down ,
the easiest way to spot them is by
closely inspecting the knot ,to check
if there are any fibres that look ‘clean cut’ and without any tapering.
A magnifying glass can be helpful.
 
How could you tell the fibers were glued upside down? Was the band down at the bottom of the fiber? Just asking because my EJ STF is wonderfully soft on the fingers, but does feel a little 'pokey' during face lathering. Certainly not scratchy at all though. I still prefer my Turn N Shave Quartermoon fan, but I know I'm in the minority. I still like my STF though, it just has second place in the synthetic category :)

The tips of my brush are not soft, they are hard and rough. I found a lot of clean cut fibers, pulled one out and it has the band at the bottom!

IMG_20210223_154938.jpg
 
@Lee93
From which shop you got the brush?
I’m asking because once (only) I had
a terrible experience from a certain
EU vendor ,located in Spain.
Ordered the same exactly brush and
they send me a brush with the STFv1
knot ,which was prickly enough ,with
lots of upside down fibres and on top
of that proved to be a terrible shedder.
Kept losing about 5 to 10 fibres per
shave.
Wrote them an e-mail telling them
that the brush was old stock and
they tried to convince me that it
was a new arrival.
Trying to fool me,in other words.
Never bought anything from that vendor and not willing to buy anything
again ,even if will be the
last wet shaving equipment vendor
in the world.Totally unacceptable and
dishonest attitude .
I got a refund for the brush ,
but that won’t change the fact that
they tried to fool me.

P.S. Althought not 100% sure ,
but judging from the tint of the top band ,
seems that you got a v1 STF knot.

That’s why I’m asking from which vendor you got it.
STF v1 normally should not be readily available for sale,
since it’s production ceased almost 10 years ago.
 
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@SCh5

I got it from Connaught. On the site it says Fiber V2. However they have proposed a replacement brush but at this point I am afraid that they will send me the same one, maybe I would do better to ask for a refund. Thank you
 
@SCh5

I got it from Connaught. On the site it says Fiber V2. However they have proposed a replacement brush but at this point I am afraid that they will send me the same one, maybe I would do better to ask for a refund. Thank you

I'd suggest that you give them a chance, hopefully they'll provide you with a brush to your satisfaction.

In the event that the second is also a dud, then you can go forward to ask for refund.

This is my suggestion, let us know what you decide to do.

I get it, the question was directed towards a member, my bad.
 
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