28 year old badger brush

[D/E Bob]

Hi Gents.......
I checked in last week as a new B&B member, but as I stated in mt first post I have been using a Badger brush (my one & only) and shaving soap for 28 years now. I have to confess that for the last 28 years I have never (not once) cleaned my brush; never knew I was supposed to. After reading all the posts on brush cleaning I decided to give it a shot, so I first used Dawn and then did the Vinegar treatment and let the brush dry thoroughly. The brush is now slightly "fuller" but no major change has occurred. I will say that even though I have not done an "official cleaning" prior to this one, I am very careful (almost anal) to get ALL of the soap out each and every time I use it.

The brush was purchased at Hoffritz (a local store) and it is made of Best Badger, hand made in England. I truly do not remember the brand and the name has long since worn off so I guess I will never know. When I purchased it I was not that into the equipment as I seem to be getting into now. Upon closer inspection I have noticed that the brush has developed an indentation in the middle of the hair. I guess over the years the center hairs have either worn away or have slowly fallen out. This brush has served me very well over the past 28 years and it seems that it is slowly getting ready to retire. Still lathers well, but compared to some of the videos I've watched recently, it probably has slowly lost some of its potential over the years - so slowly I have not noticed up until now.

Well, that brings me to..........Which brush should I get now? I have been pouring over the posts on this Forum and looking at all (so many to choose from) the different models. Unfortunately, there aren't any retail stores around for me to touch & feel brushes in, so like most of you guys have probably done I will get one on the internet. Basically I am relying on reviews and comments as to the characteristics and qualities, so what ever suggestions you fellas might have would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance and I look forward to all suggestion, comments and advise.

Regards,
D/E Bob

 

[Joe Edson]

Hi Bob,

welcome to B&B. To truly help you though we need to know your specifications. Specifically do you only face lather or bowl lather? Mixture of the two? Do you use soaps or creams?

In terms of feel are you looking for a soft to the face brush or something a little scrubbier/scritchy? How about stiffness? Do you want something with lots of backbone (stiffness) or very little.

Knowing these specifications will help us guide you in the right direction to a brush.

Edit: What about budget? How much are you looking to spend?

 

[Vlad]

Hi Gents.......
I checked in last week as a new B&B member, but as I stated in mt first post I have been using a Badger brush (my one & only) and shaving soap for 28 years now. I have to confess that for the last 28 years I have never (not once) cleaned my brush; never knew I was supposed to. After reading all the posts on brush cleaning I decided to give it a shot, so I first used Dawn and then did the Vinegar treatment and let the brush dry thoroughly. The brush is now slightly "fuller" but no major change has occurred. I will say that even though I have not done an "official cleaning" prior to this one, I am very careful (almost anal) to get ALL of the soap out each and every time I use it.

The brush was purchased at Hoffritz (a local store) and it is made of Best Badger, hand made in England. I truly do not remember the brand and the name has long since worn off so I guess I will never know. When I purchased it I was not that into the equipment as I seem to be getting into now. Upon closer inspection I have noticed that the brush has developed an indentation in the middle of the hair. I guess over the years the center hairs have either worn away or have slowly fallen out. This brush has served me very well over the past 28 years and it seems that it is slowly getting ready to retire. Still lathers well, but compared to some of the videos I've watched recently, it probably has slowly lost some of its potential over the years - so slowly I have not noticed up until now.

Hey, that is COOL. I can only hope I'll have my brush(es) in 30 years, and it will be worn out with use. Please post some pictures of it!

 

[djh]

Hi Bob and welcome. It is great that your brush has served you well for such a long time- even though you say that it is getting close to being retired, you may be able to buy another knot and restore it. I think that it would be really cool to be able to say that I had used the same brush for that many years- and I would certainly not want to give it up!
As Harvitz mentioned, a little information about how you use your brush will make it much easier for us to give you appropriate advice.
Good luck.

 

[Jim]

Welcome Bob!

 

[guenron]

Welcome to the House that Acquisition Disorders built! It would seem that you will probably do well to rely upon the experience that you have had over the years to describe that which you seek. We have a large number of phan boyZ of every sort here that will immediately pop up one stock solution or another that they favor.

The badger brush market has seen a resurgence in brands and choices over the past decade.. It seems that everyone wants to jump on the band wagon with there very own product, marketing brushes costing anywhere from $10 (Tweezerman) to $5000 (Plisson). There has been an explosion of badger hair grade creep. One clever marketer of "OLD NAME" brushes started off with five grades. The old three, Pure, Best, and Super were not enough to fully exploit the qualities he wished to market. Well he understood his clientele. Everyone from spendthrift to snob jumped on the new nomenclature.. So do be careful when you express your badger grade choice in the more simple choices.

Other than that. GOOD LUCK and once again WELCOME!

 

[D/E Bob]

Well guys, here are a few photos of my 28 year old brush. If you look closely at the head, you can see a hole starting to form. Looks like the bristles have either worn down or some of them have fallen out. Still very serviceable, but on the downside now.

I usually lather right in my Old Spice shaving mug using steaming hot water and then go right to the face for a final lather. I used to use Old Spice Soap, but as you are very well aware of, it has not been available for quite a while so I have been using Williams Soap. I get fairly good results with Williams (I do see some love it & some hate it), although thanks to this Forum I have just ordered a few pucks of Mama's (Autumn Spice I believe) version of Old Spice.

