I’m going to try my GD Pura unscented when we get home. I’ll be using razors with which I’m accustomed so I should be able to evaluate it fairly.
Flask's newbie adventure
- Thread starter flask28
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #422
I suspect you'll be impressed, I'm looking forward to hearing your review!
I made a comment in the Athena thread about the handle seeming less slippery to me over time and someone made a crack about it being more likely my lather was poorly done that time. I decided to let that slide
Turns out he might have been right! I had trouble keeping a good grip on the Athena handle for this shave, the GD lather was sort of sliming everything I touched (the brush, the soap jar, the water tap handle) making everything slippery and I was conscious that it was little more challenging to shift grips and spin the razor.
I'm glad I didn't mouth off to that guy and look stupid later, as is my want. He might have been on to something.
lasta
Blade Biter
A pinch on the alum block will solve all your overlubricated problems!
Following your earlier post I took a look at my cabinet and by my calculations I think I have 3.5-4 years worth of soap at the moment
So I made another commitment to myself to first finish these before I get anything new. And all - with the exception of Tabac - are nice soaps at that.Enjoy!
Guido
Although that fruity Areffa….
- Thread starter
- #425
I've sure been having a lot of fun with the scale @thombrogan talked me into. Maybe I've learned something? More likely I've just confused myself and writing this will be contributing to the misinformation flotsam we already live awash in today.
Take all of this with a bolder-size chunk of rock salt.
There's a subtitle to this post: Brushes - How dry is dry? Is the commonly recommended 36 hours good?
I'll start right off by saying I have no kind of answer to that question. It totally depends on the brush. Ok, yes, I think it's a fine guideline in general.
After weighing my brushes obsessively over the last 60 days I've made several observations I thought I'd share.
The first is that establishing the "dry" weight of a brush turns out to be a real moving target. Let's assume the "dry" weight of a brush is it's weight after sitting unused for two weeks. That seemed straight foward to me at first, but like particle physics, a brush's water retention profile gets squooshy the closer you look at it. For example:
Well. Ok. Good to know. Note to self: Don't obsess over a .2-.5g variance of "dry" weight.
I focused on building a hydro-profile for my dense badger brushes first, figuring those would be the drying time worst case scenarios. And because yes, I'm using those the most right now.
Over five or six measuring sessions with each brush, these were some averages.
These more dense badger brushes take closer to 48-50 hours to really dry out, where the Omega Jade is bone dry in 36 hours.
The other interesting thing is each brush seems to have a sweet spot, a particular weight where it suddenly "feels" dry. For the ZT4, this was around 145.2g. Once it got under that weight the backbone stiffened noticeably, almost like 145.2g was right where the hairs hit just enough dehydration to change their intrinsic firmness.
The SV showed the same behaviour, going from "almost dry" to "yeah, it's dry" right around 105g. The Jade's magic number was around 87g.
Very interesting!
I'll stop here before I kill everyone with even weirder and dryer soap measuring analysis. Heh.
Thank you, my BOSC brothers, for sending me down this particular rabbit hole. Parachuteless.
Take all of this with a bolder-size chunk of rock salt.
There's a subtitle to this post: Brushes - How dry is dry? Is the commonly recommended 36 hours good?
I'll start right off by saying I have no kind of answer to that question. It totally depends on the brush. Ok, yes, I think it's a fine guideline in general.
After weighing my brushes obsessively over the last 60 days I've made several observations I thought I'd share.
The first is that establishing the "dry" weight of a brush turns out to be a real moving target. Let's assume the "dry" weight of a brush is it's weight after sitting unused for two weeks. That seemed straight foward to me at first, but like particle physics, a brush's water retention profile gets squooshy the closer you look at it. For example:
- Brushes are more sensitive than I thought. After a steamy shower all my brushes would all pick up .2-.5g of weight just sitting on the bathroom shelf.
- A brush's final "dry" weight can easily vary by .3 - .5 seasonally and relative to barometric pressure
- Brushes love to inhale morning dew from an open window. Often my almost-dry brushes would weigh more in the morning than the night before
- Brushes love to bask in a warm breeze - a day in the window on a windy 80 degree day could decrease average drying time 35%
Well. Ok. Good to know. Note to self: Don't obsess over a .2-.5g variance of "dry" weight.
I focused on building a hydro-profile for my dense badger brushes first, figuring those would be the drying time worst case scenarios. And because yes, I'm using those the most right now.
