Brush care question.

[oncdoc]

Read somewhere that it is imperative to dry brushes with the bristles down and handle up? I dont have a brush stand but have a relatively expensive brush. Is this myth vs reality for preventing cracked handles and hair coming out?

Now could some recommend a stand for the semogue 2012 LE boar/brush hybrid that I have?

Thanks in advance

 

[deruitem]

I would not call it fact but it has some merit. I would say also that some very expensive brushes like a simpson chubby 3 are almost impossible to find a stand for.

I rinse my brush and lightly squeeze out the water and give it a shake again gentle. I then brush a towel with light painting motions a few times and let it dry on its base. As long as your store you brushes in a relatively dry place (not in the shower) this should work just fine.

Some will say that you have to store bristle down but many people (me included) do not.

It also helps to let the brush dry thoroughly, if you shave everyday I would have 2 brushes so you don't end up with mold. I shave ever other day and don't worry about using the brush twice in a row.


Hope this helps!

Welcome to the B&B Family, wont be long and you will have another brush. It just happens that way

 

[AABCDS]

Myth.

 

[Prof. Moriarty]

I rinse my brush and lightly squeeze out the water and give it a shake again gentle. I then brush a towel with light painting motions a few times and let it dry on its base. As long as your store you brushes in a relatively dry place (not in the shower) this should work just fine.

I have been doing this for two years and never had a problem of mould, or anything. I vote for myth.

 

[August West]

I store them on the handle with no ill effects to date.

 

[rollie]

I let mine dry with the bristles pointing down but it probably wouldn't make much of a difference as long as long as any excess water is removed first.

 

[jovan]

Welcome to B&B. I follow the above method for my Simpson brushes of rinsing and shaking dry. The only difference is that each Saturday I wash my brushes with shampoo after the daily steps and shake and towel. IMO the shampoo makes the hairs look new again. Just fill the sink with shampoo and water and soak for a few minutes then swrill it around. I figure cannot hurt.

 

[infotech]

I rinse my brush and lightly squeeze out the water and give it a shake again gentle. I then brush a towel with light painting motions a few times and let it dry on its base. As long as your store you brushes in a relatively dry place (not in the shower) this should work just fine.

I do the same thing, but I added a cold water rinse as the final rinse.

 

[Terp61]

Doesn't seem to make much of a difference to me.

 

[jumper]

I think people go overboard with the care of brushes.

The average guy that uses a shaving brush only owns one brush. I only had one brush and used it daily for about 20 years. Sometimes, when deployed, that brush would live in a Dopp kit, while in garrison it would be left on top of a dresser. When I purchased a 2nd brush I used it exclusively for at least 10 years until I treated myself to a travel brush. Having a second or third brush is simply a luxury. Combing the hairs and weekly shampoo jobs are ok but there is no need of doing it. Simply rinse the majority of soap out of the brush, give it a shake and a fast wipe on a towel and set it somewhere until you use it the next day.

At the end of the day, if it makes you feel good, then you can do all these zany rituals with a brush or brush rotation. Just remember that is not necessary.

 

[brucered]

Use, Rinse, Dry, Repeat.
Use, Rinse, Dry, Repeat.
Use, Rinse, Dry, Repeat.

 

[Teppanyaki]

I have had a wooden handled brush crack - I suspect part of it was that it dried on its handle. Other factors that may have played a factor - it was a pretty cheap brush (Body Shoppe synthetic) that may not have been properly sealed, and I may not have shaken/squeezed excess water out as I do now.

My suspicion is that if you shake/gently squeeze the brush in a towel afterwards that you are probably fine either way. As a matter of habit, I dry my brushes in a bowl where they are bristles-down at an angle with the handle on the rim of the bowl. Not straight down, but I haven't had any problems since with my wooden handled Muhle synthetic.

 

[deruitem]

I do the same thing, but I added a cold water rinse as the final rinse.

I am a cold water shaver so all of mine is with cold

 

[01HDFXD]

I would imagine it might make a difference with wood-handled brushes, but so far I haven't run into any problems with any of mine, storing them with the bristles pointing up. Having said that, I just bought some brush stands to hold them hanging with the bristles down, just 'cause I thought they looked better that way.

 

[wurglehound]

Use, Rinse, Dry, Repeat.

+1

 

[Ron Scott]

Storing it bristle down is the way to go if you can do it. I do, on a plastic stand. It keeps water and whatever from fomenting in the base better than the bristle-up approach and the bristles will splay less while drying.

But that said I'd rather spend time worrying about something more important, like preventing the next navy/black sock day, than whether I've done everything I can for the care of my shaving brush...

 

[RVshave]

I use a couple of stands only because they came with 2 of my brushes, otherwise I'ld just shake them out and stand on end.

 

[LMAN007]

Read somewhere that it is imperative to dry brushes with the bristles down and handle up? I dont have a brush stand but have a relatively expensive brush. Is this myth vs reality for preventing cracked handles and hair coming out?

Now could some recommend a stand for the semogue 2012 LE boar/brush hybrid that I have?

Thanks in advance

I bought a 7 ring carousal from ebay. The carousal was used for those pre-made stamps that you might see in a office. the handle of the brush slides into the metal slot where the stamps use to hang. Now the bristles are facing down. the carousal holds up to 7 shaving brushes and the carousal spins like a merry-go-round so you have whatever brush you want facing you.

 

[novice]

The first couple of brushes I bought came with instructions to dry bristles down after rinse and light shake. The same instructions came from a well respected (by the various shave forums) craftsman from whom I have bought several brushes. So if people in the industry recommend bristle down, what do I know? Bristle down works for me, but to each his/her own.

 

[N1CK]

Myth. Given the same treatment after use they all seem to dry in the same amount of time to me.