Falling in love with Synthetics

[zed117]

In the five years I’ve been wetshaving I have mainly been a boar guy with a badger on weekends. Lately I’ve been using synthetics. Very soft and they don’t hog lather. You need to add a bit more water, but it’s easy to fine tune your lather with them. Super easy to clean and dry them too.

I have been very impressed by my Stirling Tuxedo and WCS synthetic. I believe both knots are Yaqi. My opinion on synthetic brushes has changed, definitely like them more than boar. Might like them even more than badger.

Current rotation my two synthetics and Badger.

 

[ShavePastor]

Today's synthetics are indeed super nice & not much price for such great quality! But then so are today's badger brushes, like Yaqi & Maseto silvertips. I wonder what will be the new hotness in another 5 years!

 

[Macfrommichigan]

Softer soaps, softer water, and a synthetic are a good combo. In my experience, a synthetic and hard water and a very hard puck not so much.

 

[jbraft]

They are nice. I have the same Stirling tuxedo and recently received a Yaqi Silvertip badger.

 

[G'Ville Ute]

I have the same stirling brush. Have you found it hard to get it to splay for you when face lathering? Mine is so dense I have a hard time getting it to open up for me. Love the brush though.

 

[HighSpeedSpoon]

Synthetic fiber has come a long way, and I am using them almost exclusively these days. I like them for all the reasons the OP mentioned, plus the fact that many great synthetics are an excellent value. They require a different approach, but that’s okay. So far, I have found ways that work well for me with creams and all but the hardest soaps.

 

[zed117]

I have the same stirling brush. Have you found it hard to get it to splay for you when face lathering? Mine is so dense I have a hard time getting it to open up for me. Love the brush though.

It is rather dense, but I bowl lather and paint it on, so can't say I've noticed any problems getting it to splay a bit. Love how soft it is.

I will say it's a ridiculously good brush for the price range.

 

[Galhatz]

Today's synthetics are indeed super nice & not much price for such great quality! But then so are today's badger brushes, like Yaqi & Maseto silvertips. I wonder what will be the new hotness in another 5 years!

That point is very true indeed.

I sold my Kent BLK8, Simpson Duke2 and Muhle STF 5 years ago.
I didn't see the point in them to justify the price and hype.

It has been mostly boar brushes since. Lots of awesome boar brushes.

I recently picked up two brushes that caught my interest:
Maseto 26mm silvertip and Maggard 30mm Synthetic.
I really could not fault the Maseto knot - at all. I found it much more practical than the FLOPPY Kent.

The Maggard is a lot of fun. The knot splays *right* - evenly and doesn't clump all in one side.
Great handle too.

 

[muzichead]

Softer soaps, softer water, and a synthetic are a good combo. In my experience, a synthetic and hard water and a very hard puck not so much.

I would have to disagree with this post... I have hard water and use Stirling soaps exclusively and have no problems at all building a great lather with a bowl or face lathering.

I have the same stirling brush. Have you found it hard to get it to splay for you when face lathering? Mine is so dense I have a hard time getting it to open up for me. Love the brush though.

I have been a synthetic user for over a year now and have tried a few different tuxedo knots and have found them all to not splay well at all. I do however love my cashmere and angel hair brushes and they splay on demand...

 

[albsat]

I have yet to try one and waiting for my yaqi to arrive. Hope that these synthetic brushes work well for face lathering. Time will tell.

 

[Graybeard57]

In the five years I’ve been wetshaving I have mainly been a boar guy with a badger on weekends. Lately I’ve been using synthetics. Very soft and they don’t hog lather. You need to add a bit more water, but it’s easy to fine tune your lather with them. Super easy to clean and dry them too.

I have been very impressed by my Stirling Tuxedo and WCS synthetic. I believe both knots are Yaqi. My opinion on synthetic brushes has changed, definitely like them more than boar. Might like them even more than badger.

Current rotation my two synthetics and Badger.
View attachment 867910 View attachment 867911 View attachment 867912

I am also a converted synthetic guy. The Muhle knot in mine is ideal for my needs. I use soaps, most of them hard, so I had favored boars for about five years too. Since getting a synthetic, I cannot imagine not using it. It has backbone, yet is softer than a boar. Perfect for me.

 

[redslayer8585]

I have yet to try one and waiting for my yaqi to arrive. Hope that these synthetic brushes work well for face lathering. Time will tell.

