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Has anyone used a muhle Silvertip fiber brush? Would you recommend it?

linty1

My wallet cries.
Small 19mm
Medium 21mm
Large 23mm
XL 25mm (now only EJ do it)

For me the better size is the 21mm of EJ, 23mm are a little too big for my face, maybe for the high loft, but I like them a lot. In fact I asked Rudy Vey to do a Brush with a knot of 23mm x 50mm, just perfect.

EJ: lightly scrubby tips and a little bit more backbone and shorter loft than Muhle, but very easy to splay.
Muhle very soft tips and easy splay.

Hope this helps!

Thanks Lee, and oh wow! A medium at 21mm seems..... small. For reference, the atomic rocket, at 26mm seems about right for me.. But I suspect a lot of how a big a knot "feels" has to do with how the hairs are packed and lofted etc. Example the Chubby 2 I have is listed at 27mm? but feels -way- bigger than "just 1mm up from the 26mm".
 
Thanks Lee, and oh wow! A medium at 21mm seems..... small. For reference, the atomic rocket, at 26mm seems about right for me.. But I suspect a lot of how a big a knot "feels" has to do with how the hairs are packed and lofted etc. Example the Chubby 2 I have is listed at 27mm? but feels -way- bigger than "just 1mm up from the 26mm".

I think the manufacturers should also provide the measurement of top of the knot and not just the base and loft. After I will take measurements of them.
For big I mean not only the density but the splay, those that end up in my eye or on the ear are BIG!
Anyway, I am a small man, I think most people are fine with Large size, 23mm which would actually be a "common" Medium size.
 
Perhaps a wee bit off-topic, but if anyone can enlighten me, I'd be much obliged:

I have Muhle Silvertip Badger. I find it to be kind of "meh" - splays nicely, but no backbone and fair bit of scritch. Nothing to write home about.

Anyone out there with both Silvertip Fiber and Silvertip Badger? How these two compare?
 
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linty1

My wallet cries.
I think the manufacturers should also provide the measurement of top of the knot and not just the base and loft. After I will take measurements of them.
For big I mean not only the density but the splay, those that end up in my eye or on the ear are BIG!
Anyway, I am a small man, I think most people are fine with Large size, 23mm which would actually be a "common" Medium size.

Its totally ok Lee, you don't have to, you've already gone above and beyond. I think I'll stick with the medium though, its.. I understand its great, its just getting pricey for a synthetic. (I'm looking on ebay).

I didn't even know there was a "Silvertip badger" Dave, maybe someone can shine a light on this.
 
I didn't even know there was a "Silvertip badger" Dave, maybe someone can shine a light on this.
Here: MÜHLE Shaving Culture | Shaving brush from MÜHLE, silvertip badger, handle material chrome-rose gold plated metal | purchase online (muehle-shaving.com)

1619014992874.png
 
Perhaps a wee bit off-topic, but if anyone can enlighten me, I'd be much obliged:

I have Muhle Silvertip Badger. I find it to be kind of "meh" - splays nicely, but no backbone and fair bit of scritch. Nothing to write home about.

Anyone out there with both Silvertip Fiber and Silvertip Badger? How these two compare?

I wholeheartedly agree with DaveHStone here.

If you like floppy brushes that splay (I don’t really splay my brushes as many shavers seem to do on YouTube), have virtually no backbone worth mentioning and scritch - the Muhle STF will be your thing.

I bought 2 Muhle STF brushes while waiting for my two Shavemac synthetics to arrive - at the time they appeared look to have been stopped due to COVID/weather affecting shipping out of Germany and I didn’t know when I’d receive them.

The issue for me with the Muhle STF is, that they lack the knot density, the loft is too high for their knot size, they scritch and they are too floppy.

The Shavemacs’ that I have are 24mm knots; have good fibre density for the given knot size, and mine are set to 52-53mm loft. They don’t splay that much, have great backbone (loft/density dependent), have soft tips(no scritch for me) and have a great “massaging“ effect - I actually prefer Boar brushes over Badger...

I won’t be spending my money on any Muhle or EJ synthetic brushes in the future - I’m saving to get more Shavemacs. At least with Shavemacs I can customise loft height and knot type.

Best of luck with your search....
 
Perhaps a wee bit off-topic, but if anyone can enlighten me, I'd be much obliged:

I have Muhle Silvertip Badger. I find it to be kind of "meh" - splays nicely, but no backbone and fair bit of scritch. Nothing to write home about.

Anyone out there with both Silvertip Fiber and Silvertip Badger? How these two compare?

Hello, sir! Your favorite Burundian coming to your aid, once more! I have your silvertip (rebranded, but it is the same). Yes, it is a floppy silvertip, for creams, for people who want their face to be lost inside badger hair! :laugh: The synthetic Muhle has more backbone for sure. Most descriptions say that it has a resistance to initial splaying and once this is passed, then it splays easily. It is more of an "all or nothing" rule in splaying. I don't have the synthetic, but there is NO way that it will have equal or lower backbone than your silvertip. Your silvertip is one of the floppiest brushes out there. It's not absolute mop, but it is on the lower end of the spectrum of what one considers acceptable. It is very rare to have a very floppy synthetic, because by the very nature of the fiber and the low loft or gluebump (according to manufacturer's preference), they usually have at least a medium backbone. The only synthetic ever called "mop" was the original Plisson brush, because it had no gluebump at all. I leave you this educational video:


Happy shaves, sir!
 
I noticed that EJ and some Muhle (maybe not too recent models) have the fibers a little pokey and are less dense, the new Muhle that I took directly from the German Muhle site instead is more dense and soft tips and you don't feel them on face. It's too soft for me compared to the others I have, but you might like it.
 
I have a Muhle 23mm STF and I highly recommend it. I found it soft on the face and that it held plenty of lather to get the job done. It also takes the warmth from the scuttle quite well. I really like it - more so than I thought I would.

I tend to like softness with some backbone more than scritch and scrub. I also don't expect my synthetics to be able to splay very well so it's not something I look for in a synthetic. I'm happy if I can get a little bit of splay with a little bit of pressure.

I found the EVO to be very prickly, but I haven't used it in quite some time so I would need to revisit it to be sure.
 
Just arrived a second Rudy Vey brush with Muhle STF 23mm x 50mm knot. Next to the Trafalgar T2 for size comparison.
Perfect loft and size for me.
I can only recommend Rudy if you want this type of fiber, he makes any handle you want and with the loft you want, Muhle sets them too high in my opinion.

IMG_20210505_180626.jpg
 
Last edited:
Just arrived a second Rudy Vey brush with Muhle STF 23mm x 50mm knot. Next to the Trafalgar T2 for size comparison.
Perfect loft and size for me.
I can only recommend Rudy if you want this type of fiber, he makes any handle you want and with the loft you want, Muhle sets them too high in my opinion.

View attachment 1262388

Enabler! Beautiful brush. Do you find the Muhle STF to be as soft set at a lower loft?
 
STF is certainly a good knot. However, I don't find the performance any better than any other modern synthetic that you can get for a 1/3 - 1/4 the price, and with PAA brushes thoroughly out performing STF in every category. For the cost of one 23mm STF you could get the PAA Amber Aerolite, PAA Peregrino and the PAA Atomic Rocket.

YMMV, etc
 
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