My first boar brush - what am I doing wrong?

[ChriWilson]

I’ve got a VFH boat from CVS I’ve been using since 2008. STILL a solid work horse. It’s literally the brush I’m trying to kill so I can buy a yaqi. It’s still going strong! The one previous began deteriorating knot wise- had that hole in the center- eventually threw it away- but the one I have now must’ve been built by a supervisor- lol- because I still have it

I too have a VDH Boar, it is not terrible for the price - but it sure doesn't hold a candle to an Omega 10077

Shaving Brush 10077 Boar Bristle - assorted colors

www.farmacosmo.com

Mine doesn't have issues with the knot, other than it shedding with every use
Seriously though, it would not make for a bad travel brush - not certain how long mine would last as a daily if it continues to shed.

Interesting read from 2016. Not sure when they shifted production, (my box reads Made in China) apparently the boar brushes were assembled in TX:

Van Der Hagen - Sharpologist

The small town of Liberty Hill, Texas is home to a big player in the wet shaving world: Van Der Hagen. I recently got a chance to tour the facility.

sharpologist.com

 

[ClemsonTigerz]

I too have a VDH Boar, it is not terrible for the price - but it sure doesn't hold a candle to an Omega 10077

Shaving Brush 10077 Boar Bristle - assorted colors

www.farmacosmo.com

Mine doesn't have issues with the knot, other than it shedding with every use
Seriously though, it would not make for a bad travel brush - not certain how long mine would last as a daily if it continues to shed.

Interesting read from 2016. Not sure when they shifted production, (my box reads Made in China) apparently the boar brushes were assembled in TX:

Van Der Hagen - Sharpologist

The small town of Liberty Hill, Texas is home to a big player in the wet shaving world: Van Der Hagen. I recently got a chance to tour the facility.

sharpologist.com

Yeah, I mean my Semogue 1305 or Omega 10098 is of a superior quality in terms of - I’m not sure because it’s boar and I like the bristle length and handles So I suppose it’s in the knot? I’m no guru in this department, so I’ll defer to those more knowledgeable than me- I CAN say with certainty - well, I like boar brushes and it’s what I use. I know my 10098 has longer bristles- holds more- beyond that I’m splitting hairs To be honest, I couldn’t tell you one from the other honestly unless I felt the handle.

 

[ChriWilson]

Yeah, I mean my Semogue 1305 or Omega 10098 is of a superior quality in terms of - I’m not sure because it’s boar and I like the bristle length and handles So I suppose it’s in the knot? I’m no guru in this department, so I’ll defer to those more knowledgeable than me- I CAN say with certainty - well, I like boar brushes and it’s what I use. I know my 10098 has longer bristles- holds more- beyond that I’m splitting hairs To be honest, I couldn’t tell you one from the other honestly unless I felt the handle.

Just comparing $4 brushes with my previous post

If I had to really state the difference, it is that the $4 Omega has vastly greater bristle quality, density, and softness over the $4 VDH. I mentioned the Omega 10077, only as it opened my eyes to something I had very little expectation for.

On that note, I think the Omega 10049 is a fantastic sub $10 brush

 

[Lane101]

I acquired my first boar brush from west coast shaving last week. It is an omega boar brush that I used for the first time today.

I wanted to see how it would perform against my trusty silver Badger. Boars are supposed to feel more agressive on your face compared to the silver Badger. I did not have any issues with taking the boar to my face with it's bit more aggressiveness.

My experience with it is that the shaving cream I used (tobs ceadareood - first time use) it did not lather up well on my first use. The lather lasted no more than 1-1/2 shaves. On the second lather, it was no better.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to gather a better lather with a boar as I would with a silver Badger?

Thanks.

Hi discomike, believe the TOB cedarwood is a softer soap and not a triple milled hard soap. It may be that the the boar is not ideal for the softer soap that is better suited for your badger. The boar should work better for you with your hard soaps.