Over five or six measuring sessions with each brush, these were some averages.
| Brush | Starting Weight | Shaken out | 8 hours | 16 hours | 24 hours | 36 hours | 48 hours | 72 hours |
| SV LE 30mm | 104.0g | 110.7g | 107.5g | 106.2g | 105.3g | 104.8g | 104.5g | 104.3g |
| ZT4 26mm | 144.2g | 153.1g | 149.3g | 147.9g | 146.5g | 145.4g | 144.5g | 144.2g |
| Omega Jade | 86.6g | 91.6g | 89.6g | 88.2g | 87.2g | 86.9g | 86.6g | 86.6g |
These more dense badger brushes take closer to 48-50 hours to really dry out, where the Omega Jade is bone dry in 36 hours.
The other interesting thing is each brush seems to have a sweet spot, a particular weight where it suddenly "feels" dry. For the ZT4, this was around 145.2g. Once it got under that weight the backbone stiffened noticeably, almost like 145.2g was right where the hairs hit just enough dehydration to change their intrinsic firmness.
The SV showed the same behaviour, going from "almost dry" to "yeah, it's dry" right around 105g. The Jade's magic number was around 87g.
Very interesting!
I'll stop here before I kill everyone with even weirder and dryer soap measuring analysis. Heh.
Thank you, my BOSC brothers, for sending me down this particular rabbit hole. Parachuteless.
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lasta
Blade Biter
I get where you are coming from.
Sometimes when I run out of hair to shave, I find other things to suppress my "when not shaving" anxiety.
Occasionally, I resort to shaving my thighs. I rarely wear shorts, so only one other person gets to see that area anyways.
Just a bit sharing from a fellow addict.
Sometimes when I run out of hair to shave, I find other things to suppress my "when not shaving" anxiety.
Occasionally, I resort to shaving my thighs. I rarely wear shorts, so only one other person gets to see that area anyways.
Just a bit sharing from a fellow addict.
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- Thread starter
- #427
What was your drying method Adam? Standing up or hanging down? First hanging then standing? I am wondering if that impacts dry time as well. Other threads appear to suggest not, but using a scale obviously makes it more objectified.
Guido
Guido
- Thread starter
- #429
Ooh, excellent question my friend. I tried to be consistent, for science, and all of these brushes dried while hanging down for 36 hours then were transferred to the brush shelf where they stood for the remainder.
I got a scale a while back to weigh coffee beans before grinding... also accurate to .1 grams. One coffee bean, depending on the brand and/or the batch, weighs around .1gram.
Before today, I hadn't considered weighing my shaving brushes. <eg>
Before today, I hadn't considered weighing my shaving brushes. <eg>
It was an unanticipated use to me, too. That’s why Adam makes the big bucks.
I can't say I have shaved my thighs but the back of my left hand has never been smoother than it has been in the last few weeks.
We should start a thread of 'What have you shaved?' - actually, on second thought, we really shouldn't.
Kim, do you weigh your soaps? I have read a number of threads on people who do to see how much soap they consume per shave.
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I haven't weighed my soaps either.... but I do weigh myself every morning. In the not to distant future, I'll be on a weight maintenance thing instead of weight loss plan. I'm approaching the right lack of love handles for me. I started last year in the middle of January.
For a moment there I thought you were going to say you monitor the weight of whiskers you lose, weight before and after shave.
Congratulations on the loss of love handles, that is a great effort!
- Thread starter
- #435
Congratulations! Lack of love handles is a perfect target weight!
- Thread starter
- #436
I was content just weighing my soaps until your brush weighing idea hit me like the Chicxulub impactor.
That’s your idea. I only thought of the effects of water on pucks
Chan Eil Whiskers
Fumbling about.
Adam, I am in seclusion studying your masterpiece, but watch out. Big Nurse is on the warpath.
Great work, my friend.
Happy shaves,
Jim
Just found this thread and read the last page posts.
I’m intrigued, scared, laughing, and locking the doors.
I know what I’m reading this evening. Looking forward to it.
I’m intrigued, scared, laughing, and locking the doors.
I know what I’m reading this evening. Looking forward to it.
Chan Eil Whiskers
Fumbling about.
Good looking scale. |
I have a kitchen scale which I mostly use to weigh coffee, but yours might be better, Adam @flask28. These devices are practically mandatory in the BOSC Asylum Science Wing. None of those expensive research scales for us, right!
My kitchen scale which is several years old is probably like most of the ones on the market. I works well enough. The only problem I have with it is related to its units display. It will weigh in ounces, grams, and a couple of other units, all of which are fine with me even if I don't use them. Sometimes my wife will weigh something in ounces. I weigh both coffee and shaving stuff in grams. The problem is the display showing whether the setting is in grams or ounces is so tiny it's truly impossible to be sure what unit is being used; I can't read the tiny font even with my corrected 20/20 vision. Of course I can figure it out but it's a minor hassle.
How 'bout this scale. Does it have the same problem?
Happy shaves,
Jim
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