What's new

Brush losing hairs

Hi all,

My first and only brush is a badger hair one with black rubber handle. It's from aliexpress and was £25 - no brand. I got it a while ago.

Every time I use it, the brush loses 5-10 hairs. Is that something I should be concerned about? As it is the brush has enough volume, I guess I'll need a new brush eventually but for now it does the job well and is otherwise a nice brush - despite getting hair stuck in my soap every time I use it.
 

EclipseRedRing

I smell like a Christmas pudding
If you have not owned it for long then I would contact the supplier. If you have had it a while and it has just started shedding then the most common cause of this is a build up of soap in the base of the knot due to insufficient rinsing after use. There can be other causes such as very forceful mashing of the brush, or it could just be a cheap brush that has worn out. Loose hair is annoying but at 5 to 10 hairs per shave you have a long time until there is none left. I would try a thorough cleaning and a comb and see how it goes, it may stop but if not then that is justification, if any were needed, to buy a new brush 😃
 
If you have not owned it for long then I would contact the supplier. If you have had it a while and it has just started shedding then the most common cause of this is a build up of soap in the base of the knot due to insufficient rinsing after use. There can be other causes such as very forceful mashing of the brush, or it could just be a cheap brush that has worn out. Loose hair is annoying but at 5 to 10 hairs per shave you have a long time until there is none left. I would try a thorough cleaning and a comb and see how it goes, it may stop but if not then that is justification, if any were needed, to buy a new brush 😃
Ok I just washed it with dish soap twice and vinegar. I'll give it a thorough combing next once it's dry and see if that makes a difference.
 
With the low cost knots, they're not paying anybody to really work and comb out the hairs that didn't quite make it down into the glue bump whenever the brush knot was created.

I don't consider it to be a problem to lose 5 to 10 hairs per shave even for the first month or more, due to that.

But after that it really should start calming down.

Of course you'll have to weigh that with the option of returning the brush because if you wait too long your options may be limited.

Also, make sure you're not soaking the brush in hot water. That can cause the glue disc to expand and contract through the cycle of the shave and that's not going to be good for keeping bristles in it.

And like someone else said, make sure you don't leave any soap residue in the core of the brush. Give it a very very good rinse because the chemical properties of the soap, if they remain down deep in the knot, can eat through the hairs.

I only soak the bristles and not any part of the handle in water and not in hot.
 

nemo

Lunatic Fringe
Staff member
I don't consider it to be a problem to lose 5 to 10 hairs per shave even for the first month or more, due to that.
Well, that's where you and I differ. A brush shouldn't do that in my opinion, that's just excessive. No bueno.

Soaking a badger brush doesn't do much from my experience, I just wet and go, then put it in a good place to dry after a thorough rinse.

Hopefully the OP can get it to quit shedding since returning a brush to China isn't always a worthwhile task. But he says he's had it a while. Has it shed its entire life?

I wish you luck @Karlahn
 
Well, that's where you and I differ. A brush shouldn't do that in my opinion, that's just excessive. No bueno.

Soaking a badger brush doesn't do much from my experience, I just wet and go, then put it in a good place to dry after a thorough rinse.

Hopefully the OP can get it to quit shedding since returning a brush to China isn't always a worthwhile task. But he says he's had it a while. Has it shed its entire life?

I wish you luck @Karlahn
Yeah it has shed its whole life. I plan on keeping it because it is a nice silver tip and feels great. I just attacked it with a fine tooth comb til no more hairs came loose so hopefully it will stop shedding now.
 
I went through a couple of Van Der Hagen Boar brushes (came with shave sets) that always lost a few hairs. After a few months the knots deteriorated to the point where chunks came out and they had to be disposed of. You may be heading towards a similar outcome with your brush if it keeps losing hairs.

If you like a softer brush I've been using a Razorock Monster plissoft synthetic with great results for close to two years without any hair loss. Recently acquired a Razorock Blondie Boar brush (rebranded Zenith 80N/similar to Omega 10049) that works better on hard soap pucks that is working well. Not sure what prices for these are in the U.K. though in the U.S. the Monster is currently priced at $14 and the Blondie at $9.
 
Top Bottom