High density badger lathering

[BigJ]

Thank you Dan, you are a true enabler!

I've been eyeing that CH3 for some time now and if I go back to badger (from synthetic) it's gonna be 3 things:

Simpson
Silver tip (aka super)
Dense, as the dense gets

And I have so much soap, I'd like to be able to use up a 200g pack of MdC in about a month's time of shaving. Naturally, so I can convince myself I need to get another jar of MdC

My only true dilemma is CH2 Vs. CH3. (I'm not getting both!)

+1! For me the CH1 is a winner! CH2 is simply too big for my taste, but it would use more soap!!

 

[tyoung]

I have been learning the mysteries of the extra dense brush myself! What I landed on so far that seems to work:
Load heavy
Paint on the pasty lather
Dunk tips in water, then paint it in
Another water dunk, then splay and agitate on the face
One more tip dunk and paint, then light agitation
This seems to build up my perfect lather. Low volume, high density. With plenty remaining in the brush for another pass plus cleanup

 

[life2short1971]

Knot size i 26 mm with a loft of 50 mm.
[/QUOTE

Knot size i 26 mm with a loft of 50 mm.

If you have the opportunity to try the knot with a loft around 54-55mm I think you will notice a big difference and may be happier.

 

[JPO]

If you have the opportunity to try the knot with a loft around 54-55mm I think you will notice a big difference and may be happier.

Now you got me thinking

 

[life2short1971]

Now you got me thinking

Just want you happy brother.

 

[JPO]

Just want you happy brother.

Any particular you can recommend?
24 mm might also be a good size. They need a little backbone. I aso like finest badger. The silvertip type is not for me.

 

[life2short1971]

Its hard to reccomend a brush there are so many choices of well made brushes and I don’t know your budget.
If I was buying a 24mm brush of standard density I would probably want the loft to be 50-52 and a bit taller for extra density. Those lofts are for Finest grades and are my preference as well.

 

[JPO]

Its hard to reccomend a brush there are so many choices of well made brushes and I don’t know your budget.
If I was buying a 24mm brush of standard density I would probably want the loft to be 50-52 and a bit taller for extra density. Those lofts are for Finest grades and are my preference as well.

Thank you. At the moment i just ordered a TI razor. So there goes my budged for a good while, but patience is a virtue.
I will need to save up. I am just not sure if all these high end brushes are worth it to me. It seems like all the knots come from China anyway. But there is allot i need to learn about brushes. I have been to focused on honing and straight razors lately. You get tunnel vision, you know

 

[life2short1971]

Oh yes I know….

 

[SterFry]

Load more soap. Load for 2 solid minutes if you have to. Too much soap is better than too little. Experiment with different starting amounts of water in your brush, but remember... You can always add more water. You can't take it back out again. I like to add a few drops here and there onto the puck while I'm loading to maintain that perfect almost paste like consistency.

Also...loading from a good wide surface helps a lot. Like a tub of Stirling.


Or use a synthetic.

 

[JPO]

Load more soap. Load for 2 solid minutes if you have to. Too much soap is better than too little. Experiment with different starting amounts of water in your brush, but remember... You can always add more water. You can't take it back out again. I like to add a few drops here and there onto the puck while I'm loading to maintain that perfect almost paste like consistency.

Also...loading from a good wide surface helps a lot. Like a tub of Stirling.


Or use a synthetic.

An Synthetic brush works for me consistently, but what is the fun in that When face lathering, the problem have been that if you load to much soap you have to manage that on your face. The soap goes everywhere
If i use a DE or SE razor i can get away with a different lather consistency then if i use a straight razor. For SR shaves i need it to be much more hydrated, and it can get messy.
Practice make perfect i assume. So sticking with one brush for a while, just to get to know how that particular brush behaves is probably helpful.
I also have a boar brush that is crying for attention. He/she will just have to wait

 

[SterFry]

An Synthetic brush works for me consistently, but what is the fun in that When face lathering, the problem have been that if you load to much soap you have to manage that on your face. The soap goes everywhere
If i use a DE or SE razor i can get away with a different lather consistency then if i use a straight razor. For SR shaves i need it to be much more hydrated, and it can get messy.
Practice make perfect i assume. So sticking with one brush for a while, just to get to know how that particular brush behaves is probably helpful.
I also have a boar brush that is crying for attention. He/she will just have to wait

I've never experienced loading too much as being a problem. At least not with a natural hair. Just takes more water. Beyond that the extra soap just stays in the lower loft of the brush in my experience. It's why the Marco method works so well

 

[Big Jim]

Just keep using it. You will adapt soon enough.

 

[Mike M]

Load it like soap is going out of fashion. I have a Yaqi Moka-Express 26mm 2 band badger which I use mainly for soaps I am trying to 3017, it eats soap and sometimes I have to lather again for the third pass.
Honestly just enjoy the experience, I am currently working through a tub of Proraso green and now I am not trying to get the best shave with the minimum product, I just lather til I get enough to shave a pony and I am getting great lathers and amazing shaves

 

[Timeclo]

More water and more soap. Those high density badgers eat up soap like no other and takes a lot to get a decent volume of lather. They also take forever to dry and take longer to rinse out all the lather. Just their characteristics. They feel great on the face though. Soft and dense...

 

[JPO]

Load it like you hate it. It really seemed to work. It probably uses 3 times the amount of soap, but who cares
Now i understand that people are able to use up MDC soap in a short time. If i only use synthetic brushes they seem to last forever. I tried it with an SV soap.

 

[Atlantic59]

Load it like you hate it. It really seemed to work. It probably uses 3 times the amount of soap, but who cares
Now i understand that people are able to use up MDC soap in a short time. If i only use synthetic brushes they seem to last forever. I tried it with an SV soap.

That's geometry for you. Surface area of a circle increases with the square of the radius. A brush that is twice as large may require ~4x as much soap.

 

[lancre]

That's geometry for you. Surface area of a circle increases with the square of the radius. A brush that is twice as large may require ~4x as much soap.

And the VOLUME of the brush increases with the CUBE of the radius, all else being equal, so 8x as much soap.

 

[Atlantic59]

And the VOLUME of the brush increases with the CUBE of the radius, all else being equal, so 8x as much soap.

I was kind of expecting that! Do you have any studies to back that up?

The number of hairs is a function of area (and knot density). So, the question is, what determines how much soap, the number of hairs (AREA), or the VOLUME of the knot? Consider that lather trapped deep in the knot does not really help you when shaving, unless you force it out.

 

[lancre]

The number of hairs is a function of area (and knot density). So, the question is, what determines how much soap, the number of hairs (AREA), or the VOLUME of the knot? Consider that lather trapped deep in the knot does not really help you when shaving, unless you force it out.

I agree that the lather trapped in the knot doesn't help with the shave. But it's still part of the lather you made.
For example, pulling a number out of a hat, let's say that maybe 10% of the lather you make gets trapped, with a larger knot you'd still need to make that much more.

In my admittedly unsupported opinion, keeping the same proportions (loft = diameter x 2), you have a deeper knot core to trap lather so the volume does affect the amount of lather you need to make. In everday use, a larger knot is unlikely to be twice as bif as a smaller knot. Going from a 22mm knot to a 27mm knot would be roughly a 25% increase in diameter, so area increase would be 1.25 x 1.25 or ~1.56, volume 1.25 x 1.25 x 1.25 or ~1.95, a lot less than the 2-4-8 progression.