How to harm a brush?

[mdc]

I'm curious...What common products are know to seriously harm badger hair brushes? How about synthetic brushes? I don't have a boar bristle brush, but let me know if you have ruined one with a bone-headed application of some product?

I'd like to experiment with mixing common shaving products in my shave lab. After reading about putting a few drops of Clubman in a bowl when lathering, I'm intersted and would like to try it, but is alcohol going to harm these gorgeous fibers?

Does anyone have experience with the deleterious effects of alcohols, ASB's, conditioners, certain shampoos, water of a specific temperature on brush fibers?

I've got a nice badger and a sweet synthetic brush and am realizing that I have no idea about what bath product should never come in contact with the various brush materials. I don't want to give these knots a bad perm!

Greatful for any info or links to previous threads.

Thanks in advance.

 

[buca3152]

Any shaving soap or cream is good. pre shave oils may coat it and inhibit water from loading into the hairs. ifyou bowl lather, don't man handle it too much. and don't dig into hard soaps too hard as the squish the bristles. always wash out well, shave off and hang dry bristle down. I wouldn't use really hot water either.

 

[BlackBear]

Lighter oils should be ok, they will wash out with warm soapy water, mixing creams, soaps, glycerine should be fine. Very hot water will damage the hairs and cause the tips to curl. You really only need to hang bristles down if your handle is made of a natural material such as wood or horn.

For general maintenance, use normal hair shampoo & even conditioner, some use pet shampoo, after all it is animal hair (I'd imagine synthetics could be treated the same as boar or badger) if you have hard water or even every couple of months soak the brush in a solution of white vinegar and water (2 parts water:1 part vinegar) for 20 minutes and then wash again with soap and warm water.

 

[franz]

if you have hard water or even every couple of months soak the brush in a solution of white vinegar and water (2 parts water:1 part vinegar) for 20 minutes and then wash again with soap and warm water.

That's a high concentration of vinegar. I wouldn't use that strong of a solution personally... IMO, a brief soak (3-4 min) in a 10:1 solution should be enough to take care of mineral deposits in a brush.

 

[BlackBear]

That's a high concentration of vinegar. I wouldn't use that strong of a solution personally... IMO, a brief soak (3-4 min) in a 10:1 solution should be enough to take care of mineral deposits in a brush.

Another YMMV I have very hard water, and although lathering doesn't seem to be an issue, calcium deposits are very stubborn, the shavewiki recommends 1:1 ratio and although I doubt the vinegar will harm a brush, I still like to dilute it more than that.

 

[ChiefBroom]

Another YMMV I have very hard water, and although lathering doesn't seem to be an issue, calcium deposits are very stubborn, the shavewiki recommends 1:1 ratio and although I doubt the vinegar will harm a brush, I still like to dilute it more than that.

I started out using 1:1 based on the ShaveWiki. I've since gone to 1:4. If 1:1 is potentially harmful to a brush, we should revise the ShaveWiki.

Does anyone know with certainty what best practice would be?

 

[reyrascon]

Don't use vinegar if the handle is metallic or natural stone! Even when diluted the acid in vinegar is very corrosive to these materials.

 

[mdc]

Gentlemen, this is all great info, but I think it's a bit off topic. We're really trying to sort out what will harm brushes, not how to get them all nice. Thanks!

 

[ChiefBroom]

Gentlemen, this is all great info, but I think it's a bit off topic. We're really trying to sort out what will harm brushes, not how to get them all nice. Thanks!

Seems on-topic to me. At least the bit of discussion about whether or not using vinegar in solution (how much and for how long) might be harmful to a brush. You asked "What common products are bad for badger hair brushes?"

 

[mdc]

Seems on-topic to me. At least the bit of discussion about whether or not using vinegar in solution (how much and for how long) might be harmful to a brush. You asked "What common products are bad for badger hair brushes?"

Ken - OK, fair enough. I totally respect your input. Please allow me to clarify, I mean no disrespect. If anyone has evidence that soaking brushes in a typical 5% acidity solution for X amount of time before rinsing is harmful then that's great. But the thrust of the discussion about applying vinegar to brushes is for cleaning it. There's a lot of back and forth about what concentration can harm brushes and I don't think we'll reach consensus here. Some folks have success with 1:1 concentrations and others will argue for a 1:10+ vinegar to water solution. There are a lot of factors, such as how long the brush soaks in a given concentration, which type of brush material is in question, etc. To me these are somewhat common questions so I was hoping to steer the discussion to what I intended at the beginning of this thread--and maybe I could have phrased it better.

