Goldilocks dilemma: any ideas for how to accelerate hair splitting on a boar brush?

[mistervee123]

I have a Semogue 830 that turned really sloppy floppy. Rather than buy a new brush or replace the knot, I thought I'd try to shorten the loft by trimming the knot with some exquisitely sharp hair shears.

With the shorter loft, the backbone of the brush has returned to my liking, but the brush has, of course, lost the wonderful soft, split tips it had when new. I know that boar usually needs a break in period for the hairs to split--but I've bowl lathered and allowed this brush to go through wet/dry cycles a couple times a day for the last two weeks, yet few if any hairs have split, leaving it a little more scritchy than I would like. I'm feeling like Goldilocks trying to find something that's "just right"--which I may or may not achieve at this point.

Does anybody have any suggestions on how to accelerate the hair splitting process? Or... am I being a sentimental tightwad, and should I just buy a new one for $23.00 at Lee's?

 

[Anthony_MQ]

From what I've picked up watching women's shampoo commercials over the years: repeated washing, coloring and blow-drying.

 

[drocu]

I've thought about trimming my boar brushes for a shorter loft but have read that commercial trimmed boar brushes tend to be less desireable. So I'm intrigued to see if it'll soften up and split like the original break in.

 

[Krona Kruiser]

Each time it's used and washed, take extra time using circular and brush motions on a terry cloth. This has accelerated the process. I've heard of people using sandpaper but I wouldn't change the composition of the brush by doing that.

 

[MondoJ]

I've read that trimmed ends wouldn't split, looking forward to updates by the OP

 

[BallisticBurrito]

Yeah I heard that trimmed boar hair won't re-split.

 

[craig87c]

Trimmed boar hair likely won't split. You pretty much have a brush that's going to be scratchy forever. However, maybe you can work some way out to make it split- wet then blowdry on high heat, try sandpaper, etc, etc.

If you want something with more backbone, try a 620/1438.

 

[GDCarrington]

I have a Semogue 830 that turned really sloppy floppy. Rather than buy a new brush or replace the knot, I thought I'd try to shorten the loft by trimming the knot with some exquisitely sharp hair shears.

With the shorter loft, the backbone of the brush has returned to my liking, but the brush has, of course, lost the wonderful soft, split tips it had when new. I know that boar usually needs a break in period for the hairs to split--but I've bowl lathered and allowed this brush to go through wet/dry cycles a couple times a day for the last two weeks, yet few if any hairs have split, leaving it a little more scritchy than I would like. I'm feeling like Goldilocks trying to find something that's "just right"--which I may or may not achieve at this point.

Does anybody have any suggestions on how to accelerate the hair splitting process? Or... am I being a sentimental tightwad, and should I just buy a new one for $23.00 at Lee's?

Why people trim brushes is beyond me because the tip of the hair is where the softness is on any type of hair or fiber. Lesson learned, don't give brushes a hair cut!

 

[sychodelix]

They DO split as other people on here testing it have found it, it just takes many months (or longer). Still, if you are worried about it not splitting fast enough, you definitely don't wanna do anything to make it worse. To greatly speed up boar brush break in, soak it for at least 5 minutes, then wash it with shampoo (conditioner doesn't hurt either) and after rinsing it out really well, soak for a minute again and lather with the creamiest lather you can find. Load up and leave it, facing up, probably overnight. The cream will dry up and penetrate deep into the hair of the brush, then rinse it out good and use it...a lot. Right after using it, swirling it around on a towel tightened up on a towel rack also helps it split faster. Heck, you might even notice a few splits after a few days.

Anyways, mine was noticeably softer after only a few days. After 2 months it's like a whole new brush. It takes a lot of work and time, but its like a bonding experience that you don't get to do with a badger, and the brush will be better for it.

Edit: Ah, just noticed you DID clip it. Hm...yeah, it splits but it takes it sweet time to do it. Might wanna pick something else up temporarily and just lather up the clipped boar regularly, soak it for at least 10 minutes a day and I don't recommend shaving with it for at least a week after breaking it in some more. But yeah, the speed up technique above will probably help it go faster as well. It will be like a whole different brush now, and will take at least a month to be anywhere close to soft. Probably more.

