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Poor experience with badger, not sure what I'm doing wrong

I have recently (4 - 5 weeks ago) bought a Simpson Chubby 1 to complement my Semogue 620 and Omega trave brush. I have not had any experience with badger brushes and assumed it would be a more refined version of a boar and would start off great without needing to break it in but I am struggling to produce enough good quality lather for my 2nd and 3rd pass.

I've removing a lot of water (squeezing out the brush after soaking) which resulted in a good first shave volume but left the brush dry or thin for pass 2 and 3.
I've left more water in, shake out 3 times just causes a bubbly thin mess while shaking out more thoroughly allows a better quality lather, similar to the consistency of what I expect from the soaps (primarily MWF and Cella) based on a few years of using them with boar brushes). However it's not enough volume so I go back to lathering again (feels like it take up to 40 seconds to produce a good load that can lather on my face).

However by this point the amount of moisture has dropped enough that loading is inefficient.

Are there any recommendations on how I should be loading this brush and how my loading technique could be improved?


Some background on the other 2 brushes -
The Semogue is very well broken in and I can get more than enough perfect voluminous lather for a 3 pass shave after giving it a twirl on soft soaps (such as Proraso and Cella) for 10 - 20 seconds and on a hard soap (such as Mitchell's Wool Fat) for 20 seconds. Both lathers have great volume and moisture in them however the Semogue feels the best and is far faster.
 
As a long time owner of a Chubby 1 in Best here's my 2 cents. I also own...and adore...a 620. Both VERY diffo brushes.

Chubby 1. A good long soak in my basin whilst showering. Then drain basin and give the knot a gentle squeeze....want to remove some water, not all.

Load. And load. And load. Remember, the lightweight roadster of your 620 is nothing compared to that tightly packed knot of your CH. Think 4000lb SUV. That knot absorbs a LOT of product, and like an SUV needs lots of fuel to run. All that product will need correspondingly more water for the same type of lather so you're gonna need to really get your water/soap ratio right...just st more of it.

But soap is expensive I hear you say?

So is your Simpsons. So load heavy, leave moisture in, and work it.

Personally I face lather with mine...luxury.
 
As a long time owner of a Chubby 1 in Best here's my 2 cents. I also own...and adore...a 620. Both VERY diffo brushes.

Chubby 1. A good long soak in my basin whilst showering. Then drain basin and give the knot a gentle squeeze....want to remove some water, not all.

Load. And load. And load. Remember, the lightweight roadster of your 620 is nothing compared to that tightly packed knot of your CH. Think 4000lb SUV. That knot absorbs a LOT of product, and like an SUV needs lots of fuel to run. All that product will need correspondingly more water for the same type of lather so you're gonna need to really get your water/soap ratio right...just st more of it.

But soap is expensive I hear you say?

So is your Simpsons. So load heavy, leave moisture in, and work it.

Personally I face lather with mine...luxury.

+1. What he said. I don't own a 620, but I do have a 1305 boar. I picked up recently 2 badger brushes, a best badger and silvertip from Zenith. Took me a couple lathering sessions to figure it out. But man, it was worth it.....
 
Some good advice, above. Don't remove all the water from the brush. Some other things you can do. If you find that your lather is too weak or watery you can add a little cream to the mix. If you face lather just rub a tiny amount on your face. If you bowl lather, just add a dot to the mix and work the lather. Another hint. Rub your fingers around the soap and then apply a thin layer to your face. Then re-lather. Doing this acts like a soap stick and will thicken and extend your lather.
 
Welcome! I also have a Chubby 1 in my stable. My best guess is that you need more product (likely more water also)!
 
Soak your badger brush at a minimum of 10 min. and put a layer of hot water on what ever soap you are using to bloom it. A good soaking while you shower works best in this case. When your done showering....take the blooming water and use it as a pre-shave, then take your badger brush, give it 1 or 2 dabs to stop the dripping when you hold it with the tips down. Then start lathering and load for a min or 2, (about 30 to 40 swirls should do it). Then either face lather or bowl lather, remember badger brushes don't soak water like the boar brushes do so you need a lot of water but you need the combo just right. I use badgers on the weekend when I have time to soak and load and swirl using my cap'ns choice bowl, but each time I use them I can easily have enough lather for 5 or 6 passes even tho i always do 3.
 
yes just experiment, my big problem was not using enough water and the cream was too thick, dunk the whole brush in water if you are not getting lather, one time just wet the brush and stir more, keep doing it until you either get tons of lather or the cream is really runny, make some experiments like that, if you try to dial it in in small increments you will be forever perfecting it, I soak my Chubby 1 while showering then when redy to shave I will give it a very small flick of the wrist shake and that's it, I usually end up adding even more water after that, even though the brush is already loaded, Simpsons need a lot of water I find, if they are too dry they will never lather, never wring all the water out before mixing the lather, that's defeating the purpose, just experiment ... that's what I had to do to learn
 
Some good advice, above. Don't remove all the water from the brush. Some other things you can do. If you find that your lather is too weak or watery you can add a little cream to the mix. If you face lather just rub a tiny amount on your face. If you bowl lather, just add a dot to the mix and work the lather. Another hint. Rub your fingers around the soap and then apply a thin layer to your face. Then re-lather. Doing this acts like a soap stick and will thicken and extend your lather.
+1
 
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