Is a less dense brush better for soap?

[Rez90]

I have been using dr Harris Arlington soap lately and I notice it lathers much better with my ej best badger brush than my Simpson duke 3.

Do soaps typically lather better with a looser brush...or does my technique just suck every other time I shave...lol

 

[Greyfox]

I prefer denser brushes for soap than I do for creams.

 

[Austin]

I prefer denser brushes for soap than I do for creams.

Same here. I find I need the density of the hairs to exfoliate the soap and create lather.

 

[beginish]

Some of my best lathering brushes for soaps are the least dense. There are certainly preferences but no hard and fast rules. Play around with your technique with the Duke, because that brush is fantastic with soaps.

 

[Crixus]

I have been using dr Harris Arlington soap lately and I notice it lathers much better with my ej best badger brush than my Simpson duke 3.

Do soaps typically lather better with a looser brush...or does my technique just suck every other time I shave...lol

What you may be finding is that the Duke is denser thus requiring MORE product than the EJ. If you are just loading them about the same (same general number of swirls), the lather may be better APPEARING in the EJ because the water/soap/hair ratio is more in balance.

Try loading the Duke with a good bit more soap and see what kind of lather you come up with. I'll bet it can be great.

 

[Roobaix]

I like a denser & stiffer brush for soaps.

What you may be finding is that the Duke is denser thus requiring MORE product than the EJ. If you are just loading them about the same (same general number of swirls), the lather may be better APPEARING in the EJ because the water/soap/hair ratio is more in balance.

I'm thinking the same thing...

 

[Thebigspendur]

A quality brush is just that. You should be able to get great lather from a quality brush no matter you use soap or cream or the type or brand. It's more about your technique then having some particular brush for a particular media.

That's my experience.

 

[Joe Edson]

Load more product with a more dense brush.

 

[Hodari D.]

In my opinion, yes.

 

[johsa]

With a less dense it is easies to load soap into the brush and for me it takes less time to load the brush with a less dense brush.

 

[miamimoe]

What you may be finding is that the Duke is denser thus requiring MORE product than the EJ. If you are just loading them about the same (same general number of swirls), the lather may be better APPEARING in the EJ because the water/soap/hair ratio is more in balance.

Try loading the Duke with a good bit more soap and see what kind of lather you come up with. I'll bet it can be great.

I could not agree more. Yesterday, I used my Colonel 2XL, and spent a lot more time than usual loading the brush with soap, and the difference was amazing. A denser brush seems to need more product, but the upside is a lot of lather for each pass.

 

[Optometrist]

The Duke 3 Best is a great all rounder and works brilliantly with hard soaps like the Arlington. I always load for a min of one minute, irrespective of the brush or soap/cream used. Do this every time and whatever brush is used, it won't disappoint.

 

[SliceOfLife]

I find that hard soaps like two bands, but a nice dense three band works great too.

Basically for how I lather and assuming sufficient density*, Two band Badger > Three band Badger > Boar.

Density does have a sweet spot for lather production and release which varies depending on several variables... but I find that going above the sweet spot is MUCH less of a problem than going below it... and I like the face feel of overly dense brushes... so in my book (for badgers, and likely a broken in boar as well) denser is virtually synonymous with better.


*A low density three band badger is very sad thing.