I have two brushes; a Rooney 1/2 in super, which is anything but floppy, and a DOVO olive wood in silver tip badger, which is made (I think) by Muhle. The DOVO brush a very floppy brush, but I find it to be effective with creams. Likewise, the Rooney is optimal for soaps; but also works for creams.
Is Floppy Really a Bad Thing?
- Thread starter dreadpirate
- Start date
All things are relative. Compared with the 1/1 my Rooney 1/2 is floppy. Two really floppy brushes are the EJ large super and the Kent BK4. But there is demand for all these brushes. Why? Because we all have different preferences. A floppy used with creams and painted on is a luxurious experience. Quite different to a vigorous scrub with a Rooney 1/1. So there's nothing wrong with a floppy just as long as its limitations are acceptable to you.
I don't think so. When I got back into using a brush, after many years of canned goo, I bought a 23mm Muhle silvertip and I mostly bowl lathered creams.
I now face lather mostly soaps and prefer shorter, denser brushes. Every once in a while I will bowl lather creams and sometimes break out the Muhle. I still like the soft face feel and use it to paint the lather on. It's a very good brush. Thanks to SBAD I have bought, sold, restored and given away several brushes.
Variety is the spice of life.
I now face lather mostly soaps and prefer shorter, denser brushes. Every once in a while I will bowl lather creams and sometimes break out the Muhle. I still like the soft face feel and use it to paint the lather on. It's a very good brush. Thanks to SBAD I have bought, sold, restored and given away several brushes.
Variety is the spice of life.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with them at all. What ever floats your boat..
YMMV, of course. If floppy works for you, then use one. I prefer shorter, denser brushes for soaps and I love to feel a brush scrubbing my face.
Relative floppiness could easily be considered a preference, but isn't totally without performance implications. A brush which doesn't flop tends to work better at agitating and lifting the beard, in preparation for the shave. You might be able to make up for this in other types of preparation, so maybe the scrubbing action only serves to save a little time.
However, if you have a sensitive face, and scrubbing agitates your skin more quickly, then a floppy brush might be just what the doctor ordered. I have had a couple great shaves with a floppier brush by doing the hot towel & lather prep (aka, Kyle's prep) and simply painting on lather with very little scrub. I dispense with this most days, due to time constraints. It's a nice Saturday routine, though.
However, if you have a sensitive face, and scrubbing agitates your skin more quickly, then a floppy brush might be just what the doctor ordered. I have had a couple great shaves with a floppier brush by doing the hot towel & lather prep (aka, Kyle's prep) and simply painting on lather with very little scrub. I dispense with this most days, due to time constraints. It's a nice Saturday routine, though.
+1 for brevity/bluntness
I am a newbie and have picked up a few of the more popular brushes out there mentioned on B&B. I agree, I tend to grab the EJ for shaving cream use only. Seems to really whip up a great lather with creams, but it does not perform well at all with soaps for me. Just my inexperienced $0.02.
Actually, I think that floppiness is more of an underrated brush trait. We like short loft, dense brushes for their ability to pick up more product, especially with soaps. In that case, we're loading the tips of the brush. With a floppier brush, aren't we just loading the length of the hairs? Both types work for me, and I reach for whatever brush happens to float my boat that morning, regardless of whether I'm using a soap or a cream.
+1 BRAVO! While I have my favorites, I believe that many of the misnotions on this board and others come from the under-skilled, over-opinionated professors of the one true shaving faith. Soap brush, cream brush, Fuller brush! BRUSHWA!
What most gents do not seem recognize is that one man's scritchy is another man's harsh. One man's luxurious is another's floppy. What suits you today may not please you tomorrow.
The floppiest brush I've ever seen, a horse hair brush, is my favorite brush. I like it because it creates good lather, but then doesn't hold on to it as tightly as badger.
Well said Sir.
+1
If I have to compare my Rooney finest 1/2 with my Simpsons Chubby 1 super /2bands this is a floppy one.
Thats why personnaly I prefer Simpson's brushes.
For my opinion the role for a badger is initially to prepare the beard by softening the hair the best way possible .Softness of the tip and bacbone are the firsts qualities.
I think one small factor is the container the soap is in. I have an EJ super that would considered a cream brush by most, but I find it works just fine for soaps (though not for face-lathering).
My soaps are in Anchor dishes, and that extra depth keeps the 'poofiness' of the brush on the puck. If the pucks were in wooden bowls, which have little or no depth, it wouldn't work well at all.
My soaps are in Anchor dishes, and that extra depth keeps the 'poofiness' of the brush on the puck. If the pucks were in wooden bowls, which have little or no depth, it wouldn't work well at all.
same here...
For example the brush I'm using most for the moment is a horse hair brush (Vie long barber), it is very soft and "flexible" but makes great lather in no time, soap or cream...and I only face lather with it.
I have an EJ super and hate it, but maybe it's cause I've only tried it with soaps. Maybe I need to give it a try with creams before BST it.
I guess I should have been more specific, that my super is a C&E branded brush and I don't know what size of EJ it's comparable to. I could see the EJ large super not being suitable even with a deeper bowl. Is your super a large?
Mine is a C&E branded super I have had for a while. While soaps are doable it is a cream brush in my rotation. It has a firm enough core to easily built lather in my bowl, or scuttle, and a luxurious feel to my face when applying the lather. As others have said its a great brush for a specific purpose and on the days I chose to use it I am happy with its performance. I do not have any regrets in having purchased the brush. Oddly enough, I still have my boar brush from college and its so floppy it is unusable.
My first badger brush was one of those vintage Fuller catalin brush + stand black badgers. It had probably 1000 hairs in the whole brush, if that. It was as floppy as floppy gets. You could lather better with a paintbrush. I consider floppy a bad thing.
Similar threads
