Gentlemen, and ladies, I give you: The Economizer

[Foyle]

There are lots of brushes dubbed, "The Soap Eater." Without a doubt, those are all very fine brushes. I've even owned a few of them in the past, and thoroughly enjoyed them. But ever since getting my Muhle STF 21mm, I haven't been able to put it down. Synthetics have really come into their own, and I think their performance is rivals that of even the finest natural hair brushes. Today I'm using Truefitt and Hill Trafalgar cream to make my lather.

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These brushes are much storied for their reputation of needing very little product to produce a great lather. This morning I thought I'd show you gents just what this brush can do with very little product. As a matter of full disclosure, I do have soft water. I also typically use slightly more cream than what I used this morning. This is what came off on the brush after just one swipe in the pot. Normally, I would have gone back to get just a touch more, but I thought I'd give this tiny quantity a try and see how it went. Judge the results for yourself.

Loaded


After Face Lathering


What's left after two passes

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The resulting lather was every bit as cushiony and slick as what I get when I use slightly more product. Furthermore, it took very little time to build this lather with this brush. While lots of brushes really eat up product in making a good lather, this brush uses very little. How long do you suppose this pot of cream will last me if this is all I need for a shave? This brush will really help you to get the most from very little product. Hence, I dub this brush, The Economizer.

 

[NSmalls]

That was a lot of lather for not too much cream. I'm quite the opposite, I like to load as much soap as possible.

 

[4freek]

They are a great brush, I'm really happy with mine.
T&H is great also. I had a little shave sample pack and used it all in one go and ended up with way too much. I could have stretched that sample for at least 3 shaves easily.

 

[xxvaleria]

That's an impressive test drive. I'll have to look into both the brush and the cream.

 

[SocalRick]

I have the same brush and love it. It's really great with soap sticks. I shaved with Irisch Moos today (picked up a couple of sticks last summer at Pasteur's in NYC ... they had them for $11 and change). I barely put any soap on my face and it just exploded into enough lather for 3 or 4 passes.

Small brush and really packs a wallop!

 

[RVshave]

I got one in a 23 knot and faux ivory, don't know why the gent I got it from didn't like it , but it's not leaving my den. Great performer.

 

[parapaul]

I love my STF brush, and I completely agree. Where common advice is to load soap from a puck for 45 or 60 seconds, I have yet to need more than 10 or 15 seconds to get 3 passes' worth of thick, slick lather. It's the only brush I use.

 

[OkieStubble]

Have the exact same Muhle faux horn STF in 19mm, vintage Trac II handle and Trafalgar. Great combination!.

 

[RVshave]

From everything I've heard about this Gen. 4 fibers, Muhle hit a home run , if they get any better badger brushes may be living on borrowed time.

 

[Foyle]

Have the exact same Muhle faux horn STF in 19mm, vintage Trac II handle and Trafalgar. Great combination!.

Okie, we need to start a TracII appreciation society.

 

[IMightBeWrong]

This has me hopeful for my incoming Black Fibre. Drives me nuts that everything takes so long to ship during this season!

 

[Foyle]

This has me hopeful for my incoming Black Fibre. Drives me nuts that everything takes so long to ship during this season!

I've got a black fibre on my Christmas list. Hopefully there will be one under the tree for me this year.

One crucial bit of advice. It does take a slight adjustment to your technique to get used to using the synthetic. There are two things that I think are crucial. One: don't shake the water out of your brush, just give it a squeeze. Two: If you face lather, start face lathering with slower motions than you would with a natural hair brush. You'll find it takes a lot less effort to produce lather than it does with a natural hair brush. Once I got a hold of these two concepts, this brush out shined all my natural hair brushes.

 

[Facial Blood Donor]

Dang. Looks like brush #6 and soap/cream #20 coming up. Where am I going to store all this stuff?

 

[rsp1202]

I appreciate the gold-tone Trac II I got from you. It shaves as well as the Muhle lathers.

 

[OkieStubble]

I've got a black fibre on my Christmas list. Hopefully there will be one under the tree for me this year.

One crucial bit of advice. It does take a slight adjustment to your technique to get used to using the synthetic. There are two things that I think are crucial. One: don't shake the water out of your brush, just give it a squeeze. Two: If you face lather, start face lathering with slower motions than you would with a natural hair brush. You'll find it takes a lot less effort to produce lather than it does with a natural hair brush. Once I got a hold of these two concepts, this brush out shined all my natural hair brushes.

I have been using the STF exclusively for months. Went back to my favorite badger and boar brushes to see if the time off and coming back to them would spark any interest again. Nothing. Even the boar seemed to moppy.

Okie, we need to start a TracII appreciation society.

We should. The Trac II shaves are my best shaves, even though I use straights, DE's & SE's more often.

 

[duckdown]

I like to load mine up to the max, I'd never finish a cream or soap if I used as little he did.. I like to actually finish soaps because then I get to try something new!

 

[parapaul]

Two: If you face lather, start face lathering with slower motions than you would with a natural hair brush. You'll find it takes a lot less effort to produce lather than it does with a natural hair brush.

Haha, yes! I regularly paint my chest, shoulders, the sink and mirror in globs of lather as I start work the brush around my face! Once the lather thickens up a little it's fine, but that initial wet mix likes its freedom... Never happened with a badger brush, so I'm not sure what the reason is.

 

[Copierguy]

I've got a black fibre on my Christmas list. Hopefully there will be one under the tree for me this year.

One crucial bit of advice. It does take a slight adjustment to your technique to get used to using the synthetic. There are two things that I think are crucial. One: don't shake the water out of your brush, just give it a squeeze. Two: If you face lather, start face lathering with slower motions than you would with a natural hair brush. You'll find it takes a lot less effort to produce lather than it does with a natural hair brush. Once I got a hold of these two concepts, this brush out shined all my natural hair brushes.

Thanks for the tips, in coming black fibre, can't wait!!

 

[Jarick]

Yes, I'm liking my 19mm as well!

One thing I found is that this brush works well for face lathering with an up-and-down scrubbing motion rather than circles. For whatever reason it builds up the lather quicker. Just a bit of pressure to splay the brush, then scrub up and down, then paint, then wet the brush, then repeat.

The downside would be more frequent wetting of the brush to hydrate the lather, but I do like how the lather releases easily.

 

[Foyle]

Yes, I'm liking my 19mm as well!

One thing I found is that this brush works well for face lathering with an up-and-down scrubbing motion rather than circles. For whatever reason it builds up the lather quicker. Just a bit of pressure to splay the brush, then scrub up and down, then paint, then wet the brush, then repeat.

The downside would be more frequent wetting of the brush to hydrate the lather, but I do like how the lather releases easily.

Interesting. I find that I often don't have to go back to the sink basin to pick up more water to build my lather. There is often enough in the brush from the get go. When I do go back for more water, it's only maybe once or twice at the most. Like everything else in wet shaving, YMMV.