brushes

[jamesdr]

Hi,


I have been DE shaving for about a month now. I started with the tweezerman brush. I would like to upgrade to a bigger brush. I feel over whelmed by the amount of information that is out there. I would like the brush to be under a hundred dollars. I do face lather now but i have a scuttle being made, so eventually i will switch to bowl lathering. Thanks

 

[Vlad]

Man, you are in the wrong place for easy answers. My suggestion would be to go to a few vendors and see what brushes are available for the price you want to pay. Then read the reviews on those brushes and see why some people liked them and why some did not. I doubt you will land on the "perfect" brush the first time, in part because as you use different brushes your criteria will change.

 

[Luc]

There are various options

Buy one from a vendor
Buy one from BST
Buy one by posting a WTB thread
Buy an handle + knot and build it yourself.

You need to think on how big you want it to be, type of handle, type of hair, etc.

 

[Guruschmuru]

Having a scuttle MADE - that is cool Different brushes are better at different things (soap / cream / face / bowl etc etc). If you've got big hands get a larger brush as it will be easier to handle, but could be too big if you've got a small face ------- only kidding!! Many folk do talk up their own stuff, so seek those who are less biased

 

[Suzuki]

A couple of things:

1) Have you read the varoius stickies about brushes/grades of hair, etc. - there's a lot of good information that will help you figure out what might be best for you.

2) Even though you are getting a scuttle, you may still wish to face lather, so I would look for a brush that does both well - and there are lots of those.

3) In terms of knot size, I think that between 20mm and 24mm is the sweet spot in terms of performance and value (a 26mm knot costs a lot more than a 20mm or 22mm knot of the same grade of hair). Also, most guys seem to favour brushes in the 20mm to 24mm range - you seldom see guys selling brushes because they are too small, but you do see lots of guys selling brushes they find too big.

4) What sort of preferences do you have in terms of handle - thick vs. thin, long vs. short, etc.

At your $100 price point, you have TONS of great options, including all major manufacturers, including Simpson, Rooney, Shavemac, QED, etc.

If you provide a bit more infor about your preferences - do you like soaps, crams or both, do you want soft or scrubby, fan or bulb-shaped, we can provide suggestions that will be more helpful. Even if you tell us what you do and don't like about your current brush, that will give us a sense of the direction to send you in.

 

[huntmol]

Simpsons Duke 2 in Best! By far my favorite sub-$100 brush.

 

[jamesdr]

A couple of things:

1) Have you read the varoius stickies about brushes/grades of hair, etc. - there's a lot of good information that will help you figure out what might be best for you.

2) Even though you are getting a scuttle, you may still wish to face lather, so I would look for a brush that does both well - and there are lots of those.

3) In terms of knot size, I think that between 20mm and 24mm is the sweet spot in terms of performance and value (a 26mm knot costs a lot more than a 20mm or 22mm knot of the same grade of hair). Also, most guys seem to favour brushes in the 20mm to 24mm range - you seldom see guys selling brushes because they are too small, but you do see lots of guys selling brushes they find too big.

4) What sort of preferences do you have in terms of handle - thick vs. thin, long vs. short, etc.

At your $100 price point, you have TONS of great options, including all major manufacturers, including Simpson, Rooney, Shavemac, QED, etc.

If you provide a bit more infor about your preferences - do you like soaps, crams or both, do you want soft or scrubby, fan or bulb-shaped, we can provide suggestions that will be more helpful. Even if you tell us what you do and don't like about your current brush, that will give us a sense of the direction to send you in.

I have large hands so a large handle would be great. I like using soaps. I would like a brush that was bigger to hold more lather. It seems that i am moving more towards a shavemac, but the T&H 20% off is hard to pass up. I think i would like a firm brush with soft tips. I don't think i want a floppy brush.

 

[Suzuki]

I have large hands so a large handle would be great. I like using soaps. I would like a brush that was bigger to hold more lather. It seems that i am moving more towards a shavemac, but the T&H 20% off is hard to pass up. I think i would like a firm brush with soft tips. I don't think i want a floppy brush.

I believe the T&H Brushes may be rebranded Vulfix brushes, which some find a bit on the softer/floppier side.

. Good choices would be the Rooney Style 3 in small (22mm) or medium (24mm) and there are several styles of Simpson that would fit the bill and the Shavemac finest is a great value. Of course, QED's line of brushes is also great.

There are lots of reviews for all of the brushes I've mentioned in the review section - so worth taking a look if you haven't already.

 

[Eclectic]

Hi,


I have been DE shaving for about a month now. I started with the tweezerman brush. I would like to upgrade to a bigger brush. I feel over whelmed by the amount of information that is out there. I would like the brush to be under a hundred dollars. I do face lather now but i have a scuttle being made, so eventually i will switch to bowl lathering. Thanks

Just now the Frank Shaving Finest from China seems to be the answer to everything. At $9.99 you can't go wrong! There is already lots of very favourable feedback on here.
It is quite a large brush with a bigger knot than most. And the quality is exactly the same as famous brand name brushes that cost very many times more.
I have used mine with soaps and creams with equal success and it easily holds enough for a 3 or 4 pass shave. In this respect it is actually better than my Plisson, which cost a little bit more!

 

[Picaro]

For $100 you could get a top line new boar brush and grab a good badger from bst!?

 

[ackvil]

I took advantage of the TH discount and bought a T&H Silvertip Badger Style I Small, Ivory Horn brush which sells for $89 before the discount. It is a wonderful brush. I do not find it floppy. It is soft but builds a tremendous amount of lather easily. If you want a larger brush, the medium would do just fine.

 

[andrew98]

...do you like soaps, crams or both...

Mmm, crams.

I recommend a custom Shavemac with Finest hair (21mm diameter, 45mm loft). Email Bernd and he'll fix you up. You can choose any handle you like from his website. Alternatively, I'd say the T&H rebranded Rooney 1/1 (there's a B&B discount) or a Rudy Vey brush of some sort if you'd like to get in well under $100.

-Andy

 

[Ignatius]

CH1, best.

 

[andrew98]

CH1, best.

This is under $100?

-Andy

 

[andrew98]

Simpsons Duke 2 in Best! By far my favorite sub-$100 brush.

You're almost making me want one of these, Hunter.

-Andy

 

[Ignatius]

This is under $100?

-Andy

Ah right. About 111 by online conversion. Maybe it can be had for under 100 with favourable conversion rates.

 

[jamesdr]

CH1, best.

What is a CH1?

 

[Klarion]

Simpsons Chubby 1

 

[vitaman]

I'd grab a Semogue 1305 boar and a Omega 31064 boar and have money to spare for a couple real nice soaps.

 

[bindibadgi]

Thanks to Eclectic's post, I just went off and read a bunch of reviews on the Frank Finest brush. I just had to buy one, so we'll see in a week or so what all the hype is about! It certainly looks nice for ten bucks.