Vinegar can harm metal or stone handles is more helpful to the spirit of this thread than what exact concentration of vinegar should be used to clean a brush--mostly because that's a complex topic and has already been discussed in threads focused on how to clean brushes.

Does anyone have experience with the deleterious effects of alcohols, ASB's, conditioners, certain shampoos, water of a specific temperature on brushes?

I've updated the OP based on Ken's feedback. Thanks, Ken.

Also curious about synthetic brush fibers. Thanks again!

 

[franz]

Sure. I hear ya. Sorry to have steered the thread in the wrong direction.

 

[mdc]

Sure. I hear ya. Sorry to have steered the thread in the wrong direction.

Francesco - No need to say sorry. My apologies if I came off harsh. I meant to gently steer things back to my original intention not to jerk the wheel for a hairpin turn. Thank you all for your contributions

 

[Chesterfield]

I've heard that using a brush to apply can shaving cream & gels will definitely bring harm to the brush fibers over time. Definitely wise to use the quality shaving creams (like Poraso ect.) & shaving soaps. Hot Water is also harmful for brushes. I'm curious to see other feedback from other folks!

 

[mdc]

I've heard that using a brush to apply can shaving cream & gels will definitely bring harm to the brush fibers over time. Definitely wise to use the quality shaving creams (like Poraso ect.) & shaving soaps. Hot Water is also harmful for brushes. I'm curious to see other feedback from other folks!

That's a good point. I've heard it claimed in threads on B&B that shaving creams labeled "brushless" may contain ingredients that could harm your brush. Does anyone know what these mysterious ingredients could be or if the assertion that brushless creams can harm brushes is unfounded?

 

[buca3152]

Its all about common sense. Scalding water,rough bowl lathering or hard soap loading can damage the brush. Not rinsing well or drying properly,upside down regardless of handle material and I alternate so the brush will dry completely between uses.

 

[ChiefBroom]

I'm curious...What common products are know to seriously harm badger hair brushes? How about synthetic brushes? I don't have a boar bristle brush, but let me know if you have ruined one with a bone-headed application of some product?

I'd like to experiment with mixing common shaving products in my shave lab. After reading about putting a few drops of Clubman in a bowl when lathering, I'm intersted and would like to try it, but is alcohol going to harm these gorgeous fibers?

Does anyone have experience with the deleterious effects of alcohols, ASB's, conditioners, certain shampoos, water of a specific temperature on brush fibers?

I think the focus of Marco's interest in innovative combination of products for use in lathering is getting lost as a result of the thread's title and first sentence of the OP, which seems to point more toward maintenance. At least that's what happened with me when I enthusiastically jumped into the discussion about vinegar.

This is a great topic for discussion. Marco, you might think about asking a mod to change the thread title.

FWIW, below is Thater's product insert. As I recall, it speaks to your specific question regarding water temperature. However, not everyone agrees. There was some discussion about this fairly recently, but I can't it.

But here's a thread you might find interesting.

 

[mdc]

Thanks Ken! I checked out the instructions pic and the uber lather thread.

I appreciate all the thought you've put in to help get something out of this thread. I think I'll reformulate my thoughts and start another thread at some point.

 

[Mad Man]

Wow, Thater recommends max. 40c......?! I know for a fact my hot water runs considerably higher than that (about 55c) and I usually soak in unmixed water straight fom the hot faucet.

Thanks a bunch Ken, looks like I'm dialing the thermostat back. Seriously good thread!

 

[mdc]

Wow, Thater recommends max. 40c......?! I know for a fact my hot water runs considerably higher than that (about 55c) and I usually soak in unmixed water straight fom the hot faucet.

Thanks a bunch Ken, looks like I'm dialing the thermostat back. Seriously good thread!

40C or 104F is quite low. My guess is that 98% of shavers here use water hotter than that, regularly. Has anyone noticed hair curl?

It also seems that face lathering, applying lather forcefully, soap biild up, and strong derergents are all frouned upon.