At one time horse hair brushes were very common. I have a couple of horse hair brushes that I use once in a while. Horse hair brushes have their issues, eg tangling. I am wondering if there is anyone in this forum that considers themselves a regular horse hair brush user?
Any regular horse hair users?
- Thread starter Rusty Blade
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I have a couple that get used about once a week each. A vintage Rubberset and a new Vielong. The old one doesn't tangle, partly because of the loft and partly (mostly?) because when I reset the knot I used epoxy and some of it wicked up in the center of the knot before it dried. You can't feel it unless you severely mash the brush on your face and it also gives it a little more backbone. A happy accident.
The Vielong does tangle unless I'm using with a cream, which requires less aggression to lather. But I really like the face feel and the lather quality so it's worth it to me to have comb it out when I'm done. It's usually a weekend brush because of that, though
I use my Vielong when the mood strikes me and that is seldom. It is rather high lofted and a champion face painter. It requires a deft hand to load as it has little backbone and is prone to tangles. The horse hair has a surprising scritch factor, but as it is primarily a painter, not a factor. It does however require combing out after each use, a simple task, but my only brush that requires this added attention. Perhaps it is because of this combination of unique attributes I only have one horse hair brush. Perhaps I will take the pony for a ride today?
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- #4
Here is my pony. I love the handle. And I agree with the comments above by @Ravenonrock and @Darth Scandalous -- a horse has a nice face feel and it does need to be combed after each use.
I have all flavor of brushes, with three Vie Longs amongst them. While I don't use the exclusively, I use them a lot.
I have never had one tangle. I think the reputation of horsehair brushes "having issues" is ill warranted. It just has to be used correctly.
I have never had one tangle. I think the reputation of horsehair brushes "having issues" is ill warranted. It just has to be used correctly.
I have an Epsilon White Horse Hair and a Zenith Extra Soft both of which get a regular run out in my rotation. The Epsilon is nice but still has a bit of scritch (although its almost non-existent when painting), the Zenith is unbelievably soft and has zero scritch! Highly recommended checking out that knot if you like horse hair.
I've got a Cremo Vielong and liked it enough to get the long-handled Vielong. I got it mostly for the handle, but it works great & no issues with it tangling. As with my Boar brushes, I only soak the for a minute or 2 before use.
I just received my first horse hair brush yesterday. A Vie-Long 12705 Peleon!
I've only used synthetics till now.
I'll be using it this weekend for the first time.
I've only used synthetics till now.
I'll be using it this weekend for the first time.
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- #9
I look forward to your thoughts on this brush. Looks very posh.
Interesting! Horse hair shaving brushes, are really not that popular in the community. As its been said, it was more popular back in the day. So this is why I am curious, what made you decide to go with a horse hair shaving brush? As you know, the common brushes today are, synthetic, bore, and badger.
I like the handle on the first brush on the left, looks like wooden handle.
So far I only had synthetics and I wanted to try out a natural animal hair brush. But I chose Horse hair because of the ethical animal practices in acquiring the hair. From the beginning of getting into wet shaving I read about the badger & boar treatment and that kept me away from those. So for me it will either be horse hair or synthetic. If the horse hair experiment doesn't work out for me, I'll just stick to high quality synthetics. So far they've worked out great anyways. The brush part of shaving has been the least interesting for me anyways. All I need is a brush(es) that does the job smoothly and that's about it in regards to that.
Yes, would love to hear back from some folk who use horse hair brushes regularly. I would particularly like to know about the "combing" thing. Is this something that you have to do every single time you use the brush? And what do you use, how do you do it?
There's another version of this brush made with white horsehair (unbleached, 50/50 mane/tail hair, model 12705B). It is softer & has less scritch than the regular 12705. Usually branded as Epsilon, made by Vie-Long.
For the poster that wondered why get horsehair. Natural horse hair has some nice properties, somewhere between boar and badger. It's a good brush for face lathering. No horses were harmed in making the brush. Also, it's not expensive. It's not a real popular choice, but that's OK.
That depends on the brush and how you use it. Try not to mash a horsehair brush when lathering, that doesn't end well. Gentle circles & painting strokes are good. A brush with short loft is less likely to get tangles. Combing out with a wide tooth comb every so often is quick & easy. It does not normally have to be done every time you use the brush.
Thanks. I'll look into that one as well. Once I try mine I'll see if I like it and I'm sure I'll be looking at other ones. I have my eye on the Zenith brushes which look nice as well and seem to get praise by those who own them.
That's pretty much my feeling on brushes as well. It doesn't bother me that others use badgers and boars, just not interested myself since my synthetic works well enough for me. But I am mildly curious about horsehairs. Not enough to try one, I'm more interested in trying a smaller synthetic. But I'll be interested to hear you thoughts after you've tried it a few times all the same.
I was mildly interested as well but did want to see the difference. And I discovered that the horse hair brushes are relatively inexpensive so I figured I might as well try it out. I got it for $21 on Amazon so it wasn't to bad for experimentation. If in the end I don't like it, I'm sure I can repurpose it for another use at home. My shoe shining brushes are horse hair so it would probably make a great touch up brush for that, Lol!
I echo this - the Zenith Horse Hair extra soft is amazing
