badger brushes and saving money on soap

[nemurenai]

Hi I originally bought a "pure badger" brush and it worked perfectly.
I thought I'd buy a "super" since I had heard it is softer and can hold more water, expecting that holding more water means transferring more water to shaving cream and therefore saving money.

This is the "super badger" I bought.
However on acca kappa's webpage it reports it as a pure badger . Upon research i larned that super just means that it is pure badger that has had the tips bleached and there is no real regulation as to the difference, am i correct? It does look like the "super" badgers I see on other webpages.


Can I ask those who have tried two of pure, best, super and silvertip which one they believe will lead to saving money on shaving soap? To me the ability to use less soap is a key feature in the "water holding capacity" of the different brushes. Alternatively why would the water holding capacity matter. In my expereince, which is doubtful per above since I'm not sure of what best "really" means, the pure brush transferred more water to the soap and skin, whereas the best retained the water such that the soap was a bit dry. I only tried the best brush once so maybe I haven't used it enough yet. I'll report if there are changes later

thx!

 

[Scotto]

Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't think the type of brush will make a nit of difference in how much money you save. Most soaps last for so many shaves that it is a tiny cost anyway.

 

[Suzuki]

Water holding capacity is primarily relevent to how well/easily a soap builds later. The less water a brush holds, the more times you have to add water from the tap or dip the the brush into the water.

The only way to I know of to save on soaps/creams is to use learn to use the least amount necessary to make enough lather. However, even with the most expensive soaps/creams the cost is penies a shave (likely less if you're using Arko or other similarly inexpensive products such as Honey Bee and MamaBear soaps).

 

[Joedy]

I've read that a typical tub of shaving cream will last at least 6 months of daily shaving.

I can't speak to this truth since it will probably be years before I go through just one of my tubs.

But at least, I'll have a nice variety of scented shaves before that happens.

You can assume this, however.

6 months of shaves = about 180 days

Trumpers tub = about 30 dollars

Daily shave cost = 17 cents a day


So in actuality, the high quality creams really aren't that expensive.


Also, if you need more water because your brush (for whatever reason) won't seem to hold water.... just add some into the bowl holding the shaving cream.

-joedy

 

[Keith]

That brush is nice looking, but you can find a really really nice badger brush for less than half that price, if your objective is to save money.

I do like the rationale about the high-end creams only costing $.17 per day. It's the same reasoning I use with razor blades: Sure, I could use them for a week before throwing them out. In my experience, however, three shaves is about as much as I get out of them before I notice a decline in performance.

At $20 for 100 Derby blades, they're about $0.20 each. If I change them every three days, I'm spending a little less than $0.07 per day on blades. If I stretched them to a week, I'd save about $0.04 cents per day. My face is worth just a bit more than that.

So, for less than $0.25 in consumables a day, I can use ridiculously expensive shaving cream and waste perfectly good 3-day-old blades with reckless extravagance. If I ever feel the need to save a quarter, I can skip shaving for a day.

I'm not rich, by any means, but there are things it doesn't pay to skimp on.

 

[Suzuki]

I've read that a typical tub of shaving cream will last at least 6 months of daily shaving.

I can't speak to this truth since it will probably be years before I go through just one of my tubs.

But at least, I'll have a nice variety of scented shaves before that happens.

You can assume this, however.

6 months of shaves = about 180 days

Trumpers tub = about 30 dollars

Daily shave cost = 17 cents a day

So in actuality, the high quality creams really aren't that expensive.


Also, if you need more water because your brush (for whatever reason) won't seem to hold water.... just add some into the bowl holding the shaving cream.

-joedy

How about this math:

One tub of JM Fraser (450ml - equivalent to 2.25 tubs of Trumpers) for $10

1 year of shaves (actually more, but lets's keep this simple)

Daily shave cost = 2.8 cents per day.

This is extreme, but the point is that even using expensive shaving cream/soap, its pennies a day.

In other words, even if using a different brush did reduce the amount of cream/soap you use, it would likely take years to amortize the cost of even a $100 brush.

 

[mikey]

hello nemurenai,

i agree with what scott has said.

with regards to what brush works and/or feels best for you, it is a very personal decision both objectively and subjectively. it may take 2 or 3 or ? brushes to find one that you really like. for me it took several brushes to find the right one (a saville row 3118, btw). i will probably buy a second one eventually (a 3120). you can always sell, trade or donate the ones that you don't like. for me, the sweet spot for the cost of a brush in terms of price/performance trade-offs is about $75 to $100. beyond that is a point of diminishing returns.

hope this helps. oh, and welcome aboard.

thanks,
mike

Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't think the type of brush will make a nit of difference in how much money you save. Most soaps last for so many shaves that it is a tiny cost anyway.

 

[htownmmm]

Basically, your technique for loading your brush with soap will be the same- regardless of whether it's pure badger or silvertip.

The hard soaps will last you a long,long time- i have yet to hear of anyone on this site mentiuoning they bought some more soaps because they ran out.

I have heard that some of the triple milled soaps last for an extremely long time- but for an expert opinion, ask one of our resident Sues- they make soaps, so they will have a better idea of at least how long their products last.

In case you are wondering which Sue:

Saint Sue: www.saintcharlesshave.com
Mama Sue: www.bear-haven.com
Honey Sue: stores.ebay.com/Honeybee-Spa

Marty

 

[Kyle Stoner]

My Williams Mug soap puck purchased at a Wal-Mart has lasted about 2 1/2 months...it's not done yet, although I don't use it anymore...but - I was using a Burma-Shave 'natural' bristle brush (natural what, I dont know...nylon???) maybe it was synthetic, certainly feels like it...anyways I used tons of soap every day because I had no idea how to use a brush properly or to build a lather, I just soaked up as much soap as I could onto the brush and scratched up my face with it. If I knew what I was doing I am sure it would last longer. Plus that soap was about $3...thats about 1cent a day in soap.