I've seen the healthy debate between the "just use it" and the "break it in" segments of the community when it comes to boar brushes. I got a new Omega 10029 brush and wanted to try the 3 day cold water process to see what it accomplished. Instead of a video, I just did photos.
New out of the box.
The water bath
1 days results
Day 2
Day 3 (Last photo squeezes knot to compare it to new brush)
Placed in refrigerator for 24 hours, removed and rubbed on a towel for 10-15minutes until tips are dry. Repeat for 3 days. Change water every day.
The brush didn't have a lot of odor to start with, but I still put a few drops of Dr Bronners soap in for the first few hours on day 1. Unless you bury your nose in the brush you can't smell it.
The process did generate split ends in good amounts and the brush does feel softer than when new. They're hard to see in the photos but you can see the ends with a magnifying glass. The spread of the brush didn't change a lot from day 1 to day 3, but the number of split ends appears to have increased.
Next step is to bowl lather with it a few times, and ultimately use it for face lathering.
New out of the box.
The water bath
1 days results
Day 2
Day 3 (Last photo squeezes knot to compare it to new brush)
Placed in refrigerator for 24 hours, removed and rubbed on a towel for 10-15minutes until tips are dry. Repeat for 3 days. Change water every day.
The brush didn't have a lot of odor to start with, but I still put a few drops of Dr Bronners soap in for the first few hours on day 1. Unless you bury your nose in the brush you can't smell it.
The process did generate split ends in good amounts and the brush does feel softer than when new. They're hard to see in the photos but you can see the ends with a magnifying glass. The spread of the brush didn't change a lot from day 1 to day 3, but the number of split ends appears to have increased.
Next step is to bowl lather with it a few times, and ultimately use it for face lathering.