Have you ever worn out a brush?

[ClemsonTigerz]

Of course, several. Always left lather in them for the next day's shave which means they were rinsed... occasionally. Ever wonder why a brush looks like this?

It's from leaving them on the puck of Williams (or Cogate or OS) after every shave like this.

My dad does that- he’s 74 yrs old....he always did it. When I first started, I did the same thing because it’s what he did. Now I know better

 

[nickasimpson]

I thought I did but it turned out that I received a ****ty knot

 

[Invicta]

Worn out a couple of boar brushes when I was on a one pass with cartridge, load off soap puck and face lather daily routine. Those days are well behind me but I definitely mistreated those brushes.

 

[tomtom42]

I definitely wore out my first brush - a cheap Wilkinson boar - over the period of about 20 years.
Also have a vintage badger brush that is quite worn after about 10 years of use...

 

[gdavila]

Not yet. Have a few brushes in use since I started wet shaving 6 years ago and I am pretty aggressive with brushes but they have held up.

 

[Vaporstang]

Over the years I have worn out a couple of synthetic brushes. I only owned one at a time and was using them 6 days a week. I really couldn't tell you how long they lasted. At least 5 and maybe as much as 10 or more? The last one all of the sudden started shedding a lot. Right now I have three in my rotation with one more on the way, so I should be set for a loooong time.

 

[DougK]

I wore out a no-name boar that I started with. After a couple of years it started shedding relentlessly every shave, so I had to toss it. Good brush while it lasted, though.

 

[steveclarkus]

I have an AoS shaving brush that's going on 10 years old. I've never used it exclusively, but it's my favorite brush and the one I use most frequently. Last year it started shedding for the first time ever--every use it would lose 5 - 15 hairs. I was sad my favorite brush was dying but decided to continue to use it until it gave up the ghost. Anyway, after losing probably 300 hairs, it stopped shedding and continues to be an awesome performer.

Question for you all--have you ever worn out a brush and had to throw it away (not counting defective brushes that the epoxy didn't set right)? I've read the normal life of a brush is anywhere from 5 -10 years (mantic) , or 3000 - 5000 uses (someone claiming to be a master barber). I know some people on here have used the same brush for 30+ years, but I've yet to read much on here of people wearing out and tossing a brush.

No. I have an 11 years in an Omega boar. It is a tad shorter but wonderful.

 

[Owen Bawn]

I've replaced 4 or 5 boars over the years after heavy use. Most if not all were cheap Surrey boars. I don't know if they wore out so much as the integrity of the knot started to break down and they began shedding each time they were used. That probably happened to 2 or 3 of them, and the others were declared 'worn out' simply because I got a new one for Christmas or something. I usually got at least 5 years of nearly daily use out of these brushes. And now I have so large a number of brushes that I can go months without repeating a brush. I was cool back then. I'm such a tool now.

 

[Cafebarian]

Had this Omega boar brush for about seven years and use it often.

My father however has killed many brushes... Improper cleaning (soap not fully rinsed out) and not dried, still drenched handle down etc... They get knot "rot"