As above.
I've always wondered this!
Human hair splits over time after being cut, so why not boar hair?
John
I've always wondered this!
Human hair splits over time after being cut, so why not boar hair?
John
Boar brushes - why don't clipped hairs split?
- Thread starter jhclare
- Start date
I thought they did... eventually.
Mine is splitting. It's normal and what makes the brush soft.
OldSaw
The wife's investment
And did you trim yours? How long did it take before they started splitting?
I have never trimmed a brush. If they do split after trimming, I may consider trimming one of mine to make it more like a fan shape rather than a bulb.
Boar hair will split in due time. That's when the brushes really hit their stride.
- Thread starter
- #6
Hmmm, I was under the impression that the hairs only split if they were untrimmed. Must have read that wrong! So it just takes longer?
John
John
I have a cheap Wilkinson that was obviously clipped to shape by the manufacturer and the bristles will not split. This brush has probably seen a couple hundred lathers and the only hairs that have split are the few that were short enough that they were not trimmed to shape.
I do not know why a clipped boar will not split over time, but I have tried many things to get this brush to soften up (I hate the scratchy feel this brush has).
Things that I have tried (besides the countless soaking, lathering, drying cycles): multiple cleanings with dish soap, shampoo, vinegar, hair conditioner treatments (which help make the brush softer but did nothing to help with the scratchy tips), using a hair dryer to speed dry it, rubbing the tips against sandpaper, I have even soaked the tips in alcohol and peroxide.
In comparison, I have an Omega 66 boar (unclipped by the manufacturer) - the tips were not scratchy at all even before breaking it in. In 2 weeks the tips were splitting and the end of the brush was getter a "fuzzy" look when dry. It is so much better that I can't bring myself to use the Wilkinson anymore.
I do not know why a clipped boar will not split over time, but I have tried many things to get this brush to soften up (I hate the scratchy feel this brush has).
Things that I have tried (besides the countless soaking, lathering, drying cycles): multiple cleanings with dish soap, shampoo, vinegar, hair conditioner treatments (which help make the brush softer but did nothing to help with the scratchy tips), using a hair dryer to speed dry it, rubbing the tips against sandpaper, I have even soaked the tips in alcohol and peroxide.
In comparison, I have an Omega 66 boar (unclipped by the manufacturer) - the tips were not scratchy at all even before breaking it in. In 2 weeks the tips were splitting and the end of the brush was getter a "fuzzy" look when dry. It is so much better that I can't bring myself to use the Wilkinson anymore.
I think I recall reading someplace that you can split the tips on a trimmed boar brush by tapping the bristles gently with a small, ballpeen hammer against a steel anvil. (flat piece of metal) From what I recall the hammer flattens the tips, causing them to split. I don't know if this works.
This sound time consuming. Has anybody tried this? I have a black badger TGN knot in a vintage Ever-Ready handle that appears to have been trimmed. It is so scratchy that I don't use it. I may experiment with a hammer.
This sound time consuming. Has anybody tried this? I have a black badger TGN knot in a vintage Ever-Ready handle that appears to have been trimmed. It is so scratchy that I don't use it. I may experiment with a hammer.
That is a good question.
I e-mailed Omega and asked if they trimmed any of their brush bristles and after a long wait I finally received a response stating they do not trim their boar bristles.
I guess if you intend to trim them you should tie the knot and trim the bottom of the bristles and then epoxy them back in.
I am still interested to know if you can split boar bristles that have been trimmed though.
I e-mailed Omega and asked if they trimmed any of their brush bristles and after a long wait I finally received a response stating they do not trim their boar bristles.
I guess if you intend to trim them you should tie the knot and trim the bottom of the bristles and then epoxy them back in.
I am still interested to know if you can split boar bristles that have been trimmed though.
I'm pretty sure a member or two have trimmed Omega brushes they felt were too lofty, and they posted that the hairs did break in even after the trim.
Yes, but does "break in" mean split? In this thread the last photo shows no signs of splitting that I can detect: http://www.badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=186908
