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How Much Does the Brush Affect Quality of Lather

I used my 10 year old Omega 31064 boar today with La Toja cream to test it, trying to follow the same technique I did with the T3 with the Speick cream. Not nearly the same results. Enough lather for the shave, just. Not an over abundance like the T3 gave me.
 
I used my 10 year old Omega 31064 boar today with La Toja cream to test it, trying to follow the same technique I did with the T3 with the Speick cream. Not nearly the same results. Enough lather for the shave, just. Not an over abundance like the T3 gave me.
Boar brushes tend to ''eat'' a bit more compared to synthetic and badgers. They also take some time to break in and after that they are supposed to work much better, but I really don't have the patience and time as well as the luxury to let a boar brush use 2-3 times more soap or cream to achieve what my synthetic and even badger can do with much less product.

I shaved with my boar brush around 20 times and it also spend at least two weeks in a water cup in my fridge in order to increase the breaking process, but the results and improvement was barely noticeable, so I decided to sell the brush.

I can't imagine myself owning a premium and more expensive shaving soap and use a boar brush with it. That would be a nightmare scenario for me :D.
 

musicman1951

three-tu-tu, three-tu-tu
I used my 10 year old Omega 31064 boar today with La Toja cream to test it, trying to follow the same technique I did with the T3 with the Speick cream. Not nearly the same results. Enough lather for the shave, just. Not an over abundance like the T3 gave me.
Yes, that supports the point many of us are making: the technique needs to match the brush. It took me a while to learn the needed technique for my travel brush - Omega EVO. It's a fine travel brush and is working well for me, but I don't use it at home because I have a couple of badgers and 3 boars that I like better.
 
Different brushes are going to have different characteristics. You have to pay attention to how each brush behaves as you make the lather. You might need to load more product or water, and the style of moving the brush around might need to be adjusted. What’s important is to find your own preferences.

It seems like you currently prefer the performance of the synthetic, but you’re still interested in the boar, and trying to make it work. I would stick with it longer. Once you get it figured out boars are really wonderful.
 
Different brushes are going to have different characteristics. You have to pay attention to how each brush behaves as you make the lather. You might need to load more product or water, and the style of moving the brush around might need to be adjusted. What’s important is to find your own preferences.

It seems like you currently prefer the performance of the synthetic, but you’re still interested in the boar, and trying to make it work. I would stick with it longer. Once you get it figured out boars are really wonderful.
Oh, I’ve really liked the boar. I’ve used it happily for ten years.
 

Chan Eil Whiskers

Fumbling about.
I've used lots of badgers and lots of boars. I've used only one horse. I've mostly used only one synthetic.

In my experience different brushes deliver different results. Case in point would be the brush I used today.



1-31-22.Evo.Muramasa.CK-6.640.JPG



I like the Evo. Actually, I like it a lot, and not just "for a synthetic."

However, it makes a somewhat atypical lather. I'm not 100% on exactly what's different, but I think I'd say the lather is finer textured, like maybe the bubbles are smaller or something. This is not a big deal thing, but rather an observation of a minor and mostly meaningless variation.

It may also be I'm doing something different with the Evo but I doubt that.

I agree with Rudy that we should make much the same lather regardless of our tools.

Happy shaves,

Jim
 
Once I moved to quality brushes (26mm synthetic Razorock Monster 2+ years and a 26mm bleached boar Razorock Blondie/Zenith 80N 3+ months) I've found the following:

  • The synthetic definitely creates more of a lather reserve for multi-pass shaves
  • My boar is the best option for triple milled hard soap (Williams in my case) allowing me to build up great thick/rich lather the fastest
  • For my custom VanDerWilliams blend (hard soap but softer than Williams alone) either works though the synthetic will work faster and is also preferred due to the larger lather reserve above. Really enjoy creating piles of thick lather for a more luxurious shave.
  • The synthetic is best for softer croaps (Proraso red) easily building lots of thick rich lather. Stiffer boar digs out way too much product.
Note that for my hard soaps I start lathering on the puck in an apothecary mug and finish via face lathering. Proraso is 100% face lathering.

Did see a difference with some earlier lower quality (though not necessarily cheaper) brushes purchased before I knew any better. Insufficient lather from a small 20mm no-name synthetic acquired from Amazon and my initial boar, a Van Der Hagen, while acceptable, was far less effective than my Blondie.

Agree with earlier comments above that with enough time and effort you can eventually build the lather you want with almost any brush. Achieving the right soap/water proportions is more important than the brush itself - learned that through lots of trial and error. The great news is that there are plenty of quality boars and synthetics available in the $10 to $20 (in the U.S.) price range so it's not necessary to spend a lot for a great shaving experience unless desired for aesthetics or personal preferences as YMMV.
 
Sort of like "how long is a piece of string?" :001_tongu As much as the water, the soap, the mixing container and the skill of the operator?
 
As for me I don’t feel qualified to give much of an opinion. I only use 2 boar brushes. I keep it simple and they both lather well. 11 dollar Omegas.
 
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