I decided to compose a little pictorial of lathering with QED soap, as Ravi and a few other have had problems. I started by using the Rooney Silvertip as mentioned earlier - a few swirls with the Rooney - and lather up the yin yang. Then I stopped and thought about the brush Ravi was using - a Vulfix #2236.
Well I knew it wouldn't help much to post tons of pics of the Rooney making incredible lather - so I had a new thought... the Rooney, Shavemac and Simpsons Polo 12 I have are all incredibly densly packed, which is why I like them SO much more than Vulfix brushes - and why I feel they work so well.
With this knowledge in hand, I decided to break out the Simpsons Persian Jar 2 (super) and lather up some QED soap. My suspicions were correct, and I got **** poor lather, and really had to dink around to get something nice. I then used the Shavemac and took pics as well to show you the comparison.
While I know the PJ2 is smaller than the Rooney and the Shavemac - that did not seem to be the limiting factor. The lack of a tightly packed knot seemed to make even the stiffer than vulfix bristles really splay out (which dumps out all the water making it useless) and disabled it from picking up the proper amount of soap..... very interesting.
PJ2 next to QED Espresso soap
Soaking the PJ2
Letting the H20 drip out...
A few Swirls and I got nuttin'
15-20 swirls (you can see there is plenty of water there and it is not overly ladden)
When applying pressure and trying to "work" the soap as I would with my other brushes, the PJ2 immediatly mushrooms out (long bristles, not densly packed) and is just about worthless.
Finally after working the hell out of the poor QED soap, and making an obvious dent on the soap (more than I would use in a week or so with one of my other LARGER brushes) I make some progress
20 Swirls in the bowl.... not much happinin'
Adding some more H20..
Water added to the bowl...
The brush when worked in the bowl with water added still didn't do much. When feeling/inspecting the brush, it was evident there was plenty of soap in it, and there was NOT too much water in the mix... ONCE I then again lightly worked the QED soap, then worked it progressively harder did I get some decent lather...
Working it in the bowl...
I got "good" lather from the QED soap, but it didn't really excite me, was a pain in the ***, and I was wholly underwhelmed. Thelarge Vulfix #41 I had worked ok with QED soap, but once I got the shavemac it REALLY exploded and became so magical. To be fair, the Polo 12 works wonderfully with QED soap as well. I am quite curious how well (or poor) a Plisson would do with QED Essentials.
Here is the same soap, right after the PJ2 fiasco, with a Shavemac XXL Horn handled brush.
Soak..
Shake....
Preparing to build lather...
7 Swirls in the soap (probably should have done 5)...
5 swirls in bowl
10 swirls in bowl...
From the top...
Packing density, Shavemac left, Simpsons Right
All hail shavemac!
Well I knew it wouldn't help much to post tons of pics of the Rooney making incredible lather - so I had a new thought... the Rooney, Shavemac and Simpsons Polo 12 I have are all incredibly densly packed, which is why I like them SO much more than Vulfix brushes - and why I feel they work so well.
With this knowledge in hand, I decided to break out the Simpsons Persian Jar 2 (super) and lather up some QED soap. My suspicions were correct, and I got **** poor lather, and really had to dink around to get something nice. I then used the Shavemac and took pics as well to show you the comparison.
While I know the PJ2 is smaller than the Rooney and the Shavemac - that did not seem to be the limiting factor. The lack of a tightly packed knot seemed to make even the stiffer than vulfix bristles really splay out (which dumps out all the water making it useless) and disabled it from picking up the proper amount of soap..... very interesting.
PJ2 next to QED Espresso soap
Soaking the PJ2
Letting the H20 drip out...
A few Swirls and I got nuttin'
15-20 swirls (you can see there is plenty of water there and it is not overly ladden)
When applying pressure and trying to "work" the soap as I would with my other brushes, the PJ2 immediatly mushrooms out (long bristles, not densly packed) and is just about worthless.
Finally after working the hell out of the poor QED soap, and making an obvious dent on the soap (more than I would use in a week or so with one of my other LARGER brushes) I make some progress
20 Swirls in the bowl.... not much happinin'
Adding some more H20..
Water added to the bowl...
The brush when worked in the bowl with water added still didn't do much. When feeling/inspecting the brush, it was evident there was plenty of soap in it, and there was NOT too much water in the mix... ONCE I then again lightly worked the QED soap, then worked it progressively harder did I get some decent lather...
Working it in the bowl...
I got "good" lather from the QED soap, but it didn't really excite me, was a pain in the ***, and I was wholly underwhelmed. Thelarge Vulfix #41 I had worked ok with QED soap, but once I got the shavemac it REALLY exploded and became so magical. To be fair, the Polo 12 works wonderfully with QED soap as well. I am quite curious how well (or poor) a Plisson would do with QED Essentials.
Here is the same soap, right after the PJ2 fiasco, with a Shavemac XXL Horn handled brush.
Soak..
Shake....
Preparing to build lather...
7 Swirls in the soap (probably should have done 5)...
5 swirls in bowl
10 swirls in bowl...
From the top...
Packing density, Shavemac left, Simpsons Right
All hail shavemac!
