Dunno. I buy them used and let other people take the hit.
Oh ok, but I did the same way you did before...My first 2 boar brushes were broke by building lathers with Arko, but then I stopped doing it, because the warm water and the towel can speed up the process without wasting soaps/creams.
On 1st of November, I bought:
1x Semogue 830
1x Somegue 1305
1x Semogue 1438
1xSemogue 2000
1 month of warm water and towel rubbing every single day, and they got fantastic, even without using them on my face for a shave.