gel tip brushes

[newwetsahver]

what exactly are gel tipped brushes? was looking for some info on these.

 

[Mountain Grown]

This video was published recently by Heritage Shave Brush on how they Gel their SHD knots. Any Gel knot will be prepared in a similar way, maybe different chemical etc..

 

[Owen Bawn]

What affect, if any, would this bleaching process have on a pure badger knot?

 

[Hannah's Dad]

‘Gel tips‘ is simply when the tips of the brush, when wet, bend and clump together, creating a more ‘pillowy’ feel to the brush. Quite ‘fashionable’ these days.

 

[Mountain Grown]

My AP shave Co Gel tip knot, they call it the Gealousy knot is very soft on the face. After testing this knot several times my opinion is that it does not pick up soap really well off the puck like the rest of my badgers due to the Gel process. Love the knot but I do not use it often for this reason.

 

[ajduplessis]

The manchurian fan club is not going to be impressed...

 

[SliceOfLife]

Yeah... basically what we figured. Bleaching or heat treating process to get the tips to curl. Honestly, I think the hair dryer probably does more curling than the bleach.

 

[emwolf]

this is interesting. I might try this on on of my cheap badger brushes.

 

[Timeclo]

Gel tips make the tips curled and soft, gelling/clumping up with water and feeling nice on the face. This is great with High Density (SHD) badgers because you get a good backbone while still maintaining the soft gel tip feel.

 

[newwetsahver]

how well do these burshes work for bowl lathering? do they take a long time to work up a lather? the only experience i have with brushes is a boar brush. i have a sythentic but really didnt like the way it performed. the reason i ask is because i see a lot of the wetshaving youtubers who use badger brushes usually just do face lathering. i prefer bowl lathering because i think it gives me more control over how i build the lather

 

[Tomo]

I have often wondered about this phrase. I have a few higher end badger brushes where the tips of the hairs are now curled when dry. They have little hooked ends. I was initially pretty disappointed that they had gone this way since it doesn’t look great IMO.

When wet the brushes are super soft maybe even ‘gel’ like. So maybe the curled hairs are a good thing after all.

These brushes also tend to go a bit spikey and crusty when they dry as the hairs clump together in little groups. A few brushes on you hand or jeans breaks this up and fluffs them up again.

 

[A. Feitar]

I was able to purchase the Ion bleaching products for about $7 at a local beauty supply store.

I mixed a 50/50 mixture of the Ion powder and liquid and then dipped the dry tips of a Oumo Manchuria badger in the mix. I then spread it around the tips and down about 5mm in the white area of the badger knot. Then I used my wife’s hair dryer to blow hot air on the knot. I then let the product stay on the brush for 11 minutes. At 11 minutes, I washed it off and instantly saw a change in the knot. After application, it had changed from a nice badger knot to a very white and gel tipped knot. It is very slippery and soft now. I am quite impressed at how easy this was to do.

 

[Tomo]

how well do these burshes work for bowl lathering? do they take a long time to work up a lather? the only experience i have with brushes is a boar brush. i have a sythentic but really didnt like the way it performed. the reason i ask is because i see a lot of the wetshaving youtubers who use badger brushes usually just do face lathering. i prefer bowl lathering because i think it gives me more control over how i build the lather

Both work well. The boars will probably rip into a hard puck a little faster than a silvertip but they both get there and produce great lather. Badger tends to hold more lather in the knot than boar and has a different face feel. I like both.

 

[Tomo]

I was able to purchase the Ion bleaching products for about $7 at a local beauty supply store.

I mixed a 50/50 mixture of the Ion powder and liquid and then dipped the dry tips of a Oumo Manchuria badger in the mix. I then spread it around the tips and down about 5mm in the white area of the badger knot. Then I used my wife’s hair dryer to blow hot air on the knot. I then let the product stay on the brush for 11 minutes. At 11 minutes, I washed it off and instantly saw a change in the knot. After application, it had changed from a nice badger knot to a very white and gel tipped knot. It is very slippery and soft now. I am quite impressed at how easy this was to do.

Sounds risky. I’m not sure that I would be game for this.

 

[Timeclo]

I was able to purchase the Ion bleaching products for about $7 at a local beauty supply store.

I mixed a 50/50 mixture of the Ion powder and liquid and then dipped the dry tips of a Oumo Manchuria badger in the mix. I then spread it around the tips and down about 5mm in the white area of the badger knot. Then I used my wife’s hair dryer to blow hot air on the knot. I then let the product stay on the brush for 11 minutes. At 11 minutes, I washed it off and instantly saw a change in the knot. After application, it had changed from a nice badger knot to a very white and gel tipped knot. It is very slippery and soft now. I am quite impressed at how easy this was to do.

Oumo Manchuria is already pretty soft and gelly so that must be super soft now. It's probably closer to gelousy knot now. Nice work!

 

[mr_houston]

how well do these burshes work for bowl lathering? do they take a long time to work up a lather? the only experience i have with brushes is a boar brush. i have a sythentic but really didnt like the way it performed. the reason i ask is because i see a lot of the wetshaving youtubers who use badger brushes usually just do face lathering. i prefer bowl lathering because i think it gives me more control over how i build the lather

I bowl lather with badger brushes. The primary difference I find with these gel knots is they hold more water, so I shake them a bit more when lathering.

 

[muzichead]

Yeah... basically what we figured. Bleaching or heat treating process to get the tips to curl. Honestly, I think the hair dryer probably does more curling than the bleach.

The bleach speeds up the process to make the ends split easier so they curl faster when you put heat to them....

 

[Mountain Grown]

Both work well. The boars will probably rip into a hard puck a little faster than a silvertip but they both get there and produce great lather. Badger tends to hold more lather in the knot than boar and has a different face feel. I like both.

He also published a video on how to do a boar knot.. I think a gel boar might compete with a broken in Semouge 830 right out of the chute.

 

[Mountain Grown]

I was able to purchase the Ion bleaching products for about $7 at a local beauty supply store.

I mixed a 50/50 mixture of the Ion powder and liquid and then dipped the dry tips of a Oumo Manchuria badger in the mix. I then spread it around the tips and down about 5mm in the white area of the badger knot. Then I used my wife’s hair dryer to blow hot air on the knot. I then let the product stay on the brush for 11 minutes. At 11 minutes, I washed it off and instantly saw a change in the knot. After application, it had changed from a nice badger knot to a very white and gel tipped knot. It is very slippery and soft now. I am quite impressed at how easy this was to do.

Man, pretty cool.. I'm shopping Maggard for one of their 26mm SHD next week and if I can find the Ion Bleach will probably give it a go.

 

[IMightBeWrong]

I find I get amazing softness just from buying Shavemac Silvertip. Same for Thater. Also get amazing softness from Elite Manchurian White. Plenty of great brush makers that produce amazing knots that I don’t have to risk my nice badgers.

This said, might be worth it for a boar.