leaving the soap on

[Shavely Manden]

+1! I suspect that you are correct! Back in the day I doubt that most guys were fussy about their kit.

Then again, most guys didn't spend $$$ on brushes back then, either. I suspect the minority with something like a Simpson's Chubby would probably have been fussier than the guys with a cheapo boar they could just replace at the drug store if it wore out.

 

[snowback]

To me it would be like not rinsing the shampoo from your hair. I bet in short time you would change your tune. To me, it’s a natural part of the shaving ritual. My dad always said that you need to take care of your equipment if you expect it to do a good job for you


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[EclipseRedRing]

Honestly, I do not know. I think I had posted this here before under a different topic, believe it was that brushes need to be dried out before used again, and I said that as far as I remember that both my dad and grand dad had only one brush (each) which was used every day. Don't know how often they replaced it, but I think there was not so much variety on the market and brushes were cheap. Today we have a unbelievable variety of brushes in a wide price range.
I have never heard about that a boar has the same issue as a badger, like hairs/bristles start to breakdown because of soap residue inside the knot. But, a decent boar cost maybe $10 and a very good badger is often north of $100; so those with the boar just take it and get a new one.
One comment here kinda took me by surprise: someone said that he leaves to soap in the brush as it saves money....soap is quite cheap my friend, one can get a very good soap for about a buck per stick of Arko, but the cheapest Chubby badger is somewhere around $120 or so....

I have, in all the years I do restores, had quite a number of brushes that needed a knot replaced because it started shedding after months or year (s) of use....in all cases I find a huge amount of soap residue inside. Not all of them did the dusting when brushed over the knot, some do, some do not - but nevertheless, when I cut the hair off, one sees the residue quite clearly.

Thanks Rudy, I suspect that in reality most men years ago had a cheap badger brush that was possibly more robust than those currently produced but which wore out and was replaced just as today. So many were made over the years that perhaps the ones that survive in good condition make us think that all old brushes lasted for ever. It must be nice to think that many of your own creations will be handed down from generation to generation; a lasting legacy of your fine work

 

[Marco]

Most brush making companies recommend to wash out all soap/cream residue out of the knot thoroughly. If left in, the soap residues will break down the hair and the brush begins to shed. So, do not do this.

+1 Rudy is a Master and of course his answer is correct.

 

[kooshman7]

Our forefathers treated their brushes like crap. The stuff was not of higher quality allowing them to do so. You can tell this easily by the vast majority of old brushes out there. You can tell which brushes had a modicum of care to them or were rarely used, and those that were abused by just keeping the brush in the lathering cup lather and all after shaving. I don't usually stay something so forcefully, but people back then did not treat brushes well, and sadly, you still see this to this day in some users.