Have you had a restoration, shed?

[TAP119]

Greetings, restorers!

I have assembled four brushes so far: three restores and a new knot & handle. All my knots are badger, Best/Finest and Silvertip from TGN. My question is this: have any of you had shedding issues with TGN badger knots? Of course all my knots had shed a little at first, but my present everyday brush, a Finest TGN knot in an EverReady 100 handle, has begun to shed daily. Just 2 or 3 hairs a day at most, but I'm beginning to wonder about it.

I shave most days with a tube cream: C.O. Bigelow, Lord or Arko, sometimes Tabac. I use hot tap water and a Dirty Bird scuttle, soaking the brush while I shower. None of the other brushes I've made has shed like this one. Any ideas on what might be responsible?

 

[GDCarrington]

I have had some shed initially, maybe a couple of hairs a day for the first few days but after that there may only be like 1 every now and then but not often.

Do you bowl or face lather?
Do you press hard or soft when you lather?
Do you use circular of paintbrush strokes?

 

[TAP119]

Thanks for the reply, GDC.
I bowl lather, press firmly (not so hard as to squash the bristles flat) and I use both circular and paintbrush strokes. Circular more than paintbrush.

NONE of my other brushes' knots has begun to shed like this one.

 

[GDCarrington]

Circular can cause some more pulling of weak hairs.
The knot plug may also be weak in a given area that causes hairs to fall out.
That is about all I have since most of mine have stopped after a short time.
Maybe someone else has a TGN Finest that has this issue that can shed some light on it.

 

[Redstickjohn]

I have only had one TGN knot that I've had shedding issues with, and it's probably my fault. I was trying to get too big a knot in too small a handle, and after taking the handle opening out to the max, I sanded and ground a bit on the base of the knot. I thought that the epoxy used to mount the knot would hold everything just fine, but this brush became a shedder. It's not so bad now, a year later, but it still looses a hair every now and then. As a rule, all of my other TGN knots are extremely stable and don't shed at all, other than loosing a few hairs during the first 2-3 latherings.