 

[Foyle]

$23.00 at Lee's is the right move.

 

[jsj_297]

Not trying to be a smart guy here, but why the rush? I just recieved a jaguar (shave factory) 1071, and I love the wait and anticipation of the brush breaking in, like your earning something. I love to see what the bloom into, day after day and week after week. I dunno, maybe I'm too patient.

 

[SOS]

You would have been better off putting an o-ring on the knot to add stiffness.

 

[beginish]

$23.00 at Lee's is the right move.

This.

 

[Watasha]

...I thought I'd try to shorten the loft by trimming the knot...

I keep waiting waiting on the inevitable "I thought I'd trim my Simpson/Rooney/Plisson/..."

No offense at all to OP but I just don't understand why anybody would think this could ever be a good idea.

 

[mistervee123]

True dat last post and other previous. No offense to this OP.

I would never, NEVER trim any of my badgers. BUT, this was a $20 boar brush, and I thought I might as well give it a shot. I have a well stocked workshop, and I enjoy customizing a lot of things I buy to personalize and give "my stuff" a little bit of unique character and hand worked touch in our wonderful world of mass produced products. I also like to experiment... just to see if something will work... as long as it doesn't involve losing much more than $20 or so. You should see what I've done to a few pairs of Crocs in an effort to customize them and lighten them up for use as "camp shoes" when backpacking. Too much time on my hands! LOL

Here's what I've done to the brush so far with intriguing results.

1. trimmed the brush (of course) to lower loft and enhance/restore backbone
at 10X magnification, the hair tips were stiff/straight with sharply squared or angled ends with NO taper

2. used a little pressure with my fingers and made painter and circular strokes to run the tips of the brush hairs over 80 grit sandpaper mounted on a sanding block
at 10X magnification, the tips showed 1-3 mm of taper and are significantly softer

3. rapidly went through several wet/dry cycles: soak, lather (alternated using Dawn dish soap and shave creams, then rinsed, and dried the brush with a regular blow dryer set on high
when 10X magnified, quite a few of the hairs show curvature and short splits have begun to form

I'll continue the process and let you know how it works. So far, so good though! I just don't know what the long-term effects of this abuse is going to have on the brush.

If anyone has more ideas or suggestions or humorous digs on the OP's idiocy or other posts, please let me/us hear about them on this thread. From some of the posts and a couple messages I've gotten, other people on the forum are interested in how this plays out also. Who knows, this might be a way to save some of those brushes that people still love.

 

[Watasha]

Definitely keep us updated & if you ever think about trimming a badger I'm gonna call DBBA (Department of Badger Brush Abuse) on you.

 

[nrv216]

Not trying to be a smart guy here, but why the rush? I just recieved a jaguar (shave factory) 1071, and I love the wait and anticipation of the brush breaking in, like your earning something. I love to see what the bloom into, day after day and week after week. I dunno, maybe I'm too patient.

You Sir, are a gentlemen and a scholar.

As to the very modest OP, I look forward to hearing about your results and will be following this informative thread.

nrv216

 

[mistervee123]

Just a quick update.

Four days into the trim and re-break-in, and things are going amazingly well. I haven't used the brush since the trim and sanding, but I'm continuing to build a lather with it at least once a day and sometimes twice. The bristle tips are definitely curved and showing splits now. I wish I could have taken some before and after shots with a "macroscope" or something to magnify the bristles, but sorry, I don't have one around the house, and the camera can only do so much.

As the doctor told me before my colonoscopy, "you're going to have to trust me on this one." Trust me, the trim, sandpaper treatment, and continued wet-dry cycles look like they're giving me what may be an even better brush IMHO than I started with. I'm looking at it this way: when I consider the hours I put into into restoring this thing, I now have a $150 boar brush! Cool! Errrrr... sort of. Maybe it's best not to think about it in $$$. It was an experiment for curiosity's sake, and a labor of love after all.

 

[MondoJ]

Time for pics?

 

[OldGreyGuy]

How to accelerate the breaking in of a Boar brush?

Use it often and let it dry between uses, preferably allow it to get some sunlight and air to help the splitting. Worked for me every time.