How old is your oldest brush?

[Lane101]

My question is: What is your experience? How old is the oldest brush you still use?

I am opening this thread, provoked by another similar one on another platform, where the most common response from users was that they wear out the brushes with within 2-4 years.

Over time, I've amassed more than 15 brushes in my permanent rotation, most of them synthetic. Probably because of the relatively large number of brushes I've used, none of them show signs of wear or aging. Also, maybe the care I give them matters too. After each shave, I diligently rinse the brush thoroughly with water, then dry and leave to dry with the knot down for 24 hours. So maybe I'm not the most accurate person to take as an example of continued use.

A relative of mine however only has two brushes, a pork one he says is almost 30 years old that has broken bristles but is still fully functional and a Mühle STF XL bought almost immediately after release and on the market it also looks well preserved, no serious signs of wear.

My oldest brush is a cheap 5 year old no-name synthetic that I don't use any more. I currently use three brushes, two plissoft synthetics and a boar that I rotate between. The oldest, at four years, is one of the synthetics that was used close to exclusively for the first year I owned it. None of these three brushes show any significant wear. I've a back up for each given their relatively low cost.

Note that during the first year after my return to DE shaving roughly 5 years ago I burned through two Van Der Hagen boar brushes that both fell apart after a few months of use.

Curious as to the common 2-4 year lifespan you saw noted in the other platform. My sense is that B&B members realize far longer brush lives that that from most quality brushes unless there is a manufacturing defect like that of my Van Der Hagen boars (disintegration issue was reported by many others).

I'd be surprised if the typical experience here was anything less than 5-10 years here and often verging on indefinite for those with extensive brush collections.

 

[cryhavoc]

My oldest brushes I purchased when I first joined B&B, the Omega 10290 Boar, Omega 10065 Boar and the V&H Boar.

Those 3 brushes are now 13 years old and I still them, I used the Omega 10290 Boar today.

 

[m949]

My first brush, a Mühle Liscio Black Fibre (synthetic), which I bought in 2020. It’s still a great brush, just a bit small for my taste now. It held up surprisingly well, and I’m sure it will be a good brush for many more years.

 

[BobbyB]

My two Noble Otter brushes are about 2 years old.

 

[Merchant Seaman Z]

Simpsons Duke 2 in Best Badger since ’12. Haven't used it much since I got a Yaqi about 3 years. I get more ease of use with the synthetics due to my work required travel.

 

[AnimalCatcher]

So far, I've used all the brushes pictured below except for the stripped Century Set and the Kent. The Never-Shed, Held-Tite and the Star (replaced the original knot with a sythetic) brush are about a hundred years old. I spoke with someone from Kent and few years back and was told that my Kent with the horn handle appears in their 1951-1952 catalog.

 

[htownmmm]

This is the 2006 B&B Horn in Finest. You could purchase the brush in Horn or Ebony or as a complete set w/ a matching razor. I believe this was the brush that led me to the Chubby 2 in Best which I purchased the same year. I have worn off the ink and the little badge which went from gold to green to non-existent. But the B&B LE was 1st, so it's a legal teenager now.

marty

 

[Tanuki]

My first brush, cheap drugstore banded boar, was kept on top of the soap in my thrift store coffee mug from the late 60s until the late 90s. Almost thirty years. Well traveled. Far from beautiful, it kept making Williams Mug lather. I never even rinsed it. Just put it back in the mug. Why waste soap?

About 1997 my bride took umbrage. That kit hit the trash can. I received a beautiful pewter mug and a Plisson Pur Blaireau badger. With kids, I became a frequent Ivory soap shower shaver. The Plisson got a lot of rest.

Now I use a huge variety of brushes, including some vintage brushes with original knots. My oldest is easily over a century old, a Whiting-Adams Vulcan boar. soft and well broken in. When I sterilized the knot, I killed a small worm. Now I just wash vintage knots. Or gouge them out and throw them away.

The Vulcan and the Plisson. I guess the Plisson is now a vintage brush with an original knot.

 

[Vespasian]

I still use for every shave the brush I bought at Floris in London, in 1972. A few years ago I had to have it re-badgered. It has darkened to a rich dark brown.

 

[KW Driver]

I found a familial boar brush, last used in the early 50s. An Ever Ready 150 L. The boar was toasted and broke bristles upon touching it, so I got it out and put a silvertip in it. It’d be an awesome traveler if it was more comfortable in hand.