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How do you BREAK-IN or Condition NEW Brush?

Rudy Vey

Shaving baby skin and turkey necks
While the expert is here ... Rudy, may I ask you, please:

Do you recommend cleaning badgers to get rid of chalk? And how so?

I have hard water, where I live, lots of chalk and I means lots. I use badgers exclusively (diverse Chubby in rotation) and it's been a long time I used a solution with vinegar. Only thing I always do is to have the brush I use rest in water for some minutes prior to shaving to soften remains of soap and chalk and of course I rinse them after shaving, but you never get them totally soap free and then there is still the chalk.

If they shed a hair every now and then, they had done so so from the beginning, I want to say I never experienced an increased shedding over long periods of time, so I'm cool with no extra care. But I thought I take the chance to ask you. 🌞
Hmh, I guess you mean water hardness salts that show up on your brushes when they dried. I am lucky as I have a water softener, so I do not experience this. If I had hard water, I would clean my brush thoroughly with warm water letting it run into the knot from the top to remove all the soap/cream residue, then shake it out well and give it a rinse in distilled water, shake and dry.
I guess the only way to get rid of the hard water salts might be a rinse in vinegar, but then follow with water rinses as I described before. Maybe someone with hard water and these residues on brushes can chime in and give their experiences here.
 
Hmh, I guess you mean water hardness salts that show up on your brushes when they dried.

Yes, think about limescale.

I am lucky as I have a water softener, so I do not experience this. If I had hard water, I would clean my brush thoroughly with warm water letting it run into the knot from the top to remove all the soap/cream residue, then shake it out well and give it a rinse in distilled water, shake and dry.
I guess the only way to get rid of the hard water salts might be a rinse in vinegar, but then follow with water rinses as I described before. Maybe someone with hard water and these residues on brushes can chime in and give their experiences here.

That's what I do with the exception of using distilled water and as I'm okay for years so far, I tend to leave it at that. I just wondered if those remains of chalk really do damage given that I have the head of the brush softened in water before use.

Thank you for your answer!
 
Just goes to show… “there’s more than one way to skin a cat”, as my grandmother used to say. For the longest time, I didn’t understand what she meant. Who the hell skins a cat?Means there are different ways to accomplish the same thing. There are those on the errornet who are experts at everything. I have soaked a boar brush overnight without any issues of swelling. I suppose if I did that with a bog oak handle… of course swelling may occur… it’s wood. Common sense is not so common anymore.
 
I guess the only way to get rid of the hard water salts might be a rinse in vinegar, but then follow with water rinses as I described before. Maybe someone with hard water and these residues on brushes can chime in and give their experiences here.
I don't have a problem with our current water but I did have to do a vinegar soak on a crusty boar I got at an antique store. I think I diluted it by about half. Then thoroughly rinsed and lathered until clean.
 

Ravenonrock

I shaved the pig
Off topic, but we are blessed here in coastal British Columbia to have the most exceptional water quality, abundant rainwater flowing in our mountain rainforests. Truly magnificent. Sounds like hard water can be challenging at times.
 
If anyone cares, this is what Yaqi says about their synthetic knot brushes, from their instructions:

To Care For Your Brush
1. Shampoo the brush in warm water before the first use. Use the same shampoo that you use to wash your hair.
2. NEVER boil your brush.
 
Off topic, but we are blessed here in coastal British Columbia to have the most exceptional water quality, abundant rainwater flowing in our mountain rainforests. Truly magnificent. Sounds like hard water can be challenging at times.
Two thumbs up! Wet side, west side, good times and good lather. I'm not coastal, but the Willamette River is on the rainy, soft water side of the Cascade Range.

As for boar break in, if a new boar eats lather I just keep it close at hand in the den. Each shave, I do a throw-away face lather with the newbie, before switching to an experienced brush.

I like a scrubby new boar, so the break-in lathers are a lovely massage to start the shave.
 

WThomas0814

Ditto, ditto
My face breaks my brushes in.

I soak in warm water in a mug, about halfway up the bristles, while I shower. DO NOT soak up to the handle.

I gently shake excess water out, load the soap, and go to my face.

After the shave, I thoroughly rinse in warm water, gently squeeze the water out, flick it a few times, and strop on a towel.

Boars take a bit to split and soften, but, that's part of the process. Badgers should be good out of the box.
 
I unwrap the package on the night of a new moon. Then, after gently rinsing the brush in vintage Evian, place it in an Orrefors crystal pyramid, hand carved by a blind, virgin, left handed Maltese artisan in a scientifically calibrated refrigerator. After three days, rotating the pyramid 90⁰ every 24 hours, I remove the brush and palm lather using industrial grade Arko. Repeat this procedure nine times and then, and only then, will your brush be ready.

This is for synthetics. For natural hairs, it is much more complex...
Hi I am about to order a new brush, what would you charge me to break it in with your method? BTW it’s a mistura knot. I could offer 72 virgins, but they are all just 23 year old guys that play dungeons and dragons all day in their mom’s basement
 
Hi I am about to order a new brush, what would you charge me to break it in with your method? BTW it’s a mistura knot. I could offer 72 virgins, but they are all just 23 year old guys that play dungeons and dragons all day in their mom’s basement

My good friend and learned colleague, today is your lucky day as I am about to introduce you to a service that will etch this moment into your mind forever: you will henceforth only ever think in terms of before and after SSSSS:

 
an think about this for a newbie not too long ago I saw where someone said their hairs on their brush split at the ends. I thought that was a BAD thing.
 
I normally make a few test lathers with a 24-48h dry out period depending on the season. Another tactic that I have used, specifically for boars is to make copious lather with soap containing lanolin and letting the brush tips sit for extended periods before thorough rinse and dry.
 
The real solution is to just get a good badger brush. Every boar brush I’ve ever owned transformed into something else completely after months of use. The ones that started out soft became too floppy and the ones that started out too dense and tight took forever to still not be comfortable enough for regular use.

With a badger, what you get is usually what remains after about a week after using it, with it just being a little softer and easier to splay than when it came out of the box.

Just my two cents.
 
I’d say “just use it”. What l normally do is:

Badger: Bowl lather with a cheap soap, rinse and repeat 2-3 times. I tend to leave the lather in the brush at let it sit for a while between each cycle. Once lathered if you squeeze the knot form the base, you will get a grey gunk coming up…… l mainly do this to remove the funk …..

Boar: Bowl lather with a cheap soap, leave the lather on the brush for a hour or so, rinse and towel strop and then repeat 2, 3, 4, 5 …… times. This breaks it in enough to be useable, but then to be probably browning you just have to use it.
 
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