I've a 26mm synthetic plissoft Monster brush and a Blondie boar (Zenith 80N) both from Italian Barber. The boar is ideal for my pure triple milled soaps (e.g. Williams). The synthetic on anything softer such as Arko, Van Der Hagen and my Proraso croap. Blondie works well for me. Using it my process is to first partially build lather on the puck in an apothecary mug and then finish via face lathering. I do not bloom my pucks though I do thoroughly wet the boar brush a few minutes before using it. Typically work my hard soaps for a good minute in the apothecary mug to pick up lots of product before face lathering.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

A good boar should be great with any soap, not just hard soaps.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Possum092]

I too have a VDH Boar, it is not terrible for the price - but it sure doesn't hold a candle to an Omega 10077

Shaving Brush 10077 Boar Bristle - assorted colors

www.farmacosmo.com

Mine doesn't have issues with the knot, other than it shedding with every use
Seriously though, it would not make for a bad travel brush - not certain how long mine would last as a daily if it continues to shed.

Interesting read from 2016. Not sure when they shifted production, (my box reads Made in China) apparently the boar brushes were assembled in TX:

Van Der Hagen - Sharpologist

The small town of Liberty Hill, Texas is home to a big player in the wet shaving world: Van Der Hagen. I recently got a chance to tour the facility.

sharpologist.com

Thanks for sharing the link. Mine was marked made in China as well. So far no issues with any shedding; I am really surprised by the performance and face feel from such an inexpensive brush. I am going to keep testing it for another week or two.

 

[musicman1951]

Soaking for 72 hours in the refrigerator didn't do much for me. Lathering every day with hand soap before shaving with another brush did make some headway though. Also, no need to soak the whole knot. About 1/3 to 1/2 of the knot works best for me as soaking the whole knot removes most of the desirable backbone. All you really need to soften is the tip.

I seem to remember reading a while back that the refrigerator part of the process came from a poor translation from the original Italian. I did try it with my last boar purchase, including rubbing it on a towel every day of the three day process and the results were not spectacular.

If you can't stand just using it until it breaks in (you know, the way a real man does) you can do a palm lather every other day for the first week to get the process started. You can even do this after your regular shave, like a practice lather.

 

[discomike]

Thanks everyone for shaving your experiences with your Boar Brushes. Yeah, I am going to have to perform some more breaking in. The consensus here is the boar is best for hard soaps, so I will stick with that in mind for my next shave with a boar. I will however give it a shot to see how it will react with the Sterling sample soaps. Note that my Sterling samples are pliable, so I will keep that in mind in case the boar and Sterling does not lather to my liking. I also have a TOBS Sandalwood soap, so I will try the boar with that soap as well, and a Mr. Fine Barbershop soap.

I do admit that I like the just a bit of touch of abrasive with the boar, which really feels pretty good. Because of its slight stiffness compared to the silver badger that I have, one would think that a boar should lather even more compared to the silver badger. Not necessarly the case based on MY limited one-time experience with the boar.

However, if anyone who is reading about boars and are staying away from it because it is more abrasive compared to the silver badger, I encourage you to try one out. They are really not that expensive (cheap actually), which I would recommend to add it to your shaving collection - especially if your shaving collection consists of (a number of) soap(s) - based on everyones input here.

I have lots of soaps to go through with the boar !!!! I will update everyone here once I give the boar/soap combo a shot.

 

[Ron R]

Thanks everyone for shaving your experiences with your Boar Brushes. Yeah, I am going to have to perform some more breaking in. The consensus here is the boar is best for hard soaps, so I will stick with that in mind for my next shave with a boar. I will however give it a shot to see how it will react with the Sterling sample soaps. Note that my Sterling samples are pliable, so I will keep that in mind in case the boar and Sterling does not lather to my liking. I also have a TOBS Sandalwood soap, so I will try the boar with that soap as well, and a Mr. Fine Barbershop soap.

I do admit that I like the just a bit of touch of abrasive with the boar, which really feels pretty good. Because of its slight stiffness compared to the silver badger that I have, one would think that a boar should lather even more compared to the silver badger. Not necessarly the case based on MY limited one-time experience with the boar.

However, if anyone who is reading about boars and are staying away from it because it is more abrasive compared to the silver badger, I encourage you to try one out. They are really not that expensive (cheap actually), which I would recommend to add it to your shaving collection - especially if your shaving collection consists of (a number of) soap(s) - based on everyones input here.