I'm a synthetic convert as well, 10 of my 19 brushes are synthetic in every flavor you can imagine. As for face lathering, I am a strict face latherer and they actually work BETTER for me than my boars and badgers! Initially it's very different, the water ratio will seem off if you're used to natural hair but once you dial it in, there's no turning back! I seriously CAN'T get the performance out of natural hair anymore that I can out of a synth.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[meliahog]

Softer soaps, softer water, and a synthetic are a good combo. In my experience, a synthetic and hard water and a very hard puck not so much.

+1 I use a boar for soaps such aa PdP #63 and SV Dolomiti. In fact my favorite boar is one I bought in Italy back in 1986. Hasn't lost a hair and shaves almost like a badger. I'd say it's broken in. Just some wear on the wood handle.
Here is a few pictures. The brush may even be horse, don't remember. Maybe someone can enlighten me.LOL

Mikey
PS: I Love that Stirling.

 

[creekwalker]

I would have to disagree with this post... I have hard water and use Stirling soaps exclusively and have no problems at all building a great lather with a bowl or face lathering.

I have been a synthetic user for over a year now and have tried a few different tuxedo knots and have found them all to not splay well at all. I do however love my cashmere and angel hair brushes and they splay on demand...

This is my experience as well. I could practically walk on my water (and I'm heavy), but I have no trouble loading and lathering hard milled soaps. Maybe it has to do with the particular balance of the water's heavy mineral content.

 

[GearNoir]

Just ordered the last brush I’ll need for a while, the RR Big Bruce.

That’ll give me an OK generic AOS badger, a decent Omega Boar, and a nice Synth.

 

[Vineeze]

I'm a synthetic convert as well, 10 of my 19 brushes are synthetic in every flavor you can imagine. As for face lathering, I am a strict face latherer and they actually work BETTER for me than my boars and badgers! Initially it's very different, the water ratio will seem off if you're used to natural hair but once you dial it in, there's no turning back! I seriously CAN'T get the performance out of natural hair anymore that I can out of a synth.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Me experience is same as yours. Once you get acclimated to the proper methods with synthetics they outperform badger. Im speaking about face lathering. They load faster, lather faster on the face and feel more comfortable than a scritchy animal brush.

I have the Stirling tuxedo and shaved this morning with my badger and it took more time to lather up. About 30 seconds longer I would say. You will be hard pressed to find a decent badger for under 20 bucks but under 20 for synthetics there is a ripe lot to choose from.

And if you check my post history you will see that I was a badger exclusive for over 3 years and even made posts saying that synth is inferior to badger (back when I didnt know any better) because badger users that try to lather a synth same as badger will end up with awful lather. But once you dial in the technique you can see that the new technology of synths has surpassed badger on all counts. Faster lather, softer on the face, alot less expensive price. This has been my experience

 

[GearNoir]

Me experience is same as yours. Once you get acclimated to the proper methods with synthetics they outperform badger. Im speaking about face lathering. They load faster, lather faster on the face and feel more comfortable than a scritchy animal brush.

I have the Stirling tuxedo and shaved this morning with my badger and it took more time to lather up. About 30 seconds longer I would say. You will be hard pressed to find a decent badger for under 20 bucks but under 20 for synthetics there is a ripe lot to choose from.

And if you check my post history you will see that I was a badger exclusive for over 3 years and even made posts saying that synth is inferior to badger (back when I didnt know any better) because badger users that try to lather a synth same as badger will end up with awful lather. But once you dial in the technique you can see that the new technology of synths has surpassed badger on all counts. Faster lather, softer on the face, alot less expensive price. This has been my experience

You found one that works decently? I’m glad!

 

[Adam18]

My synthetics are terrific ! My Yaqi Tuxedo, flanked by my two RazoRock Plissofts.

 

[steveclarkus]

I just got a Razorock Plissoft a couple of weeks ago and it blows me away. I’ve used an Omega boar for several years and the synthetic has won me over. Have to disagree about not performing on hard soaps. The synthetic tears Williams up - better than the boar.

 

[zed117]

My synthetics are terrific ! My Yaqi Tuxedo, flanked by my two RazoRock Plissofts.

View attachment 868100

Beautiful handles.
How is the Plisoft knot vs Yaqis?