That's it. Once I'm done working up the lather, it seems like all the lather is in the brush and none in the bowl. That doesn't happen with synthetic brushes. Any tips on getting a better lather with the badger brush?
I'm new to badger brushes and they seem to soak up all the shaving soap/cream.
- Thread starter 100pctFragranceFree
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Are you soaking the brush bristles for 10 minutes in water before lathering?
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- #3
No. Is that the answer?
I think that will get you there. Natural hair bristles need to absorb water. Synthetic fibers do not absorb water, so they do not require soaking.
My badger soaks up a lot of lather (mine soaks while I'm in the shower) but it's pretty good at putting it on my face. If I want to paint more on, I scrape the brush against the lip of my bowl and it gives up big dollops of lather.
Not the greatest pic, but probably 3/4 of the lather is in the brush. I did 3 passes plus a touch up pass on the neck, and easily had enough left over for another full pass.
Not the greatest pic, but probably 3/4 of the lather is in the brush. I did 3 passes plus a touch up pass on the neck, and easily had enough left over for another full pass.
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- #6
Good. Thanks Bud.
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- #7
Thanks. Yeah, my badger brush is loaded, just nothing in the bowl. Will use your tip.
I find I need to use quite a bit more soap per shave with my badger brush than I do with my synthetic. Part of it is the size of the brush (my badger is on the larger side at 26 mm), but I also suspect synthetic brushes are often just inherently more efficient in terms of the amount of soap they need to be effective.
1) If you're coming from a synthetic be aware that no natural hair brush could ever compete with the efficiency of a synthetic, so you need to load the brush much longer than you did the synth to compensate. Just make so much lather that the brush eating it all is a physical impossibility.
2) All natural hair brushes must have their lofts soaked immediately before use. 10 minutes is a good safe number but you could probably get away with 5 minutes. Some people may try to convince you that naturals only need to be ran under the faucet for 30 second but don't be misguided. Soaking will help enormously... But don't use hot hot water.
2) All natural hair brushes must have their lofts soaked immediately before use. 10 minutes is a good safe number but you could probably get away with 5 minutes. Some people may try to convince you that naturals only need to be ran under the faucet for 30 second but don't be misguided. Soaking will help enormously... But don't use hot hot water.
You can also just squeeze it out with your hand and slap it on your face, but I like keeping my left hand dry for skin stretching.
I noticed mine is more of a lather eater as it's started to break in. But it seems like it's making the same volume of lather, just holding it in the bristles more.
I noticed mine is more of a lather eater as it's started to break in. But it seems like it's making the same volume of lather, just holding it in the bristles more.
Use more soap. I do get what you're saying though. My method of lathering is to scoop out the soap from the tub and put it in the bottom of my shave bowl, and load/create the lather in the bowl. I do see a different result from my boars/synthetics vs my badger brushes, as the lather from my boars/synthetics seem to be more silky and voluptuous, but in terms of the shaves final result both are neither better or worse. It isn't the lather that makes me love badger brushes but it's the face feel that gets me.
At the end of the day just use what you like. If over time your badger brush just isn't quite up to snuff, hey so be it. I'm sure you'll get to learn your brush better over time and it won't disappoint you.
At the end of the day just use what you like. If over time your badger brush just isn't quite up to snuff, hey so be it. I'm sure you'll get to learn your brush better over time and it won't disappoint you.
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- #12
Thanks
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- #13
Thanks. Good tip about not using hot water to soak. (I would have.)
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- #14
Thanks. Yeah, I've done that hand lathering. But I imagine with these tips I won't have to so much. And yeah, the lather is in the brush, but being a one-pass shaver it doesn't help me much.
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- #15
Thanks. Will use more soap definitely.
For me, a synthetic needs about 30 laps around the puck to lather okay, and about 50 laps to lather really well. For a badger brush, double that. And for a boar brush, maybe even go triple. But it's worth it.
Use more soap. It's worth the bit of extra soap for a brush so luxurious.
One way to look at this is that synthetic, boar, badger, and horse are all ‘different’ animals: each charming in it’s own way! 
Enjoying variety is part of the charm of ’traditional’ wet shaving IMHO!
Enjoying variety is part of the charm of ’traditional’ wet shaving IMHO!
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- #19
Your advice totally worked, guys. Thanks!
Ron R
I survived a lathey foreman
I use a lot of Synthetic brushes and just recently (4months ago)started with badger brushes because they have come down in price at least the ones I buy. I find a 26mm 2band badger a huge knot IMO. I just recently bought on sale a 22 mm 2band badger and I'm thinking it will be more to my liking hopefully. The badgers do use up a little more soap but the 2band(Finest) is a nice face feel. I do soak my brush for a 2> minutes in warm water to help make the bristle hairs more pliable is my thinking. I enjoy the face feel of the badger and boar brushes as a change up of shaving routine & now use synthetic, badger & boar brushes now. A 2band badger brush are a nice brush because it has backbone with nice soft tips that helps for scrubbing and lather painting IMO.