I have lots of soaps to go through with the boar !!!! I will update everyone here once I give the boar/soap combo a shot.

I would not worry about boar brushes in just hard soaps, I used one this morning with cream and it lathered like a champ.
Happy belated Birthday to you.

BOTD + DE SOTD, Sat, April 16th 2022
Brush : Yaqi Robin 24mm boar brush, excellent lather generator, soft split end boar bristles, excellent scrubber + great lather painter.

Have some great shaves!

 

[PintoPlain]

I also use a boar with creams and croaps as well as hard soaps. The lather is great with them all.

For breaking in a boar, I would recommend hard soaps though. A shave soap if you want to use the lather, or a hard hand soap if you only want to speed up the break in process.

I tend to just start using a boar and let it break in over time through use. I would generally use a hard soap until mostly broken in.

 

[Butch Waxx]

I acquired my first boar brush from west coast shaving last week. It is an omega boar brush that I used for the first time today.

I wanted to see how it would perform against my trusty silver Badger. Boars are supposed to feel more agressive on your face compared to the silver Badger. I did not have any issues with taking the boar to my face with it's bit more aggressiveness.

My experience with it is that the shaving cream I used (tobs ceadareood - first time use) it did not lather up well on my first use. The lather lasted no more than 1-1/2 shaves. On the second lather, it was no better.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to gather a better lather with a boar as I would with a silver Badger?

Thanks.

Time and patience….The boar will become one of your favorites!

 

[Happy Jack]

I bypassed the lengthy breaking in process by chucking my Omega boar brush in the bin and buying a synthetic. Life's too short.

 

[Happy Jack]

I don't mean to disrespect any of you boar lovers, but I simply don't have the patience to persevere with something that doesn't work out of the box.

 

[jmd]

I don't mean to disrespect any of you boar lovers, but I simply don't have the patience to persevere with something that doesn't work out of the box.

No offense taken. On the contrary I'm grateful to read a perspective so alien to my own. I think my boar did work out of the box, though smelled of wet animal for a couple weeks. And after months of near daily use it continues to evolve nicely.

 

[Jim99]

Man, I must have gotten lucky with my 5 Semouge boars in my den. They all were broken in nicely by 20 uses on hard soap and have become my favorite brushes. I know that everyone here has different views, so I guess my experience was unique.

Long live the boar!

 

[theJJ]

After years settling for nothing less than silvertip because that's what my Merkur kit came with... count me in!

I actually got an Omega years ago and gave up after a few frustrating tries. I "rediscovered" it.

"Patience" really is the answer. Funny thing is, as I got better with the boar, I also got better with the badger. I realized that I often wasn't taking up enough soap.

 

[Possum092]

Gotta go with the cheap $5 USD Chinese boar brushes. Mine was great right out of the box…zero break-in needed, plus it didn’t smell funny. Bonus, it doesn’t shed hairs.

 

[JPO]

I only have one boar brush from Tatara. I face lather with the brush. The difference for me if i compare it to e.g. a badger is that I can use the brush allot wetter. If I do that with a badger I get too much air into the lather. I can also add water quicker. This makes the brush quite effective.
Foamy soap like MDC works really well. I struggle a little more with some artisan soaps though.

 

[slimshavy]

I don't mean to disrespect any of you boar lovers, but I simply don't have the patience to persevere with something that doesn't work out of the box.

A good, slick soap works with any boar right out of the box. When I got my Semogue 1470, I used it on an Em's Place glycerine puck and it lathered instantly without effort. Of course, with Em's soaps, you could get a good lather with a basting brush.
My brush has more split ends and is softer now that it's "broken in," but what mattered was that it lathered well enough then and lathers well enough now.

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

A good, slick soap works with any boar right out of the box. When I got my Semogue 1470, I used it on an Em's Place glycerine puck and it lathered instantly without effort. Of course, with Em's soaps, you could get a good lather with a basting brush.
My brush has more split ends and is softer now that it's "broken in," but what mattered was that it lathered well enough then and lathers well enough now.

I beg to differ. Sometimes you can get a bad boar that doesn't work.

Happy shaves,

Jim