Badger Brush Hair Loss

[b r a m]

Hi all,

I'm the happy user of a Shavemac 177 Silver Tip. It's my first (and only) badger brush. I've had it for about 14 months or so.

Anyway...

I've noticed that it's starting to lose hair. Well, has been for a couple of months or more. Each lather will leave two or three badger hairs on my face/neck. The brush has always been taken care off ie; rinsed off and shaken out and left upside down on a stand. The only soap I've ever used with it is Geo. F. Trumper.

Is this normal behavior or is there something else at play?

The brush has a five year warranty BTW.

 

[Oblique Human]

Welcome to B&B!

That is abnormal hair loss the brush suffers from. Have you ever soaked it in too hot water, boiling even? Do you shake it holding by the handle or the bottom of the knot.. vigorously?

If its still under warranty, this shedding is cause enough to demand a replacement.

 

[Vivasanti]

14 months I highly doubt it would be replaced under warrant.

 

[Absolute Mustard]

14 months I highly doubt it would be replaced under warrant.

He said 5 year warranty

I would call the Shavemac and see what they can do

 

[b r a m]

Welcome to B&B!

Thanks.

Have you ever soaked it in too hot water, boiling even? Do you shake it holding by the handle or the bottom of the knot.. vigorously?

No. My hot water is pre-set to around 55C so it isn't too hot. When I shake it out it is held by the handle and given a fair shake or two. Nothing too extreme.

14 months I highly doubt it would be replaced under warrant.

It does have a five year warranty... Testing it is another matter however.

 

[Timo]

Do you used a scuttle?

 

[b r a m]

No.

I start the lather in the palm of my hand and finish it on my face.

 

[Rudy Vey]

I just had sometime ago a brush coming back that was fine for a good time. It had lost a few hairs in the initial uses but was fine for about 6 month without loosing a hair. Then suddenly it started loosing hairs, lots of hairs. I was very curious to find out what has happened, so I asked to have it send to me for replacement of the knot. I cut the hair out carefully and found the inside of the brush was full of soap residues. The owner told me that he rinses his brush well. However, the brush was a larger one, 24 mm silvertip knot with extra hair. I totally understand the effect of soap destroying hair when left inside the brush. This combined with the mechanical stress during use is the reason that some brushes will start shedding after awhile of use, even if the never lost a hair or only a few in the initial use.
Here is a little brochure of Da Vinci Pinsel about their Shaving brushes, please go to page 4 to read up on this:
http://www.davinci-defet.com/files/rasierpinsel_shaving_brushes_2012.pdf

 

[mblakele]

Interesting link, Rudy. The text recommends washing a brush weekly with "Kernseife", translated as "curd soap" in the text. From http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernseife I think http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marseille_soap or olive oil soap would be a better translation?

Any idea why an olive oil soap would be any better for the hair than, say, a soap like Tabac or a vegetable soap like IK? If the idea is to condition the knot, I would think hair conditioner would be better: Joel has mentioned using that on brittle vintage brushes. Or if the idea is to remove soap deposits, I would expect better results from the usual recommendations of dishsoap, dilute vinegar, or a borax solution.

 

[Ski-Patroller]

I just had sometime ago a brush coming back that was fine for a good time. It had lost a few hairs in the initial uses but was fine for about 6 month without loosing a hair. Then suddenly it started loosing hairs, lots of hairs. I was very curious to find out what has happened, so I asked to have it send to me for replacement of the knot. I cut the hair out carefully and found the inside of the brush was full of soap residues. The owner told me that he rinses his brush well. However, the brush was a larger one, 24 mm silvertip knot with extra hair. I totally understand the effect of soap destroying hair when left inside the brush. This combined with the mechanical stress during use is the reason that some brushes will start shedding after awhile of use, even if the never lost a hair or only a few in the initial use.
Here is a little brochure of Da Vinci Pinsel about their Shaving brushes, please go to page 4 to read up on this:
http://www.davinci-defet.com/files/rasierpinsel_shaving_brushes_2012.pdf

I notice that their suggestions are somewhat counter to what Gary Young (recently) of Simpson recommended. He suggested rinsing the brush and then squeezing the water out and wiping on a towel. Specifically not shaking it. Also Standing the bush on it's base to dry. "If it needed to hang up we would have put a hook in the handle"

I've been treating my Simpson brushes that way, and I don't think I've lost a dozen hairs in several years.

I used to shake my EverReady brushes and I did eventually loose enough hair to be a problem, but they lasted many years. I don't know if Gary's gentler treatment would have made them last any longer.