H2O has its minimum volume at 4 celsius, so keeping the brush in fridge doesn't expand anything more than room temp. Ice does have increased volume. Feel free to freeze your brush and tell us how it went
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Boar Brush Prep - Why Refrigerate?
- Thread starter DSinNJ
- Start date
H2O has its minimum volume at 4 celsius, so keeping the brush in fridge doesn't expand anything more than room temp. Ice does have increased volume. Feel free to freeze your brush and tell us how it went
On a side note, when I first got my brush I did the 3 day soak in the fridge and got great results, probably 85% split ends and great softness.
My son got a similar Omega boar brush and put his in the fridge and left it in for a week....100% split ends and even softer than mine.
I have been using mine since Aug 2019 and it may have gotten softer but I always wondered....so I put it back into the fridge Jan 2020 for another 4 days water up to about mid bristle.
I took it out and near 100% split ends and even softer than it was before. I am totally happy with it now and won't address it anymore but just passing in information on my experience. It seems it's never too late to maximize the softness and the fridge method works without question.
My son got a similar Omega boar brush and put his in the fridge and left it in for a week....100% split ends and even softer than mine.
I have been using mine since Aug 2019 and it may have gotten softer but I always wondered....so I put it back into the fridge Jan 2020 for another 4 days water up to about mid bristle.
I took it out and near 100% split ends and even softer than it was before. I am totally happy with it now and won't address it anymore but just passing in information on my experience. It seems it's never too late to maximize the softness and the fridge method works without question.
I haven't done the refrigerator method either but my understanding is that the cold water will help keep the glue bump more solid and not soften it up and risk the hairs coming unglued...
As far as I can tell, the refrigerator is not necessary. Just soak the bristles in cold water from the tap. Change the water every day for three days.
Anyone tried refrigerate a new badger brush?
I Wonder what percentage of boar and horse hair users pre beak in their brushes?
I don’t think I would put a badger in the refrigerator. The two badgers I have a two band and a silvertip are just as soft as the day I got them. They are both over thirty years old. I have two badger knots in the mail from China and they will not go in the refrigerator. I also have two boar knots coming and I wouldn’t consider using them without refrigerator time.
Ok, so I bought a short lofted pure badger from CN with the sole intent of refrigerating it 
Will update in one month, when I get it.
Will update in one month, when I get it.
My only Boar brush is an Ever Ready # 100T. When my Grandpa passed in 1968 he left the brush to me. Grandma said it was the only brush he ever owned.
At around 100 years old, it still works like new & I doubt he ever refrigerated it, soaked it in pure mountain spring water, or even shampooed it.
At around 100 years old, it still works like new & I doubt he ever refrigerated it, soaked it in pure mountain spring water, or even shampooed it.
Did the fridge method with several Omega and Zenith Brushes. Seemed to speed up process of splitting hairs wo any ill side effects. No idea why it worked or if sitting at room temp would have same effect.
Warmer temp would be a catalyst to accelerate break in. Skip the fridge. Or, better yet, just use the thing.
Chandu
I Waxed The Badger.
So let's say Ye Olde Italian Barber is correct. Do it as he says. If the brush doesn't improve, assume there is no hope and toss it.
In my honest opinion, I think the fibers expand when they soak in the water - of any temp. This probably weakes the tips and hastens splitting.
I think Semogue are good brushes and break in just fine without any special help.
In my honest opinion, I think the fibers expand when they soak in the water - of any temp. This probably weakes the tips and hastens splitting.
I think Semogue are good brushes and break in just fine without any special help.
I too got my first boar brush - Semogue Owners Club. I was fully prepared to wash a smelly brush and dunk it in refrigerated water for 3 days. However, my brush didn’t smell bad and I thought the brush was certainly soft enough to use. I decided to just use it. I am content to see how long it takes to break in. It’s my little science experiment. Here it is after 2 uses.
View attachment 1047949
Wonderful brush. I have 3 and none had any smell issue. It will work fine right out of the box, but the tips will soften in a delightful way over the weeks. The surprising part is how many weeks - probably 6-8 before it's as good as it can be.
