My Chubby ate my lather!

[CarlosAT]

I was using my Simpson Chubby 2 this morning after a long while and it reminded me of just how hungry and stingy the brush can be with lather. It was a face lathering morning and I got a good 1 1/2 passes before I had to squeeze lather out of the brush. I made it through 3 passes, but not without effort.



What are the hungriest and least hungry brushes in your shave den, recognizing that neither extreme is necessarily good?

 

[EL Alamein]

Timely post for me as I had a similar experience this morning. I broke out my old Kent BK12 and used it. Same results as you.

My thoughts are there's too much volume in the bristle pack that needs to be filled in order to have a successful lather with these monsters. They're more suited to a barber's purpose of days long gone. Who wants to use that much soap or cream to fill that gap? It seems just a waste most days.

But for those rare self-indulgent I-don't-care-how-much-product-I-use days these can be a luxurious way to go. You just have to remember to load them well.

Most days and years I'm using my turnback. Smaller brush with a big lather and less product.

Chris

 

[bkatbamna]

I have so many soaps that I want hungry brushes. I haven’t bought any soaps in a year and I really want to.

 

[Timeclo]

My hungriest brushes are Zenith boars. I've only tried two Zenith boars but both were eating lather like a champ.

My least hungry brushes are synthetics, mostly Yaqi. The 22mm Maggard synthetic is pretty good and all my Yaqi synthetics are great at lathering well with small amount of soap.

 

[BigJ]

I have a 25 mm custom 2-band that is a bit of a lather hog, even more than my Simpsons Chubby 1. My least hungry brush is a Simpsons Wee Scot that still holds enough lather for 3 passes.

 

[EclipseRedRing]

Often shavers have far too many soaps and creams so there is no excuse for not loading enough product unless using something rare or expensive. I have no problem with going back to the puck anyway, nothing wrong with that. I do not understand the current trend for very large brushes, which are often oddly described as more luxurious then their smaller counterparts. I briefly owned a Super Chubby 3 and could practically lather both cheeks of my face at once! Don't get me started on the fashion for lurid multi coloured handles! To each his own I suppose, keeps the smaller plain brushes cheaper

 

[Rudy Vey]

Better the Chubby than "de dingo"...

 

[CarlosAT]

Better the Chubby than "de dingo"...

LOL. But the dingo I can shoot.

 

[dmshaver]

My Simpson Classic 2 along with a White Manchurian are my two lather hogs. The way I look at it, these two brushes help me buy more soap!

 

[CarlosAT]

The way I look at it, these two brushes help me buy more soap!

Often shavers have far too many soaps and creams so there is no excuse for not loading enough product...

I have so many soaps that I want hungry brushes. I haven’t bought any soaps in a year and I really want to.

I applaud you for finding the silver lining to the problem. Bravo!

 

[Jarick]

The worst offenders for trapping lather for me are bulbs, especially short lofted ones. I LOVE Thater brushes but they can hold about two passes inside the brush.

Synthetics for me aren't as fun to use but they are really efficient at creating and passing lather. Boar brushes are the same. For badgers, 2-band fans tend to have the best flow through without being overly floppy and with good hair are pretty soft.

 

[naughtilus]

Best flow trough in my den is the Vulfix 404b in Pure. Worst, no surprise here, the Simpson Chubby 2 in Best.

 

[Billy T.]

Your profile picture is very fitting in this situation.

 

[MrSmith83]

The worst offenders for trapping lather for me are bulbs, especially short lofted ones. I LOVE Thater brushes but they can hold about two passes inside the brush.

Synthetics for me aren't as fun to use but they are really efficient at creating and passing lather. Boar brushes are the same. For badgers, 2-band fans tend to have the best flow through without being overly floppy and with good hair are pretty soft.

I have a couple of Thaters that, while I like a lot, have a slightly weird characteristic you might call lather hogging. Like, if you squeeze the knot there's tons of usable lather in there, it just doesn't seem to willingly get itself onto your face.

Large boar brushes require a bit more product for me, but not enoighnto be off-putting or anything. Small synths and some badgers are super econo,jcal with product as well.

 

[CarlosAT]

Your profile picture is very fitting in this situation.

LOL. I picked that pic when if first joined to signify the irritation and razor burn I was getting when I first started wet shaving, since my technique was non-existent back then. While my technique is much better now, I'm glad it still works, even if for a different purpose. [emoji16]

 

[FireDragon76]

My hungriest brushes are Zenith boars. I've only tried two Zenith boars but both were eating lather like a champ.

My least hungry brushes are synthetics, mostly Yaqi. The 22mm Maggard synthetic is pretty good and all my Yaqi synthetics are great at lathering well with small amount of soap.

Boars actually absorb soap into the cuticle of the fibers, that's why they take much longer, and more product to generate lather. That's why I don't use them for shaving creams, it's a big waste of product.

 

[Icebear]

Chubbies are notorious lather hogs.

I think the flow through depends on two parameters:
- total amount of hairs
(densely packed/generously stuffed vs low budget number of hairs)
- knot size vs loft height
(most common 1:2, e.g. 24mm knot / 48mm loft)

The more hairs are stuffed into the knot, the more soap can hide between them.
The shorter the loft the deeper the soap gets pushed down into the dense zone close to the bottom of the knot.

The Chubby has a lot of hairs and a pretty short loft
...that's how you design the perfect lather hog.

My CH2 best took at least 40 uses and I was close to selling it off, after that it became one brush in my rotation that I always look forward to.

 

[CarlosAT]

Chubbies are notorious lather hogs.

I think the flow through depends on two parameters:
- total amount of hairs
(densely packed/generously stuffed vs low budget number of hairs)
- knot size vs loft height
(most common 1:2, e.g. 24mm knot / 48mm loft)

The more hairs are stuffed into the knot, the more soap can hide between them.
The shorter the loft the deeper the soap gets pushed down into the dense zone close to the bottom of the knot.

The Chubby has a lot of hairs and a pretty short loft
...that's how you design the perfect lather hog.

My CH2 best took at least 40 uses and I was close to selling it off, after that it became one brush in my rotation that I always look forward to.[emoji106]1:

What changed for you after 40 uses? Was the brush satisfied (i.e. broken in) or did you change something when using it? Beyond my chubby, I have a couple of SHD brushes that can eat lather too. I'm trying to figure out what to do differently.

 

[UrbanHound]

Timely post for me as I had a similar experience this morning. I broke out my old Kent BK12 and used it. Same results as you.

My same thoughts as I was coming to start a thread on this very same notion. I have been using synthetics almost my entire wet shaving journey and recently acquired, as a birthday gift, the AP ShaveCo Gelousy at 28MM. It is my first badger and is an absolute experience on the face. I would heedlessly recommend it except it is a ravenous beast whose hunger for soap knows no bounds. Right now I'm using a bottle of Kiss My Face Cool Mint moisture shave which is a wonderful cream. In my 30MM synthetic 3 pumps is worth two passes and then some. But this Gelousy eats up twice that amount and even then it starts getting thin on that second pass. It's a bit disheartening as I do enjoy everything else about the brush but maybe I should stick with synthetics going forward... Or I need to save this brush for particular soaps.

 

[Frank Shaves]

My hungriest brushes are Zenith boars. I've only tried two Zenith boars but both were eating lather like a champ.

Ever since I bought two Zeniths (one boar and one Manchurian), I get to buy soap more frequently. I love it!


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