- Thread starter
- #61
Your brush is not even that old. Imagine a brush many years old and never cleaned! That reminds me, I need to order some white vinegar.
How often do you clean your brushes?
- Thread starter Doc Dan
- Start date
I use two synthetic plissoft and one boar brush. Almost all my shaves are with hard soaps.
All I do is thoroughly rinse after each use until the water is clear. They then dry upside down on brush holders. To-date I've never had any issue with build up even on my first synthetic that has, until the 2nd synthetic was purchased a month ago, used 5-6 days a week for three years. Boar is over a year old and used 1-2 days a week.
All I do is thoroughly rinse after each use until the water is clear. They then dry upside down on brush holders. To-date I've never had any issue with build up even on my first synthetic that has, until the 2nd synthetic was purchased a month ago, used 5-6 days a week for three years. Boar is over a year old and used 1-2 days a week.
You sound like one of those lucky soft-water users, Lane.
Every time I shave, I wash one brush thoroughly with soap and water.
Hannah's Dad
I Can See Better Than Bigfoot.
I've honestly never "treated" a brush, and though living in several different towns and water supplies, from municipal, to city, to well water, I've never had an issue with any brush.
Now, I fastidiously rinse my brush after shaving to remove ALL traces of soap, but that's it.
- Thread starter
- #68
If my brush is working and making copious amounts of lather, a "cleaning" would be pointless.
The only thing it would do is expose the bristles, handle and glue unnecessarily to potentially degrading chemicals.
I think the key is thorough rinsing after use.
If you have a brush that because of neglect and poor rinsing, won't make a lather, then a cleaning is probably a good choice over throwing it in the trash.
If you have hard water, soap scum will build up. You can not rinse out soap scum with water only - listen to the chemist.
We have very hard water where I live - so we use vinegar for everything, as bathroom cleaner (diluted in a spray bottle with some detergent), for the dishwasher and washing mashine (softener) and I even use it for my hair, since I use bar soap to wash my hair and need an acidic rinse to get the soap scum out (which also closes the hair's cuticles and makes it soft and shiny).
However, when I asked, Mühle explicitely advised me against using vinegar on their synthetic brushes - without providing an explanation though.
I think the acetic acid destroys the softeners used in synthetics/plastic (fibres). Not sure if it's an issue with diluted vinegar or citric acid.
We have very hard water where I live - so we use vinegar for everything, as bathroom cleaner (diluted in a spray bottle with some detergent), for the dishwasher and washing mashine (softener) and I even use it for my hair, since I use bar soap to wash my hair and need an acidic rinse to get the soap scum out (which also closes the hair's cuticles and makes it soft and shiny).
However, when I asked, Mühle explicitely advised me against using vinegar on their synthetic brushes - without providing an explanation though.
I think the acetic acid destroys the softeners used in synthetics/plastic (fibres). Not sure if it's an issue with diluted vinegar or citric acid.
Last edited:
Yep. Listen to the Chemist. It helps if the Chemist is also a master shaving brush maker!
Soap scum is not an issue if you live in an area with softer water.
Just use a bar of (real) soap to wash your hair in an area with really hard water, then rinse with water only and see what happens.
Just use a bar of (real) soap to wash your hair in an area with really hard water, then rinse with water only and see what happens.
@NiOOH ,
Tried the citric acid and soap solution on my boar brushes and the more used one — which I thought was sun-bleached — returned to its much yellower, original color. Terrifying. Thank you!
Tried the citric acid and soap solution on my boar brushes and the more used one — which I thought was sun-bleached — returned to its much yellower, original color. Terrifying. Thank you!
Never. I just rinse well under warm water, shake and dry with the brush down. And I don't keep them in the bathroom.
I rinse mine with cold water.
Every time I shave.
My method:
My method:
- Place some soap in a bowl
- Use damp brush to whip soap into lather
- At this point, I hate to waste the lather, so I apply it to my face and shave
- Rinse residual soap from brush with warm running water
- Shake excess water from brush and allow to dry
Even though I use soft water to make my lather, I still treat my Simpson Commodore X2 (my only badger brush) every 6 months with a citric acid and copper sulfate soak.
The citric acid removes any carbonate build-up which can weaken and break the hair.
The copper sulfate kills any microbial growth.
I noticed in the rainy season, the brush takes many days to dry and sometimes gets a slightly funky smell. The abovementioned soak refreshes the knot so that it's like new!
The citric acid removes any carbonate build-up which can weaken and break the hair.
The copper sulfate kills any microbial growth.
I noticed in the rainy season, the brush takes many days to dry and sometimes gets a slightly funky smell. The abovementioned soak refreshes the knot so that it's like new!
Would you elaborate? How does baking soda work to condition the hair? Maybe I've been a victim of years of advertising but I thought that conditioning hair was the act of re-adding proteins to the hair structure.
- Thread starter
- #79
It removes unwanted oil build up from the soaps and soap residue that also builds up on the hairs. That's all I know cos I ain't got no hair to condition. 
Alrighty boys and girls. I was getting pretty twisted with all this info plus all the info online so I did some research and a very unscientific test. What prompted this was this morning I went to use one of my boar brushes and it felt yucky. So I dug in. Here's what I learned.
