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Break in of Walnut Stained Maple Handle with Silvertip Knot

Well, here are the pictures of the Walnut Stained Maple Handle with Silvertip Knot during the break in process.

The original thread for the restoration:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/294391-Walnut-Stained-Maple-Handle-with-Silvertip-Knot

The soap that I use is new Williams to get the residual smell out of the brush and to give it a proper break in. I went and lathered both forearms with this brush once a day for two days.

Here is what the brush looked like afterwards.

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Here is the first lather up with new formulation Williams.

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So lather can be made with new Williams on the first try.
 
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did you shave with the williams? also i dont think badger needs breaking in its soft enough to use right away. only reason i could think "breaking in" is for figuring out how it lathers and maybe trying to "de funk" it if its a funky brush. boars need breaking in because they work best with split ends and their quite stiff and dont bloom untill you work the crap out of em. badgers not so much unless your using a low quality knot.
 
did you shave with the williams? also i dont think badger needs breaking in its soft enough to use right away. only reason i could think "breaking in" is for figuring out how it lathers and maybe trying to "de funk" it if its a funky brush. boars need breaking in because they work best with split ends and their quite stiff and dont bloom untill you work the crap out of em. badgers not so much unless your using a low quality knot.

Badgers do need a breaking in to develop the proper level of bloom and to remove both remaining residue left from the manufacturing and "natural funk".
The knot is not low quality but when received all the hairs stand vertical (not like a completed brush that you would buy off the shelf from Simpsons, et. al.).
Every badger that I have ever received in a stand alone knot has a certain level of residue and funk that needs to be cleaned out.
If you go to the original thread cited you will find that the knot did not have a lot a bloom even after a pretreatment before insertion.
In fact the hairs on the knot when received were standing straight up due to the fact that they are fresh and in addition because they are held in a small sleeve that maintains the vertical shape. The hairs are very soft, and the knot is dense on arrival, however, the knot needs to be finished in the handle to develop the proper bloom before shaving.

As I stated, I went and lathered both forearms with this brush once a day for two days. If that were a boar, the break in process would take much longer.

After a break in I shaved as normal with my normal product.
 
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Badgers do need a breaking in to develop the proper level of bloom and to remove both remaining residue left from the manufacturing and "natural funk".
The knot is not low quality but when received all the hairs stand vertical (not like a completed brush that you would buy off the shelf from Simpsons, et. al.).
Every badger that I have ever received in a stand alone knot has a certain level of residue and funk that needs to be cleaned out.
If you go to the original thread cited you will find that the knot did not have a lot a bloom even after a pretreatment before insertion.
In fact the hairs on the knot when received were standing straight up due to the fact that they are fresh and in addition because they are held in a small sleeve that maintains the vertical shape. The hairs are very soft, and the knot is dense on arrival, however, the knot needs to be finished in the handle to develop the proper bloom before shaving.

As I stated, I went and lathered both forearms with this brush once a day for two days. If that were a boar, the break in process would take much longer.

After a break in I shaved as normal with my normal product.


Agreed. Those TGN knots need a few good lathers before they turn out an awesome bloom. Especially the short lofts. How long does it usually take you to break in a badger knot?
 
Agreed. Those TGN knots need a few good lathers before they turn out an awesome bloom. Especially the short lofts. How long does it usually take you to break in a badger knot?

After the first break procedure in it usually takes a week of continuous use to really get it to where it really blooms out. That is why I use the forearms with a brush once a day for at least two days to accelerate the process before continuing the process through normal usage.
 
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