I've read up on several ways to break in a boar bristle brush, and I'd like to start by saying I'm going with the "just use it" method.
I'd like to follow that up with: I might do the cup-in-the-fridge method if I get tired of the long-term method.
I got this lovely brush today:
I started by wetting the brush with warm water, then soaking the bristles about 3/4 in a cup of, you guessed it! Warm water! I let it soak for about 6 minutes, then put it to work.
As expected, it took a lot more soap than my badger brush to get an acceptable bowl lather going. I loaded it up, swiped it around in the cup for much longer than I'm used to, and kept adding little bits of soap. I can tell these bristles came from the infamous Italian Lather Hog by the way they gobbled up every slick little scrap!
I was a little worried, because the brush looked like this:
And I thought I'd received a pre-donutted brush. I was using gravity-pressure and knew I was not to blame... But the bristles were only lightly shedding, so I pressed onward.
I got boar'd of just adding soap and swirling and swiping and repeating, so I rinsed out the bowl and brush, loaded it again, and started over.
This time worked! I'm not yet getting luscious, luxurious lather, but I AM getting something I can use!
First impression:
I really like the backbone on this knot. The loft is higher, and the hairs packed more dense than what I've been using, and that's great for me! It'll only get better, unless I've been reading lies on B&B...
Happy happy happy so far! And post shave, that donut is gone. Worried for nothing
That's all for now.
I'd like to follow that up with: I might do the cup-in-the-fridge method if I get tired of the long-term method.
I got this lovely brush today:
I started by wetting the brush with warm water, then soaking the bristles about 3/4 in a cup of, you guessed it! Warm water! I let it soak for about 6 minutes, then put it to work.
As expected, it took a lot more soap than my badger brush to get an acceptable bowl lather going. I loaded it up, swiped it around in the cup for much longer than I'm used to, and kept adding little bits of soap. I can tell these bristles came from the infamous Italian Lather Hog by the way they gobbled up every slick little scrap!
I was a little worried, because the brush looked like this:
And I thought I'd received a pre-donutted brush. I was using gravity-pressure and knew I was not to blame... But the bristles were only lightly shedding, so I pressed onward.
I got boar'd of just adding soap and swirling and swiping and repeating, so I rinsed out the bowl and brush, loaded it again, and started over.
This time worked! I'm not yet getting luscious, luxurious lather, but I AM getting something I can use!
First impression:
I really like the backbone on this knot. The loft is higher, and the hairs packed more dense than what I've been using, and that's great for me! It'll only get better, unless I've been reading lies on B&B...
Happy happy happy so far! And post shave, that donut is gone. Worried for nothing
That's all for now.