- Thread starter
- #21
Chandu
I Waxed The Badger.
Thanks for the replies.
Any brushes with hair NOT sourced from China
- Thread starter Chandu
- Start date
My curiosity was doused by the sticker price. Still . . .an interesting combination of hair in that knot.
If anyone gets one, I'd be interested in hearing what it's like.
Looks like the old style long-haired ones for barbers whipping up lather in a bowl (like the old style with 4" boar bristles all trimmed into a big fiber optic-cable looking bunch of hairs)... so not really my kind of brush, but the hair makeup is interesting.
Looks like the old style long-haired ones for barbers whipping up lather in a bowl (like the old style with 4" boar bristles all trimmed into a big fiber optic-cable looking bunch of hairs)... so not really my kind of brush, but the hair makeup is interesting.
- Thread starter
- #24
Chandu
I Waxed The Badger.
Those Japanese brushes look nice. Price doesn't bother me because of where it's made. Labor costs are higher in Japan.
I'll keep them in mind when I start looking for a better brush.
I like your signature quote btw. I was told the best way to get rid of someone was to loan them money!
If you want the floppiest softest badger brush money can buy, Euro badger from Plisson, Kent and EJ is what you want. It's not what I would call a good brush but YMMV.
Noted. I have three inexpensive brushes so I don't have much to compare to nor do I know much about them.
- Thread starter
- #28
Chandu
I Waxed The Badger.
I want a dense, short loft, not floppsy, moppsy, cottontail brush. To me the loft should be less than 2x the knot size.
I'm not after a wall of badger, I'm wanting more of a badger lance. Ala jousting with badger.
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #29
Chandu
I Waxed The Badger.
Well a little digging yielded this Floppy?! You ain't seen nothing yet!! (pic heavy) which puts to rest any interest I had in the Japanese brush.
Just out of interest, I asked Edwin Jagger where their badger hair comes from, They replied very swiftly, as follows:
The hair in our brushes comes to us via our own certified badger hair supplier in Europe.
(I understand they source the raw material from China).
We believe the trusted source to be ethical, humane and sustainable.
The hair in our brushes comes to us via our own certified badger hair supplier in Europe.
(I understand they source the raw material from China).
We believe the trusted source to be ethical, humane and sustainable.
EJ Euro badger no more. Thx for sharing this.
- Thread starter
- #32
Chandu
I Waxed The Badger.
Guess it will be a Simpsons Chubby or Shavemac DO1 when the time comes. All roads lead to China, or are floppy.
You may consider Ebay. Among the many many used brushes on offer, one may occasionally find new-old-stock. These are typically from an era before China was a trading partner with the west. They would be sourced from American, Canadian, or European Badger. They usually come from old shops closing down. You may also come across brushes listed as used from private sellers but which have never actually been used. Beware of vintage handles with new knots affixed. They will invariably be of Chinese origin.
It appears to be really difficult to get a non-Chinese badger. What is the reason for not wanting Chinese badger, quality control concerns?
If so, Yaqi is a Chinese company, but their badger brushes are pretty much universally praised (including by myself), especially for the price they sell them at.
If there is a different consideration for why you're excluding Chinese badgers, that of course would rule them out however.
If so, Yaqi is a Chinese company, but their badger brushes are pretty much universally praised (including by myself), especially for the price they sell them at.
If there is a different consideration for why you're excluding Chinese badgers, that of course would rule them out however.
- Thread starter
- #35
Chandu
I Waxed The Badger.
It's a bunch of reasons really and to state them all here, some will surely start a crap storm and trot out "what about this product... that product..." ad nauseum. Some of my objections I'm sure have been heard many times, some not, but my objections are based ENTIRELY on my OWN experiences.
When I get one it I'll talk with Plisson and find out their source. Looking at the site I get the impression some is sourced from Europe and some not. If their answers aren't to my liking then weigh my options and either buy one or avoid entirely.
Good point. But that only establishes that they use European badger "to some extent" in their brushes.
It doesn't necessarily mean that all of their brushes are 100% European badger, or even that some of their brushes are 100% European badger, unless so stated by the manufacturer or on the packaging.
Brush makers employ a "blend" of badger hair in every badger brush they make, even if they are all of the same type, eg. silvertip. Hairs vary in thickness and strength, as well as colour, length and grade. The blend achieves a balance of support and body with the desired degree of softness. A brush made entirely of thin badger hair would be exquisitely soft but uselessly limp.
The blends that Plisson use in their brushes could be sourced exclusively from European badger, and knowing their stellar reputation for quality, it shouldn't surprise me, but one would be well advised to make such an enquiry prior to purchase.
If you browse the website, it's clearly stated in their premium brushes if they use European Badger. The rest of their range is likely imported from China like everyone else does.
This reply reflects the concern of Occidental brush makers to-day, and their worst fears.
The activists and zealots are hounding, pressuring, and attempting to shame these companies from using natural bristle, especially badger. Naturally, they assumed your concern was that they are sourcing their badger hair in an unethical, inhuman or unsustainable manner. Why else would one ask?
The fur-huggers these days are busy protesting the harvesting of all wild badger as unethical, per se. The problem is so bad that one simply cannot run a fur farm in Britain or western Europe anymore. They call you, hound you, threaten you, blackmail you, picket you, expose the ugliness of the process to the public, get you closed down (at least in their area), and ultimately run you out of business altogether!
Just ask the proprietors of Rooney brushes, if you can contact them. They have become increasingly secretive and generally don't even answer their 'phone. They are essentially out of business, though not officially, I believe. The problem for them was, that they ended up turning over most of their manufacturing to a Chinese supplier, whose quality turned out to be terrible. Hairs started falling out of brushes, people were returning them, Rooney couldn't absorb the losses and renegged on the warranties. Retailers and middle-men ended up eating the returns and taking the losses.
Rooney's reputation for quality in England, built painstakingly over 200 years, was essentially destroyed over-night!
I feel truly sorry for what Plisson, Mühle, Simpsons, Semogue, Thäter and Kent must be enduring these days.
One lesson to be learnt here, for the consumer at least, is to be wary of any brushes coming out of China. Check the reputation of the manufacturer before buying. I, for one, wouldn't buy a Chinese-manufactured brush under any circumstances. A Japanese product would be more expensive, but worth it in my view.
Simpsons and Kent may not even employ their own bristle dressers anymore (a virtually extinct trade in the West), and the elite brands will sometimes reserve the few they do have to prepare only their finest, flagship, and special edition models.
How about Jaguar brushes? They seem to be Turkish made boar brushes, the bristle seems to be sourced domestically AFAIK.
