Boar butt vs. badger butt

[nhcowboy]

Just wondering which smells worse - and which will take longer to dissipate.

My 13-year old is funny about smells . . . and I'm afraid that either one of these might really put him off of shaving with a brush.

I know both can be cleaned up with shampoo, borax, vinegar, dog shampoo (take your pick!) . . . but I'm wondering which will clean up the quickest and easiest.

I'm assuming the age of the brush makes no difference (vintage vs. new) and that it's use, not age, that takes the smell away.

 

[Walter Sobchak]

I think they both smell pretty foul, honestly. If he's funny about smells, neither of them will be better than the other. I might consider getting the brush of your choice and just telling him it's like a baseball glove and that it has to be worked in before using it. Then proceed to shampoo it a few times and get a nice, strongly scented cream or soap and have him practice lathering in a bowl or hand over and over again until the brush is 'broken in' and no longer stinky. My brushes smell GREAT right now from the QED Sandalwood/Rose soap I've been using lately.

Good Luck.

 

[brumble]

Maybe avoid the issue altogether and get him a synthetic to start? If he gets hooked on wetshaving, he can then move onto trying other brushes.

The Body Shop brushes are good, easy to find, cheap (cost about $10) have no smell and dry quickly.

 

[ari95]

Not every brush will smell too bad to start. Most of the brushes I have, had the wet dog smell, but it wasn't very strong. After some use it was gone altogether.

 

[kingfisher]

In my limited experience, boar smells a lot worse than badger. My first badger brush didn't smell at all, not even on the first use (it was a Tweezerman).

My Omega boar stunk like a wet dog for about 4-6 days. It's still my favorite brush. Lathering up Proraso seemed to take the stink out of pretty quickly.

 

[SpyvSpy]

I have an Edwin Jagger badger brush I never noticed a stink now or when I got it. Like the other said using a nice cream a few times should takecare of it.

 

[drunkentester]

Hey Judith,

I wouldn't worry. Your BBE has been thoroughly cleaned and has been broken in. I would be surprised if you detect any off-putting badger smell at this point.

--Dennis

 

[john parker]

I have two brushes, both of which I purchased new. First was the C&E BBB (made by Edwin Jagger) - no smell whatsoever. Second was the B&B Essential II - no smell whatsoever. Can't tell you how to get rid of any smell because I have never experienced any. Perhaps you won't either.

 

[_JP_]

If there is a smell to the brush then just using it will quickly make the smell go away. A couple of practice lathering sessions should do it.

 

[gollum83]

In my limited experience, boar smells a lot worse than badger. My first badger brush didn't smell at all, not even on the first use (it was a Tweezerman).

My Omega boar stunk like a wet dog for about 4-6 days. It's still my favorite brush. Lathering up Proraso seemed to take the stink out of pretty quickly.

+1

From my experience, boar smells worse. My Tweezerman badger brush and the Ever-Ready brush I re-knotted with a 22mm Extra Dense Finest Badger knot from The Golden Nib had little to no stink associated with them. My Omega boar, on the other hand, stunk to high heaven for a week, especially when wet.

 

[richmondesi]

I've only noticed a mildly offensive odor with my badger brushes, but my boar smells like... Dickenson's Witch Hazel or something. It's really foul