So there you have it! Up until I joined this Forum last week, I looked at shaving as just the daily routine. I have now "gotten in to it" and am beginning to rather enjoy it sort of like I have done with my antique Fountain Pens, old Lionel Trains and antique telephones. Time to slow down a bit and enjoy the little daily pleasures I suppose.

I have a new razor that I used 4 times already (Merkur 33 Gold) which I love!
I have only tried the Merkur blade so far, but I got a full assortment so I will be trying them all. So recommendations and advise would be welcomed.

Regards,
D/E Bob

 

[Schwert]

Grand old brush. I would restore that with a new knot and you would be set for another 28 years.

It is starting to look a bit worn...

Dropping a Golden Nib 2-band Finest in that grand old handle would be a super project.

 

[D/E Bob]

Oh, by the way I would like to keep my new brush purchase to under $150.00 if possible.

D/E Bob

 

[D/E Bob]

I gave a little thought to a restoration. Can you recommend a good source for a replacement knot?

 

[DFrancis]

I gave a little thought to a restoration. Can you recommend a good source for a replacement knot?

http://www.thegoldennib.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=5_9

 

[Joe Edson]

I'd vote to re-knot it as well. Go for the TGN finest in bulb or fan and it will probably only cost you around $20-25 shipped plus time and labor. There are many threads on restoring knots on here and I would look to those for more advice.

 

[sparcotsi]

The first place I started off with for replacements was thegoldennib.com. He's got a fair selection of knots in all sizes and they are great quality for a reasonable price. Restoration is definatley a fantastic option especially if you have had the brush that long.

Brad

 

[D/E Bob]

DFrancis,
Thanks for the lead. I checked it out and I was shocked how low the prices were. I always thought that the majority of the cost was in the hair, not the handle. Are the products for sale here top of the rung? Don't mean to look a gift horse in the mouth, but some of the brushes i was looking at (Simpson, Seville Row, Rooney, etc) are quite a bit more. What am I missing here??

D/E Bob

 

[huntmol]

As far as a restoration, I bet you could send the brush to Rudy Vey (a vendor here) and he would make it better than new.

If you would like a new brush, I would recommend a Simpsons Duke 2 in Best or a Simpsons Tulip 2 in Super or Two-band Super.

 

[scoopster]

I believe Simpsons manufactured Hoffritz brushes. Love to see a photograph.

I only use soaps and never clean my brushes. I noticed that they benefited from a cleaning when I used creams as perhaps something gets left behind more easily wth creams than soaps.

 

[Wingnut]

As far as a restoration, I bet you could send the brush to Rudy Vey (a vendor here) and he would make it better than new...

I second that enthusiastically! I was in the same boat as the OP (though my brush was in MUCH worse shape), and Rudy transformed it into my "new" favorite brush. If restoration is your choice, Rudy is your man.

 

[D/E Bob]

Thanks Guys!

I just got off the phone with Tony from The Golden Nib, (since I collect Fountain Pens as well, we had a very nice conversation). Anyway, I am going down to my workshop to measure my brush (for knot size) and I am going to order a new Silvertip knot.

I still can not get over how reasonable his products are! He explained to me that all the Badger hair now comes from China, even if the brush says "made in the UK", the hair still comes form China, so he said his quality is the same as the "big boys" products are. Hard to believe, but I think this is the way to go. As you can see form my photos, the handle is still in 100% condition, so I will let you guys know how my first attempt at restoration goes. Might even take a few photos along the way.

By the way, Tony actually explained to me that his prices are really geared towards wholesale, and that's another reason his prices are so reasonable.

I like this Forum already!!!

Regards,
D/E Bob

 

[Schwert]

Restoring is an easy exercise. However Rudy is a good option if you choose to not do the work yourself.

This thread shows in living color a good technique for restoration.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?p=2172915#post2172915

The Finest knots at Golden Nib are excellent knots. I only have one off-the-shelf production brush to which I can compare my restores...and have no complaints about the quality of Golden Nib knots.

The best thing about a restore is YOU control the loft of the hair which makes all the difference in the world to the brushes performance.

Even if you decide to spend a load of money on a new brush...that old handle ought to be restored.

I think most of the cost of brushes is in the labor not the materials.

 

[nEver-Ready]

Thanks Guys!

I just got off the phone with Tony from The Golden Nib, (since I collect Fountain Pens as well, we had a very nice conversation). Anyway, I am going down to my workshop to measure my brush (for knot size) and I am going to order a new Silvertip knot.

I still can not get over how reasonable his products are! He explained to me that all the Badger hair now comes from China, even if the brush says "made in the UK", the hair still comes form China, so he said his quality is the same as the "big boys" products are. Hard to believe, but I think this is the way to go. As you can see form my photos, the handle is still in 100% condition, so I will let you guys know how my first attempt at restoration goes. Might even take a few photos along the way.

By the way, Tony actually explained to me that his prices are really geared towards wholesale, and that's another reason his prices are so reasonable.

I like this Forum already!!!

Regards,
D/E Bob

Both Tony and Rudy are great vendors. I have 5 of Tony's knots - 2 Two Band Finests (my favs), one Grade A Silvertip, one Best and one Black. I also have brushes by Simpsons, Rooney, Shavemac and other "name brands," and my TGN/Rudy Vey brushes are among my favorites and better than most. My absolute favorite brush is a 20mm 2-band finest fan shape from TGN set at 41mm loft. It is perfect for lathering hard soaps (like Williams) and face lathering. You cannot go wrong as far as I'm concerned.

Best of luck.