This is a post for us newbies - new to using a certain material, new to wet shaving, new to the forums, or even new to a particular brush...one way or another that should cover just about all of us, right?
What has been your experiences with your brushes so far? What differences have you noticed in loft, bristle material, breaking them in, etc.? Let us know, share your thoughts, pros, and cons, and maybe most importantly, pictures!
I can get us started.
This is my Omega 10066. It was fairly cheap on Amazon at $9.99, and I think that price point has helped me feel much more comfortable experimenting with it. It has a 24mm boar bristle not and a plastic, faux ivory handle.
(Picture was taken between 1st and 2nd repetition of the break-in process)
When I first got the brush, I used several of the break-in methods as described in various wikis and threads found here. My process was:
I'll restate again, you likely won't want to take all these steps with a more expensive brush. If you've done any kind of process to help break in a higher-end brush, please share!
What has been your experiences with your brushes so far? What differences have you noticed in loft, bristle material, breaking them in, etc.? Let us know, share your thoughts, pros, and cons, and maybe most importantly, pictures!
I can get us started.
This is my Omega 10066. It was fairly cheap on Amazon at $9.99, and I think that price point has helped me feel much more comfortable experimenting with it. It has a 24mm boar bristle not and a plastic, faux ivory handle.
(Picture was taken between 1st and 2nd repetition of the break-in process)
When I first got the brush, I used several of the break-in methods as described in various wikis and threads found here. My process was:
- soak the brush in warm water
- wash it thoroughly with dish soap
- Wash out the soap, then let it soak in soapy warm water
- Wash it out one final time and let it dry; then
- dip about a half inch of the brush into near-boiling water for a few seconds, then transfer it immediately into colder water
- squeeze the cold water out of the brush
- repeat the above two steps several times (I think I did it about ten times over)
- Let the brush dry; then
- work a lather into the brush, and let it dry with the lather for eight hours
- wash the lather out
I'll restate again, you likely won't want to take all these steps with a more expensive brush. If you've done any kind of process to help break in a higher-end brush, please share!