What's new

BREAK THE BRUSH IN PRONTO METHOD (English English Version) in <12hrs

BACKGROUND
The major content of this thread is taken from the original “How To Break A Brush In & Get The Funk Out” thread by [MENTION=13633]ambrose[/MENTION] and translated from “American English” into “English English” for those of us east of the pond.

Unfortunately [MENTION=13633]ambrose[/MENTION] hasn’t been around here since August 2016. I found his wonderful thread via the Wiki. I wanted a boar brush but I didn’t want the “months” of breaking in I’d heard about. I tried his method and it worked a treat.


BREAK THE BRUSH IN PRONTO METHOD in <12 hours

OVERVIEW
This method is for badger and/or boar brushes and takes up a total of about five minutes of your time. Your brush will be broken in and defunked within 12 hours. The three steps and instructions are below:

ONE
Wash it with washing up liquid:

i.e. wet the brush with hot (not boiling) water, make up a “pretend” lather with neat washing up liquid, rinse clean.

TWO
Soak it in soapy washing up water for a few hours:

i.e. pour hot normal strength washing up water into a small container (I used a mug) and stand the brush in it upside down. The water should only cover the hairs, not the handle.

THREE
Build a lather and leave it to sit and dry overnight — this is where most of the magic happens.

i.e. with your favourite shaving soap/cream, build the thickest and slickest (yogurty) lather you’re capable of on your brush. Leave it standing upright overnight (somewhere where wet is OK).

In the morning, rinse out your new supersized and defunked brush, lather up and shave.


FOR THOSE WHO LIKE DETAILS (and pics)
Here’s exactly what I did with my latest mini boar brush:

Just out of the box:


I soaked the brush under the hot tap, squeezed in an almond sized amount of washing up liquid and lathered it up in a cereal bowl. The lathering, which included swirling both ways and pumping took one minute (I easily had enough washing up liquid lather for two cereal bowls). I rinsed the brush out thoroughly under the hot tap, squeezed it, and shook it out. Time taken 1½ minutes. Here it is, a little surprised at being so clean:


I made some normal strength washing up water in a jug and poured it into the mug my clean brush was standing in (upside down). I made sure the water only covered the hairs, not the handle (this is very important, especially if you have a wooden handle). Time taken ½ minute.

I left it there for two hours which is good; a little longer would also be OK.

After its soak I rinsed it out and inserted an almond sized amount of shaving cream into the brush (if you’re using hard soap just do your normal thing). Using the cereal bowl again I made some lovely lather by swirling both ways and pumping. I did this for one minute and had much more than a full cereal bowl of lovely yogurty lather (if you’re breaking in a badger brush this step may take a little longer, but shouldn’t exceed two minutes). Get as much lather as possible on your brush and leave it overnight. Time taken 1½ minutes (for boar brush).

I left mine for eight hours; a little longer would also be OK.

In the morning I rinsed it out. It took me about half a minute to get if completely lather free.

Lovely. Just ready for my shave. Total time taken 10 hours and 4 minutes. I reckon that was four minutes of my time well spent.

Here’s my lovely new brush, now completely dry, 16 hours after my first shave with it.


Once again, a BIG thank you to [MENTION=13633]ambrose[/MENTION] for the original American English thread. :thumbup:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Nicely done!! Alot less confusing than the origanal and the photos deffanitely help!! This method works very well
 
Just a little note in case you weren't aware.

Ambrose's excellent post dealt with a badger brush and the often noticed "funk" which is present in an animal hair brush. After washing to remove any unpleasant odours, the badger brush is ready and "broken in".

Boar hair brushes often have the "funk" in common with badger hair brushes but breaking them in is a different (and longer) process. Simply using a boar hair brush and allowing it to dry will cause the tips of the bristles to split (which is what we refer to as breaking in the brush). Split tips result in better performance and often a softer feel on the face. Some boar brushes are great straight from the package (and may only improve marginally with use) whereas others are beastly first up and take a while to show their true colours.

Thanks for the informational post. Enjoy the new brush!
 
Thanks [MENTION=106012]1Cal[/MENTION]!

I've just ordered myself a Semogue SOC and will try this out when it arrives.
 
