I would like to elaborate on the method mentioned by @Beaslebong - the cold water soak in refrigerator method. The only expansion I'd like to make to that suggestion is to let the brush fully dry after the towel dry step.
I wrote a PM to a member some time ago to describe how to break in a brand new brush, and I'm quoting from that message here.
"
1.First soak it in water for 30 minutes. That's it. Absolutely essential to prevent the brush from absorbing any stuff from the next steps
2. Wash it thoroughly in liquid dish soap or pet shampoo or human shampoo. The point is just to give it a good clean
3. Dry it on a towel and leave it out to dry overnight.
For reference for the actual fast break-in, this guy was the first to document the process (although, I suppose it's been known to Italian barbers for generations)
(I usually skip step 3)
4. Next morning. Soak it in a glass of water upto the base of the knot or just shy of the base of the knot in the fridge.
This is where it gets interesting ....
The video says a day (even 36 hours if I interpreted it right), but I did it for 12 hours. Dunked it in the fridge and went off to work. The incremental soaking from a few hours or even a day more won't make any difference. It's the number of soak/vigorously rub on towel/fully dry iterations that count.
5. Got home and dried the brush on a clean dry towel. We are talking a bath towel here, not a small towel, moving it to dry areas of the towel as it rendered the current area damp. A large boar can use up more than half of the surface area of a decently plush bath towel.
I spent about 10-15 minutes on this - while watching TV or chatting with family (yes, they know I'm crazy).
6. Leave the brush upright overnight to dry further.
Then repeat steps 4 through 6 a couple more times for a total of 3 iterations.
Now, I want to be very sure you understand this. The duration between step 6 and step 4 from the next iteration was 12 hours for me, but it might be longer for you based on the climate and conditions in your home. It is absolutely critical to make sure the brush is bone dry before you go back to step 4.
That's it .. that's the only thing you need to pay attention to. In roughly 3 to 4 days, you'll have a well broken in boar brush (I'd say 80% of the way to a full break-in).
This process avoids the unpleasantness (for weeks) of a pokey scritchy brush while you wait for the promised nirvana of a broken-in boar. It gives you a taste of the nirvana in 3 days.
Please try it out and let me know how you fared.
"
I wrote a PM to a member some time ago to describe how to break in a brand new brush, and I'm quoting from that message here.
"
1.First soak it in water for 30 minutes. That's it. Absolutely essential to prevent the brush from absorbing any stuff from the next steps
2. Wash it thoroughly in liquid dish soap or pet shampoo or human shampoo. The point is just to give it a good clean
3. Dry it on a towel and leave it out to dry overnight.
For reference for the actual fast break-in, this guy was the first to document the process (although, I suppose it's been known to Italian barbers for generations)
(I usually skip step 3)
4. Next morning. Soak it in a glass of water upto the base of the knot or just shy of the base of the knot in the fridge.
This is where it gets interesting ....
The video says a day (even 36 hours if I interpreted it right), but I did it for 12 hours. Dunked it in the fridge and went off to work. The incremental soaking from a few hours or even a day more won't make any difference. It's the number of soak/vigorously rub on towel/fully dry iterations that count.
5. Got home and dried the brush on a clean dry towel. We are talking a bath towel here, not a small towel, moving it to dry areas of the towel as it rendered the current area damp. A large boar can use up more than half of the surface area of a decently plush bath towel.
I spent about 10-15 minutes on this - while watching TV or chatting with family (yes, they know I'm crazy).
6. Leave the brush upright overnight to dry further.
Then repeat steps 4 through 6 a couple more times for a total of 3 iterations.
Now, I want to be very sure you understand this. The duration between step 6 and step 4 from the next iteration was 12 hours for me, but it might be longer for you based on the climate and conditions in your home. It is absolutely critical to make sure the brush is bone dry before you go back to step 4.
That's it .. that's the only thing you need to pay attention to. In roughly 3 to 4 days, you'll have a well broken in boar brush (I'd say 80% of the way to a full break-in).
This process avoids the unpleasantness (for weeks) of a pokey scritchy brush while you wait for the promised nirvana of a broken-in boar. It gives you a taste of the nirvana in 3 days.
Please try it out and let me know how you fared.
"
