... or just change the water every day if soaking at room temperature and you won't get any nasties growing in the water. Leaving a brush soaking for a week in the counter without changing the water is asking for trouble.
Did you use Cold OR Room Temperature Water to Break In your Boar or Badger Brush ??
- Thread starter shoe8ooty
- Start date
Chandu
I Waxed The Badger.
It may hasten things a bit, and if you are a barber you probably wanted to get a new brush that you just unpacked ready for customers ASAP. So the barber didn't necessarily do it for immediate gratification, but as a pragmatic method to make the brush more comfortable to his clients.
Does it work? Yes, No, maybe so. Are the swing they get the bristles from the same breed as when the Italian Barbers first began the cold water soak? If not, maybe results vary. What likely doesn't vary is old masters sticking with old methods. I train under an old world master and they are nothing if not set in their ways. So maybe depending on the brush you buy today soaking makes a difference or doesn't. But if you are an Italian master barber, soaking WILL BE done.
Does it work? Yes, No, maybe so. Are the swing they get the bristles from the same breed as when the Italian Barbers first began the cold water soak? If not, maybe results vary. What likely doesn't vary is old masters sticking with old methods. I train under an old world master and they are nothing if not set in their ways. So maybe depending on the brush you buy today soaking makes a difference or doesn't. But if you are an Italian master barber, soaking WILL BE done.
Unless you are washing the brush every day, you're still going to get bacterial growth. Keeping a brush wet and at room temp is just asking for trouble.
Personally, I'm more a believer in just using a brush and letting it break in naturally. Semogues can take forever to break in and soften up but that's just part of their charm.
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We'll agree to disagree on this one.
On this point, we agree completely. Except for one brush I did an accelerated break-in on as an experiment, all my boar brushes were broken in just by using them. Some people go as far as not using a brush until it has 30+ test palm lathers on them ... I don't get it.
The longest by far wasn't a Semogue - it was the Omega 40033. Probably 80 shaves on it and it's still not fully broken in.
Chan Eil Whiskers
Fumbling about.
Some boars need almost no break in, but they get better over time anyway.
Some boars take forever to break in. The brush on the right is the Proraso Pro. The Mighty Midget in the middle also takes forever. The Mixed Midget takes so long I'm not sure it ever breaks in fully. However, all of these brushes can be used right out of the box.
Personally, I allow some boars a good many wet to dry cycles (plus towel drying when wet) before I use them much; this might be as many as thirty wet/dry cycles. I like boars to be much softer than some are when they arrive. Mondial and Zenith boars are usually soft enough for me upon arrival.
Most boars don't actually require breaking in but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen over time. Break in can be facilitated by soaking in the fridge (and drying on a towel every 24 hours), or by any one of a number of methods.
Badger don't require any breaking in, but, in my experience some do break in. This copper handled Manchurian actually needed some breaking in, but it's a very unusual brush in that its backbone is a transplant.
Guess where they got its backbone?
I don't think it matters if the water is warm or cold or room temp, but I wouldn't use hot water. No water hotter than what's comfortable for my skin should touch the hairs and bristles of my brushes.
Happy shaves,
Jim
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