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The Official Rooney Stubby XL 2 Band Discussion Thread

Ok, hit the brush this am for the 2xl. Harris Arlington Soap, did some bowl lathering to attempt to cover some of the funk, then went to town on a face lather.

This brush is very different than my others...not as much of a lather hog as I thought...maybe the density keeps the lather from working up the hairs. You will still get some there, but it's not as much as a vulfix 660 or my other brushes. This brush whipped up the arlington well. I had to add more water the foam was so fluffy and light (I like a wet foam, not runny but pretty wet).

The bloom on mine is not as pronounced after 1 use as some of my other brushes. I did not see anything I would consider floppy...more on the opposite of that (but not boar). VERY SOFT. I really want to see comments on the 3xl to see if it has more flop with the loft.

Would I drop 200 bucks again...yep. Do I need a larger stand to hold the knot...yep...I can't believe that rooney will not make more of these, they would sell, even at a higher price.
 
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Ok, hit the brush this am.

Do I need a larger stand to hold the knot...yep...
Neilt, could you, and other posters mention WHICH particular XL you are referring to in EACH post? With members giving testimony on the 1XL, the 2XL and the 3XL, it's imperative that we know exactly which one is being described so we lurkers will have an idea what's going on. Your comment about a "larger stand" being needed to hold the knot is a case in point. Thanks.
 
You finally gave in to the XXXL?

Yep and indeed the Free UPS ground was overnight shipping for me. Nice. I'll be using it tonight. Dry it feels VERY much like my 1/2 finest, maybe a little less dense and a little less firm... but that's just my impressions dry and unbloomed.
 
Yep and indeed the Free UPS ground was overnight shipping for me. Nice. I'll be using it tonight. Dry it feels VERY much like my 1/2 finest, maybe a little less dense and a little less firm... but that's just my impressions dry and unbloomed.

Really interested to hear your comparisons to the Rooney Finest. Last thing I need is another brush and I've already had my eye on a new Shavemac custom, but this thing is tempting.
 

Isaac

B&B Tease-in-Residence
Cant wait to get min on Monday. Quite frankly...im sick of all the bulb style Simpsons. This is a nice change of pace. I shouldve bought a x2l as well..or xl2..whatever they are calling it
 
I ordered Jim's last 1XL and after sleeping on it, decided I also needed the 3XL! :001_rolle Both brushes are traveling together to Texas. Yes, I fully understand my duty to report back!
 
Cant wait to get min on Monday. Quite frankly...im sick of all the bulb style Simpsons. This is a nice change of pace. I shouldve bought a x2l as well..or xl2..whatever they are calling it

I ordered Jim's last 1XL and after sleeping on it, decided I also needed the 3XL! :001_rolle Both brushes are traveling together to Texas. Yes, I fully understand my duty to report back!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAArrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh
 
Really interested to hear your comparisons to the Rooney Finest. Last thing I need is another brush and I've already had my eye on a new Shavemac custom, but this thing is tempting.


First. Density. It's got good density. I'd say a worthy competitor/peer to the Chubby line. It is NOT a Rooney Finest though. My 24-25mm Finest has about the same volume of hair in it as this 30mm knot. The first image I attached is holding them sideways after a 5min soak and 3 shakes each. You can see the Finest is so dense that the hairs simply can't clump together (their bases are squeezed so tightly that the stems of the hairs repel each other even when wet). The XXXL is more like the Chubby/D01/etc packs. Very dense but not absurd. Let me put it this way. My finest is not my favorite brush, but there are no brushes that emulate it. It's in a class of its own. I've not found a hair like it or a density like it in any other brush. The XXXL is like several other brushes out there, a very good brush, but not unique.

Stiffness/soap attack. It's not Finest. It loads easily, but it doesn't rip the soap to pieces like a Finest does.

Prickly/scritch. Again this is NOT finest. It's a nice soft two band hair. Not dissimilar to Simpsons 2 band. It doesn't have that scritch that Finest does. This brush is what I expected the Finest to be (a few months ago I had never heard ANYONE describe a Rooney Finest as prickly/scritchy... it's the scritchiest brush I own by far). I imagine that if they made the 1/2 Super with this hair and packed it as dense as a Finest is, it would probably be my favorite brush.

Size. It's big. Not as big as my Heritage Super 3band 26mm, but my second largest (bigger than a Chubby 2 by a good bit, but I expect probably a bit smaller than a Chubby 3 would be (since the loft is only ~52-53mm vs ~60mm on the Chub3)

Quality. Feels like a Finest for quality. Sturdy. Didn't lose a single hair during the wash or first use. (I did rub a single hair out just now feeling the tips with my palm.) If Rooney got the pack a little denser, they could call these Finest pt Deux.


Very good brush and definitely an good buy if you were looking at a chubby 2 or 3 in 2 band. It's not quite as exceptional as a Finest (the density of those brushes is really startling for two band hair), but it's certainly not a purchase I think I'll regret.
 
Ian, very nice points. If I said pretty please, would you take a photo of your bloomed XXXL with a coin, a DE blades, something known so we can get a sheer size reference? Thanks.
 
Quarter is just about level with the tips of the center hairs in the knot (very top of the brush). Aristocrat and Brush are next to one another.
 
The Stubby 1XL is a brush unlike any I have ever used. This is the first brush that I have ever had with a loft this short. It's also pretty dense so it has good backbone. It had no problems with my AOS soap and produced a nice creamy lather. There isn't much splay with this brush so it was a little bit of a learning curve making lather on my face. No problems, though! I managed enough for 3 passes with just a little left in the brush when I was done.

This brush is going to be a killer when it is completely broken in!

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