Breaking in the brush & shedding

[woosorio]

Is it normal within the first week or so of using a brush to have it lose a few hairs? I've just finished my first week with a C&E (EJ) pure badger and while it seems to be softening up nicely and holding more water than it did at the outset, it's also lost about 4-5 hairs. Is this atypical? Does it taper off after the brush has been broken in fully? I don't think I'm being rough with it by any means and I can't think of anything else I could have done to it. Thoughts? Advice? Thanks.

 

[mdunn]

yep - a brush will loose a couple of hairs the first time or so you shave (theyre loose in amongst the other hairs, not actually in the knot) - if it keeps shedding then you have a problem

 

[VaHomebrewer]

yep - a brush will loose a couple of hairs the first time or so you shave (theyre loose in amongst the other hairs, not actually in the knot) - if it keeps shedding then you have a problem

+1, but I wanted to also add that my C&E BBB continues to lose a hair every now and then - maybe one every month or so.

My newest brush lost probably 20-30 hairs in the first week of use, but hasn't lost any since.

Either way, no need to be concerned unless the rapid pace of hair loss continues. Your knot contains thousands of hairs, so even a loss of 20 or 30 during break-in won't make any difference in performance.

 

[Rudy Vey]

I have broken in and used a number of brushes, but the only time I had some hair loss was when I use the knots with extra hair (also sometimes called "Overstuffed"). Actually, I have only one brush that lost some 30-50 hairs during its first ten shaves (a 24 mm Silvertip, the first brush I made myself), and since then maybe another hair or two total - so thats not too bad. I would be worried if a brush looses continuously hairs in the 5-10 hair range on a daily basis - this maybe a shedder. But also keep in mind, a brush knot has approx 1000 hairs per gram weight, so a 20/22 mm knot may have somewhere between 16000 and 20000 hairs.

 

[woosorio]

Thank you gentlemen for your responses.

 

[VaHomebrewer]

Actually, I have only one brush that lost some 30-50 hairs during its first ten shaves (a 24 mm Silvertip, the first brush I made myself), and since then maybe another hair or two total - so thats not too bad.

I'd be willing to bet our knots came from the same place - my brush that lost 20-30 hairs is also an overstuffed 24mm silvertip that was made specifically for me.

Love the brush and it is super soft now that it's broken in.