How MUCH of a difference is there between the 3 grades of brushes?

[Fletch]

I recently decided after a thread I made about not understanding the need for multiple brushes went out and got myself another brush . As of right now I own a Omega Pure badger and a Shavemac #25 finest 21mm on the way. I guess I'm stepping my way up through the ranks. I guess what I'm curious about is how much of a difference is there between the 3 different grades?

I'm sure there is a fair amount of personal preference like anything else. But are we talking like "OMG difference" or is it moderately noticeable? Are there people who tend to prefer certain brushes over silvertip regardless or is it silvertip or nothing?

I'm essentially trying to learn from people who have been down this road at some point. And hopefully avoid going through eleventy billion different kinds of brushes and spending several days a week opening and packing up packages for the BST section here.

 

[Shavely Manden]

The grades of badger hair aren't set in stone, so it's up to the manufacturers and producers to label them what they please. Thus, there can be some variation...I've read that Best brushes can be quite scrubby, but the current Simpson's Best brushes seem to be very soft (if my Eagle in Best is representative)...maybe a touch softer at the tip than my Fendrihan silvertip (though not nearly as luxurious and pillowy). However, I've read that Simpson's two-band silvertip isn't as consistent, and can be quite scrubby. And some manufacturers, like Plisson, use different names for grades altogether. You're probably better off reading up on individual brushes or manufacturers...a silvertip from one maker isn't necessarily the same as a silvertip from another.

 

[ImaWestie]

My take: it's all "marketing", pick a price-point and buy one... if you think it should be idfferent somehow, see if the brand sells a model that is different in that way.

Ways they can be different:
SPECIES! At least we know what synthetic, boar and badger are!
Length
Softer / harsher
more / less flexible
hairs per square inch
brush diameter

Apart from "species" the rest is subject to a whole lot of YMMV!

 

[Saturn]

Grades of badger hair are completely unstandardized and it's easy to get confused by conflicting terminology. For example, Rooney's highest grade of badger hair is called "Finest" and their "Silvertip" is a lower grade, whereas the opposite is true in Shavemac's case. So if you really want to find out anything about grades of badger hair, you have to look at what grades are available in each brand, and then how a specific grade of one brand compares to a specific grade in a different brand.

See here for the dizzying array of hair grades used by different manufacturers:
http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index.php/Shave_Brush_Hair_Grades

The best thing to do is to think of attributes you want to find in a brush (big or small knot, tall or short loft, dense, scrubby, scritchy, soft, face lathering, bowl lathering, soap/cream brush, etc.) and then ask in the brush forum what brushes would best meet your criteria.

One thing that is pretty standard is that lower grades of badger hair (especially "Pure" badger) are usually trimmed at the tips, resulting in a noticeably more scritchy brush than those using untrimmed hairs.

 

[volleykinginnc]

Here's the deal....NO noticeable difference. I went from a Pure to a Silvertip and it was a royal waste of money. Comparing one to the other right next to each other you could notice more of a softness to the silvertip.

In practice if you used one on a given day and another on another you would be hard pressed to tell the difference. It really is that slight.

Save your money and put it towards Dr Harris aftershave that is worlds above the cheapo drug store brands and is a noticeable difference.

 

[Thebigspendur]

The difference between a pure and a silvertip is, well, night and day. Very stiff and scratchy vs cloud soft.

 

[Ignatius]

Here's the deal....NO noticeable difference. I went from a Pure to a Silvertip and it was a royal waste of money. Comparing one to the other right next to each other you could notice more of a softness to the silvertip.

In practice if you used one on a given day and another on another you would be hard pressed to tell the difference. It really is that slight.

Just out of interest; you're comparing which pure badger brush with which silvertip brush?

 

[DanOK]

It about the manufacture as others have stated. It's the reason any discussions on which brush to buy are so lively. If shaving becomes a hobby (or obsession) you find you enjoy the differences between the products, be it soaps or brushes.

I can tell a huge difference between the different grades. Looking at the QED line, as an example, I have a QED Select Pure 24mm and a QED Savile Row 3124 Silvertip 24mm. The Select Pure is great on soaps but is scratchier in the tips, coarser in the body of the brush. The 3124 is the definition of pillow soft with the exact amount of backbone I want in a brush. It turns creams into a mountain of lather for my shaving enjoyment every time.

But both brushes work with soaps and creams when called upon. Both brushes have a permanent home in my shaving routine. I could not see being with out either. I think you will begin to realized this when your Shavemac arrives. Oh, I also love all my Shavemac's.

 

[Shavely Manden]

The difference between a pure and a silvertip is, well, night and day. Very stiff and scratchy vs cloud soft.

Here's the deal....NO noticeable difference. I went from a Pure to a Silvertip and it was a royal waste of money.

This, my friends, is what we call "YMMV". I can tell you that there's a huge difference between my Shea Moisture (black), my Fedrihan silvertip, and my Simpson's Best. Read up on the brush in particular, not the hair grade...just 'cause it's a silvertip doesn't mean it's good.

 

[Sir Ronald]

brushes are one area of DE shaving that I will not collect. while the DE's, soaps, creams and various brands of blades pile up in my bathroom; my pure badger brush is all I need. it makes excellent lather - why would I need a 'better' brush when my lather is perfect??

 

[Myosin]

This is a question I asked my barber when he was telling me about traditional shaving.

His personal opinion is that as far as lathering quality goes, at about the $30 price point you start getting diminishing returns with brush quality.

He said that a good quality built brush (quality =/= expensive) will shave just as good as any other whether it is boar or silvertip badger.

His point was that the the shave difference between a $30 brush and an $80+ is negligible and is ultimately all in a persons mind. Someone who spends lots of money on a brush, razor, or cream wants to believe it is better so their mind makes them feel a difference that may not really exist.

The lack of a set standard means that most of the time you are paying more for a brushes handle and not what the hair is actually worth.

 

[Vlad]

I think anything beyond Pure is going to provide you a great experience, and I don't think you're getting much more in return for spending more money. (I think Kent is the only manufacturer which calls their silvertip "Pure".) It's those clipped tops--very scratchy--that, in my opinion, just aren't worth buying.

 

[huntmol]

All brushes can create a good lather for shaving.

Different people prefer the feel of different brushes.

YMMV

 

[kfreeman]

It's refreshing to see a discussion where people are actually open to responding to a question like this by saying "You know the only difference is I just like A over B more".

Most people I've met aren't really ready to admit that most of the "performance" difference they swear exists in whatever it is we're discussing comes down to mere personal preferance.

 

[rsaltonstall]

All grades of badger and all boars will do their job--produce lather.

The difference is how the brushes feel against your face and how fast the lather is produced. In general, the lower the grade the more prickly. Most of us here at B&B can feel the difference between pure and silvertip in a blind test comparison. If you like prickly brushes, or if you can't tell the difference between prickly and soft, go for the lower end.

Keep in mind, however, that prickly is not the same as scrubby, backbone, etc.

 

[rsaltonstall]

All brushes can create a good lather for shaving.

Different people prefer the feel of different brushes.

YMMV

+1

That's why you need to decide what you want the brush to feel like against your skin. Once you try different brushes, you will be able to tell the difference and decide for yourself what you like.