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Brush Chronicles #16: Omega 10108 Boar

thombrogan

Lounging On The Isle Of Tugsley.
My 10048 was almost scentless out of the box. And pork potpourri afterwards. Finally need to have the brush right against my nose to smell that it used to be a friend.

The worst was when I tried killing the scent by soaking the bristles in vinegar and lemony dishwashing soap. Rinsed, rinsed, and rinsed some more. Soaked it later for a shave with a bay rum soap. The vinegar, lemon, pig, and bay rum (kind of chai tea scented with all the spices) mixed together to smell like a sweet and sour Polynesian/Chinese takeout style meal.

If a brush stinks, multiple washes will eventually clean it out, but it’s a process. Smelly horse hair takes even longer to clean out and has less of pay-off compared to a broken-in pig brush. Or it does and I’m missing out.
 
My 10048 was almost scentless out of the box. And pork potpourri afterwards. Finally need to have the brush right against my nose to smell that it used to be a friend.

The worst was when I tried killing the scent by soaking the bristles in vinegar and lemony dishwashing soap. Rinsed, rinsed, and rinsed some more. Soaked it later for a shave with a bay rum soap. The vinegar, lemon, pig, and bay rum (kind of chai tea scented with all the spices) mixed together to smell like a sweet and sour Polynesian/Chinese takeout style meal.

If a brush stinks, multiple washes will eventually clean it out, but it’s a process. Smelly horse hair takes even longer to clean out and has less of pay-off compared to a broken-in pig brush. Or it does and I’m missing out.
Actually, I gave mine a sniff out of the box and didn't notice much.
 

Guido75

Is it swell time?
Head shave yesterday. Loaded an almond size Intesa dollop straight on the brush and went to town. Direct lathering works fine with the 10108 even though Intesa is solid at first. I circumvented that by first wetting the brush ala the @Marco Method, loaded the soap and started lathering on top of my head. Some extra water and I had a nice thick cushion. The brush felt soft with sufficient backbone.
 

Marco

B&B's Man in Italy
Head shave yesterday. Loaded an almond size Intesa dollop straight on the brush and went to town. Direct lathering works fine with the 10108 even though Intesa is solid at first. I circumvented that by first wetting the brush ala the @Marco Method, loaded the soap and started lathering on top of my head. Some extra water and I had a nice thick cushion. The brush felt soft with sufficient backbone.
In this case I shall give this method a try. Hopefully, I can start using it myself.
 

Guido75

Is it swell time?
I used Hampshire Wool Fat this morning with a face lathering technique. 15 counts of loading time with three dunks back in the water to arrive at a nice slick and comfortable lather. HWF is a fantastic soap by the way that lathers easily. The 10108 gave a great performance nonetheless with the loaded brush looking pretty much the same as in previous days using other soaps and creams.

I also find drying time is quite acceptable. Of course using a boar consecutively gives it no real time to dry, but between shaves I am amazed at how quickly certain parts still feel dry to the touch on the outside of the brush. The inner part is more moist obviously. Hair loss is very limited. I believe I lost one hair again yesterday, but in total with all days combined I think it is about 3-4 hairs.
 

Guido75

Is it swell time?
Today’s lather was from Canada Shaving Soap. Loaded the brush 15 counts straight from the puck/tub. After just a few swirls proto lather started emerging. First took the brush to the Captain’s Choice bowl producing a nicely thick and structured lather. Finished the lather on my face.

The brush had no troubles at all lathering up. I might need to load more product to ensure my lather is consistent in all my passes. Not that I have any complaints about today’s lather. Just something to consider to further improve my game.
 

Guido75

Is it swell time?
Ok, so loaded for 16 counts and that made all the difference today :wink2:

Current brush condition is that the knot is breaking in nicely I would say.


I opted for face lathering today and made my swirls smaller as I like the filled to the rim tub, but not the spill over while loading part. It seems like I almost need little to no product to get a great lather. This CSS stuff is amazing!


Compared to yesterday’s bowl lathering I have fuller lather for three passes. Yesterday the final pass was thinner.

The brush makes no sign of being biased to a type of soap. At least not at the moment. All lathers have been great so far.
 
I have used my brush 6 times now, and it is coming along fine. Smell is (nearly) gone and loading goes as I am used to. Brush is already very soft, so looking forward to another 20 uses with this brush, will be as comfortable as can be I reckon.
 
Used this brush for exactly 7 times now, it already feels very good and will only get better with time

full
 

Guido75

Is it swell time?
I lost count of my loading counts so I had more soap to lather up, but I think it actually was serviceable to the shave.

Very nice rich and slick lather. I also added a little more water (extra brush dunk) for that slickness.

Other than that it was a very nice face lathering exercise with the 10108 performing admirably and totally as expected.

I will be moving to a softer soap again for the final parts of the two week journey.
 
Well, I will admit Ivan that I have been pretty abusive towards the Proraso. It hogged lather like crazy, so it has seen towel drying, refrigator nights, blow dryer treatments, shampoo, palm lathering, lathering up overnight, (cleaning) vinegar and towel stropping.
Ouch! Sounds like you been beating on that hog a bit Guido. Refrigerator, palm lathering and towelling is all I’ve done with my boars. I don’t think heat and hot water are necessary, I only use cold water on my brushes. A few years back when I did use a scuttle and hot water for lathering I didn’t find it a large improvement for the effort. Using cold water if the lather is right the shave is luxurious. I’ve also found that by time I get to my head shave I feel a temperature rise in the lather.
 
My 10048 was almost scentless out of the box. And pork potpourri afterwards. Finally need to have the brush right against my nose to smell that it used to be a friend.

The worst was when I tried killing the scent by soaking the bristles in vinegar and lemony dishwashing soap. Rinsed, rinsed, and rinsed some more. Soaked it later for a shave with a bay rum soap. The vinegar, lemon, pig, and bay rum (kind of chai tea scented with all the spices) mixed together to smell like a sweet and sour Polynesian/Chinese takeout style meal.

If a brush stinks, multiple washes will eventually clean it out, but it’s a process. Smelly horse hair takes even longer to clean out and has less of pay-off compared to a broken-in pig brush. Or it does and I’m missing out.
If a brush stinks, multiple washes will eventually clean it out, but it’s a process. Smelly horse hair takes even longer to clean out and has less of pay-off compared to a broken-in pig brush. Or it does and I’m missing out.
Agreed Thom I only have the one horse hair brush and it was by far the stinkiest and filthiest rinse water. The Zenith horse hair I have isn’t even close in softness compared to two band badgers or boars. The backbone stiffer than the two band badgers but softer than the boars. A different feel and not as comfortable as either badger or boar.

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Guido75

Is it swell time?
Lathered with a shave stick again today (the fabulous BSS #1 by @blethenstrom). Damp to wet brush and lather appeared almost instantly. Backbone was more present than the past days / lathering methods. I think that was actually beneficial to the shave as my stubble was less than usual (yesterday’s shave was very effective) to get the hairs up. The brush is definitely softer than a the beginning of this Chronicle.
 
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