The common wisdom is to let it dry completely between uses for faster break-in. Alternating would be great for that.
I gotta say, I don't see the obsession with damaging/treating tips (other than through use). I'm not a huge fan of the gel-tipping craze for badgers. Don't think boars are as difficult to break in as they are being made out to be.
edit: spelling
edit: spelling
Thanks. Yeah, I’m loving it. I’m at 33 shaves with it presently. I guess I’ve got a little longer to wait. If I look closely at the bristles I can see that there are lots of hairs that haven’t split - the majority actually. Will ever hair eventually split?
I have one that stayed fairly close to the original shape with plenty of split hairs, but I don't know what percentage. I have another one that grew to twice the size of the original. I think it's the best bowl brush out there.
Chan Eil Whiskers
Fumbling about.
There's huge (or perhaps subtle) variation from face to face and from brush to brush. Even within the same brand and the same model brush they're not always the same; I believe this accounts for a considerable amount of our brush discussion.
I've never had to break in a Mondial boar or a Zenith boar (but I've not tried an unbleached Zenith boar). Omegas (including the Proraso Pro) and the SOC have been another story entirely. That's also not saying Mondial and Zenith boars don't break in and improve with use, but just that I find them good to go out of the box.
Happy shaves,
Jim
I've never had to break in a Mondial boar or a Zenith boar (but I've not tried an unbleached Zenith boar). Omegas (including the Proraso Pro) and the SOC have been another story entirely. That's also not saying Mondial and Zenith boars don't break in and improve with use, but just that I find them good to go out of the box.
Happy shaves,
Jim
I own the same brush. People believe that the refrigeration method allows the tips to split in faster than just using it normally. I broke mine in the old fashioned way of just lathering with it on my face. Here's a pic of mine after about 15 uses. I removed the sticker it was bothering me.
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Sent from my 6062W using Tapatalk
Chan Eil Whiskers
Fumbling about.
If there's any actual evidence that the refrigerator method is more beneficial than merely soaking in room temperature tap water it escapes me.
I've done the refrigerator method, taking the brush out to towel dry the tips vigorously for several minutes every 24 hours. I can't say it worked better than any other break in method.
I believe the essence of boar break in is repetitive dry to wet to dry to wet to dry cycles, or just dry to wet to dry. Vigorously rubbing the ends of the bristles into a dry towel also helps in my experience.
Some boars are very hard to break in in my experience. These three are worth mentioning in that regard.
- My Mixed Midget might never be truly and completely broken in, or it might just be a very scritchy brush. It's a lather monster, but not soft.
- My Mighty Midget is an exceedingly stiff brush with huge backbone. It went through about a month of daily dry to wet to dry cycles and finally broke in some. It's a great brush, especially for it's price. It's better with the three #13 O Rings I added.
- My Proraso Pro has been through the same process as the Mighty Midget and has been used a fair amount over time. I'd call it broken in to a degree, but I suspect it is not yet fully broken in. Still, it's a great boar knot and a good brush.
You'll notice a couple of things.
- The three brushes are all made by Omega. In my experience Omega boars are far less easy to use right out of the box than Mondials or Zeniths.
- Everything I said is just my opinion and my experience. I know for sure that the knot on my Proraso Pro is different even in its size from the knot others report having in the exact same brush. I suspect various knots from different pigs vary. Why wouldn't they? My ProPro might well be much different from yours, etc.
When you get around to wanting to try the very best of the boars you'll find a lot of gentlemen talking about this one - the jade Omega Premium boar sold by Connaught - when ordering it pick up the little, cheap Mighty Midget. It'll be fun breaking both in and you'll have two excellent knots.
I've tried to pick photos which illustrate some nicely split ends. As any boar breaks in, using any method, you'll see more and more of these.
There are some severe break in methods. I don't endorse these. It's not that I know for sure they damage the brush or the knot, but I also can't say damage doesn't occur, damage beyond the "normal" damage which happens with use.
Happy shaves,
Jim
