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Brush Chronicles #16: Omega 10108 Boar

Guido75

Is it swell time?
Following my workout I showered and took the time for a head shave. I put some Mudder Focker puddly in the Captain’s Choice heavyweight bowl and went to town with a wet brush. Luscious lather, cloudy almost and plenty enough for 2 passes, a touch up and a face wash.

The Omega displayed signs of trouble in lathering up residual soap. MF has the same ‘qualities’ as GFS soaps. They are very sticky in my bowls making it harder to fully lather the soap. Some smaller chunky bits remained nonetheless. Lathered up the brush was soft to the head and joyous to use on three days of growth. Final pass felt slightly more prickly, but fine of course.

Tomorrow marks the final use of this brush as part of the Chronicles. I think I will be using GFS Solo - it has been a while.
 
Not proud of it John 😅 But somehow this particular brush - which I love so don’t get me wrong - just keeps on hogging lather. Heavy loading or light loading- doesn’t seem to make a difference.
That’s the beauty of boars even identical knots can be significantly different in their attributes. When you have a rogue nonconforming boar. Extra discipline will eventually soften the offending boar. Yee-Ha!
 

Guido75

Is it swell time?
So, 2 weeks of continuous usage, what’s the verdict?

I think this is a phenom brush that can basically lather all types of soaps using multiple methods. I have used bowl lathering, face lathering and hybrid lathering with hard soaps, croaps, extra hard soaps and creams. The Omega produces rich and thick lathers every time.

In terms of knot condition I feel the knot tightening up when face lathering and becoming nicely soft when bowl lathering. Both are fine with me and the face feel was good. Just a difference I noted.

In both types of lathering the Omega refrained from hogging lather as well which in my view is a real bonus for a boar brush! The unhogging was better achieved when bowl lathering. I haven’t experienced the floppiness of the brush all that much. It can be when full of lather, but at the onset backbone is usually there.

So in my view this brush would be a good addition or starter for those that seek a nice boar brush.



I see little difference in the knot after two full weeks of using it. Compared to my Proraso boar brush the tips of the 10108 are still harder. But I have also used that Proraso brush three times longer.
 

Guido75

Is it swell time?
Used the 10108 again this morning after a small hiatus. Still a stiffer boar than I have seen others report. Wonderful face lather today with Hampshire Wool Fat. They seem to be made for each other. Solid lather for two passes, maybe even slightly overloaded - but I the residual rich lather as face wash afterwards. My skin feels nourished!
 
I used the 10108 the other day for bowl lathering as a test. Although it did work, it took quite a bit of elbow grease to get the lather where I wanted it compared to some stiffer boars.

I still think that face lathering is where the 10108 really shines, as the softness is a plus for the face and a worthwhile trade-off against the slight floppiness.

I wonder if I might try giving it a shorter soak and seeing if that makes a difference, but I do like how different Omegas seem to lend themselves to different applications. Plus, there is variation between brushes. I have two 10065s in the wider rotation at the moment and one of them is much stiffer than the other. It's entirely possible your 10108 really isn't as floppy as some other 10108s, in which case it could indeed be a great all-rounder.
 
The 10108 is my all time favorite and in fact the only brush I bought a back up of. I usually bowl lather but occasionally face lather. The face feel of this firm yet cushiony brush is just divine 😁. I bet mine is about 2-3years old and used twice? a week.
Fwiw I don’t “break in “ or soak /condition any of my brushes, I enjoy the changes/face feel as it gets softer and fuller.

Edit
I usually soak mine about 10 minutes/ length of shower. But I might try a shorter soak as I enjoy a scrubber brush.
 
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Guido75

Is it swell time?
Another face lather with the 10108. Softer than yesterday and producing a full brush amount of lather today. About 15 counts of loading. Really liking this brush and as Guido @JAHE mentioned in the Decemboar thread crazy cheap if you offset the price of this brush against its performance.
 
Mine has turned out fine and indeed - for face lathering - it is a superb brush! I don't bowl lather, so can't comment on that.

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For those trying to speed up the break in, back when I was recommended the 108 I was told to use the blow dryer method on it a few times and that seemed to really speed up the break-in process. It worked soo well on the 108 after a few blow dyer sessions that I tried it with my tougher to break-in Zenith and that also got me to end game after a few sessions.
 
View attachment 1953231
Первое фото о неделе ежедневной обкатки моих кистей, когда эти кисти 10108 полностью высушены. Ежедневная обкатка означает замачивание этих кистей примерно на 10-16 часов, а затем их полное намыливание и высушивание естественным путем с пеной на этих кистях. Я повторял этот цикл замачивания, намыливания, полного высыхания в течение более 3 месяцев ежедневно. То, что вы видите, — это тщательно сломанные кисти кабана. Я также разобрал их и нанес на них силиконовый уплотнитель, чтобы быть абсолютно уверенным, что в мои кисти 10108 не будет просачиваться вода или влага. Я мог бы положить несколько монет или свинцовых шариков в ручку для придания им большего веса, но я этого не сделал, потому что я очень доволен ими такими, какие они есть. Последнее фото с установленным Tabac и регулируемой бритвой Gillette Aristocrat — это сегодняшнее бритье с моей полностью сломанной более года кистью Omega 10108 кабана. Надеюсь, что некоторые из моих идей окажутся полезными для тех, кто любит обкатывать щетку для кабана.🍻 View attachment 1953238View attachment 1953239View attachment 1953240
Здравствуйте. Как защитить помазок от выпадения волос?
 
Здравствуйте. Как защитить помазок от выпадения волос?
I soak my brush for a few minutes or so in water before handling it so the bristles are soft when wet and they don`t break or become loose. I`ve only experienced regular loss of bristles for a short time like 4 to 5 times maybe a weeks shaving and then on I rarely ever have loose bristles afterwards. I`ve had these brushes for over one year now with regular usage and are thoroughly broken in and are wonderful brushes now.
 
I soak my brush for a few minutes or so in water before handling it so the bristles are soft when wet and they don`t break or become loose. I`ve only experienced regular loss of bristles for a short time like 4 to 5 times maybe a weeks shaving and then on I rarely ever have loose bristles afterwards. I`ve had these brushes for over one year now with regular usage and are thoroughly broken in and are wonderful brushes now.
Thank you.
 
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