I've always had a soft spot for wooden-handled shaving brushes. This has, at times, led me to think about concentrating on them alone, as opposed to, say, the ubiquitous resin-handled brush. One reason might be the landfill question that surrounds the decomposition of plastic products, which is sometimes used as a marketing device against the sale of cartridge razors, certain toothbrushes, etc.
By extension, this has led me to wonder about the synthetic-bristle knots that are becoming so popular. They too are made of plastic, leading to questions about their decomposition. Along these lines, a synthetic-bristle knot paired with a wooden or metal handle seems like a contradiction.
So what I'm hoping to start here is a thread for folks to post and discuss the merits of "natural brushes," meaning a natural handle (wood or metal or both) paired with a knot made of natural hair or bristle (at present, this means animal, but it certainly could be extended to vegetable and/or mineral if and when the time comes).
I'll start by posting a pic of my present wooden-handled brush collection, followed by a few comments.
Pictured from left to right:
Semogue boar knot with painted wooden handle;
Vie-Long horse-badger knot with wooden handle;
HJM boar knot with wooden (beech?) handle;
Vie-Long horse knot with wooden (olive) handle;
Niva boar knot with wooden handle;
Semogue badger knot with wooden (olive?) handle;
Vie-Long horse-boar knot with wooden-metal (steel) handle;
Vie-Long horse-boar knot with wooden-metal (steel) handle.
As brushes, all of them have their merits for different reasons and will get the job of lathering done. One thing I will note is that the two Semogue brushes and the Niva brush have metal rings, whereas the HJM brush has a plastic ring. So is the HJM to be ruled out for this reason? I suppose it has to do with how far one wants to take things. I'm inclined to include it in the same way that if one were to consider the base of the other knots as installed and glued into the handles, they probably all involve some sort of plastic compound adhesive. Much the same may apply to the surface lacquering of the handles, polyurethane for example. An extremist might insist upon fish glue for the knots and natural waxes, oils, and pigmentation as to handle treatment.
So given the limitations, there remains a potential range of view. Looking forward to the posts of anyone who might be interested in using and discussing shaving brushes along these lines.
By extension, this has led me to wonder about the synthetic-bristle knots that are becoming so popular. They too are made of plastic, leading to questions about their decomposition. Along these lines, a synthetic-bristle knot paired with a wooden or metal handle seems like a contradiction.
So what I'm hoping to start here is a thread for folks to post and discuss the merits of "natural brushes," meaning a natural handle (wood or metal or both) paired with a knot made of natural hair or bristle (at present, this means animal, but it certainly could be extended to vegetable and/or mineral if and when the time comes).
I'll start by posting a pic of my present wooden-handled brush collection, followed by a few comments.
Pictured from left to right:
Semogue boar knot with painted wooden handle;
Vie-Long horse-badger knot with wooden handle;
HJM boar knot with wooden (beech?) handle;
Vie-Long horse knot with wooden (olive) handle;
Niva boar knot with wooden handle;
Semogue badger knot with wooden (olive?) handle;
Vie-Long horse-boar knot with wooden-metal (steel) handle;
Vie-Long horse-boar knot with wooden-metal (steel) handle.
As brushes, all of them have their merits for different reasons and will get the job of lathering done. One thing I will note is that the two Semogue brushes and the Niva brush have metal rings, whereas the HJM brush has a plastic ring. So is the HJM to be ruled out for this reason? I suppose it has to do with how far one wants to take things. I'm inclined to include it in the same way that if one were to consider the base of the other knots as installed and glued into the handles, they probably all involve some sort of plastic compound adhesive. Much the same may apply to the surface lacquering of the handles, polyurethane for example. An extremist might insist upon fish glue for the knots and natural waxes, oils, and pigmentation as to handle treatment.
So given the limitations, there remains a potential range of view. Looking forward to the posts of anyone who might be interested in using and discussing shaving brushes along these lines.
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