Thanks [MENTION=106012]1Cal[/MENTION]!

I've just ordered myself a Semogue SOC and will try this out when it arrives.

I have an SOC boar that I am currently breaking in. It is a stellar brush right out of the package, but it is getting better and better with each shave. I am experiencing just what [MENTION=26026]djh[/MENTION] posted above. The funk in my SOC was gone after 2 shaves. I have been using it for over a week and it is still not broken in. I expect that I will have to use it exclusively until the end of February before it will be completely broken in.

I hope you enjoy yours.
 
Nicely done!! Alot less confusing than the origanal and the photos deffanitely help!! This method works very well

Thanks for the informational post. Enjoy the new brush!

I did this with 3 brushes so far and it works really well. Thank you.

Thanks @1Cal!

I've just ordered myself a Semogue SOC and will try this out when it arrives.

Very much appreciate you sharing this with us.
Thank you for the thankyous guys, appreciated. :biggrin1:
 
I have an SOC boar that I am currently breaking in. It is a stellar brush right out of the package, but it is getting better and better with each shave. I am experiencing just what @djh posted above. The funk in my SOC was gone after 2 shaves. I have been using it for over a week and it is still not broken in. I expect that I will have to use it exclusively until the end of February before it will be completely broken in.
:001_rolle For the sake of five minutes Doug, why not trial the method?

I've inspected my new little boar brush close up (from the top) with a magnifier, out of the box and after the treatment. The increased amount of split ends is VERY noticeable.
 
:001_rolle For the sake of five minutes Doug, why not trial the method?

I've inspected my new little boar brush close up (from the top) with a magnifier, out of the box and after the treatment. The increased amount of split ends is VERY noticeable.

Some things shouldn't be rushed. The SOC is a treat to use, so I will take the scenic route and enjoy the ride. Out of the box it was fabulous and it gets better with each shave.
 
Some things shouldn't be rushed. The SOC is a treat to use, so I will take the scenic route and enjoy the ride. Out of the box it was fabulous and it gets better with each shave.
Good for you Doug! :thumbup:
As you're enjoying the s-l-o-w break in I'm guessing you just viewed this thread out of morbid curiosity. :laugh: :wink2:
 
Not to sound really foolish, but the term "washing up water", I'm not familiar with that phrase. Is that water used in washing clothes or washing dishes. :blink:
 
Not to sound really foolish, but the term "washing up water", I'm not familiar with that phrase. Is that water used in washing clothes or washing dishes. :blink:
Not foolish at all Swazilander. Bear in mind that the OP is a translation from American English into English English.

American dish soap = English washing up liquid...
so washing up water is used for washing dishes, on this side of the pond (east). :wink2:
 
An add on to 1Cal's method that I have used with boars to good effect is blow drying the hairs as the final step instead of drying naturally. This can be repeated a number of times if you have a particularly stubborn boar brush. Just like hair from the 80's, boar hair gets split ends from a good amount of blow drying.
 
Not foolish at all Swazilander. Bear in mind that the OP is a translation from American English into English English.

American dish soap = English washing up liquid...
so washing up water is used for washing dishes, on this side of the pond (east). :wink2:

Thank you for the clarification. :thumbup1:
 
An add on to 1Cal's method that I have used with boars to good effect is blow drying the hairs as the final step instead of drying naturally. This can be repeated a number of times if you have a particularly stubborn boar brush. Just like hair from the 80's, boar hair gets split ends from a good amount of blow drying.

Makes sense, people that use hair dryer, tend to get split ends, but me I just get a warm head. :lol:
 
This is awesome, thank you [MENTION=106012]1Cal[/MENTION] I was sent here from another thread.

Looks like Jarred is getting a boar soon. Any recommendations? Price between $0-55.
 
Looks like Jarred is getting a boar soon. Any recommendations? Price between $0-55.
Hi Jarred, I love Omega brushes. The little one in the pics in the OP is my Omega 10086 Bigger Bambino ($7 at Maggard's) which I'm loving. It builds a great and voluminous lather in no time and lets me paint exactly where I want with precision.

If you'd like something bigger, i.e. a "normal size" brush, the Omega 10081 ($13 at Maggard's) looks good. I hope that's some help.
 
Top Bottom