Most written information out there in dealing with cleaning hair is about hair that is still attached to the head. This is very very different than hair used when not on the head. For example, I read to use dog shampoo since a dog was an animal and boar was an animal. Let me tell you that most shampoos deal with the pH of skin first and then clean second. That's why you can't use people shampoo on dogs.
Baking soda is very alkaline and all real studies has shown that over extended usage will damage the hair strand. That's why it's so good at stripping out bad junk from hair. Ok so no baking soda (for me).
Vinegar is a very mild acid which is why it's so good at cleaning. Almost all of the packaged brush cleaners use lye. I deal with lye in soap making and sometimes at work. It can be pretty nasty stuff if not used properly. I'll stick to vinegar.
Dish soap is about as mild a detergent as it gets. I use vinegar and Dawn to clean a lot of things including including a lot of shaving related items. Nowhere did I read anything that contradicts the mildness of this cleaning solution.
I read that clarifying shampoos were designed to strip away junk from hair and scalp. After digging in on those I found one that was designed to remove hard water specific minerals as well as soap buildup. I went with that one. It is Living Proof Perfect Hair Day (PhD) Triple Detox Shampoo.
I did two tests, one with the clarifying shampoo and one with the vinegar and Dawn solution.
I had two brushes that felt about the same level of yucky: a Semogue Galahad and a Semogue Excelsior 830.
I presoaked both brushed for 20 minutes in tap water.
I mixed up a solution of 2 C distilled water, 2 tsp. vinegar, and 4 drops Dawn. I added that to my small ultrasonic cleaner. I ran the Galahad in the ultrasonic for 5 minutes and then thoroughly rinsed with tap water and pressed out as much water as I could with a towel.
With the 830, I added a pea sized amount of the clarifying shampoo and thoroughly worked it into the bristles. I put 2 C of clean distilled water into the ultrasonic and dropped the soapy brush into it and ran it for 5 minutes. I rinsed and press dried as above.
I then put both brushes in front of a desk fan for 1 hour to dry.
At the end of the hour both brushes felt soft and clean. I could not tell from feel if one was cleaner than the other.
I use both, a scuttle and bowl. I am not a face lather'er. I used my favorite soap from Soap Commander that I use 90% of the time. I built lathers with both brushes in both vessels thoroughly cleaning the brushes and bowls between lathers.
This produced very different and discernable differences.
The Galahad (cleaned with vinegar and Dawn) produced whip cream like lather with small bubbles that held up to standing for a few minutes even in the hot scuttle.
The 830 (cleaned with the clarifying shampoo) produced a rich later but had noticeably larger bubbles and it was the usual flat mess needing to be rewhipped in the scuttle.
There you have it. That was my very unscientific test based on my situation and conditions. As always, YMMV.
Most written information out there in dealing with cleaning hair is about hair that is still attached to the head. This is very very different than hair used when not on the head. For example, I read to use dog shampoo since a dog was an animal and boar was an animal. Let me tell you that most shampoos deal with the pH of skin first and then clean second. That's why you can't use people shampoo on dogs.
Baking soda is very alkaline and all real studies has shown that over extended usage will damage the hair strand. That's why it's so good at stripping out bad junk from hair. Ok so no baking soda (for me).
Vinegar is a very mild acid which is why it's so good at cleaning. Almost all of the packaged brush cleaners use lye. I deal with lye in soap making and sometimes at work. It can be pretty nasty stuff if not used properly. I'll stick to vinegar.
Dish soap is about as mild a detergent as it gets. I use vinegar and Dawn to clean a lot of things including including a lot of shaving related items. Nowhere did I read anything that contradicts the mildness of this cleaning solution.
I read that clarifying shampoos were designed to strip away junk from hair and scalp. After digging in on those I found one that was designed to remove hard water specific minerals as well as soap buildup. I went with that one. It is Living Proof Perfect Hair Day (PhD) Triple Detox Shampoo.
I did two tests, one with the clarifying shampoo and one with the vinegar and Dawn solution.
I had two brushes that felt about the same level of yucky: a Semogue Galahad and a Semogue Excelsior 830.
I presoaked both brushed for 20 minutes in tap water.
I mixed up a solution of 2 C distilled water, 2 tsp. vinegar, and 4 drops Dawn. I added that to my small ultrasonic cleaner. I ran the Galahad in the ultrasonic for 5 minutes and then thoroughly rinsed with tap water and pressed out as much water as I could with a towel.
With the 830, I added a pea sized amount of the clarifying shampoo and thoroughly worked it into the bristles. I put 2 C of clean distilled water into the ultrasonic and dropped the soapy brush into it and ran it for 5 minutes. I rinsed and press dried as above.
I then put both brushes in front of a desk fan for 1 hour to dry.
At the end of the hour both brushes felt soft and clean. I could not tell from feel if one was cleaner than the other.
I use both, a scuttle and bowl. I am not a face lather'er. I used my favorite soap from Soap Commander that I use 90% of the time. I built lathers with both brushes in both vessels thoroughly cleaning the brushes and bowls between lathers.
This produced very different and discernable differences.
The Galahad (cleaned with vinegar and Dawn) produced whip cream like lather with small bubbles that held up to standing for a few minutes even in the hot scuttle.
The 830 (cleaned with the clarifying shampoo) produced a rich later but had noticeably larger bubbles and it was the usual flat mess needing to be rewhipped in the scuttle.
There you have it. That was my very unscientific test based on my situation and conditions. As always, YMMV.
