Ralph Lauren Restore

[prophetic_joe]

Here is a little tease post for a member here who asked me to fix up a brush for him. After pics have a knot in it but it is not the correct size or type of knot I just set it in for effect. The actual knot will be two-band finest.

Before:

After:

 

[Walker]

Great job Joe

 

[sedo]

man is she a beauty or what!

 

[55dougie]

Very nice, that should make him happy, well done.

 

[solar]

I have one of those Ralph Lauren brushes, bought many years ago. I always found the brush to be too soft, too floppy for my tastes, although it lathered well.

Since you're doing the restoration, do you know the type of badger that brush came with originally?

Thanks,

Chris

 

[scoopster]

Is that one of the Safari era brushes? Looks older. Pewter?

 

[_MementoMori_]

That's the coolest brush I've ever seen!

Thanks a lot... now I want one.

 

[prophetic_joe]

Not sure what type of knot was in it originally as it had already been re-knotted once before it came my way. As far as the material goes I'm not completely sure either, my first thought was pewter and it is definitely a soft metal but it shined up really really nice so I am thinking maybe aluminum now.

 

[jwhite]

It's not aluminum, it oxidizes gray/white. Hard to tell from pics but pewter will oxidize dark gray and silver charcoal-black. Could be pewter with silver embossing.

 

[Eman]

Being sort of a Ralph Lauren junky, I think that is Really Cool.

 

[andrew98]

Great looking brush, for sure. Interesting handle.

-Andy

 

[prophetic_joe]

Had a buddy show up at the house today. I have 13 brushes on top of my computer desk right now and this was the first one he picked up. I think that says something about the handle. It's one of the coolest I have seen I think.

 

[mretzloff]

Nice restore. I really like the look of that handle.

 

[solar]

I believe the handle is pewter. It came with a pewter shaving mug, both brush and mug had the emblem on them. The pewter mug was the one that caused so much trouble when I was travelling through Attaturk Airport in Turkey about 10 years ago. Anyways, the brush and mug were part of the Ralph Lauren Safari collection. Its a nice brush, I never used it too much since I have always found the loft to be too floppy for my taste, but certainly very soft and pleasant on the face.

Chris

 

[pdmcadams]

The lucky owner of that brush is going to have to ask you how to polish up the mug, as it is going to look pretty shabby next to that brush! Great pics!

 

[pdmcadams]

I just received the brush today -- it looks incredible! Since it was the only brush I had, just really hadn't noticed over time how worn it had gotten. I hope Prophetic Joe has a final pic to post as I'm sure my photo skills won't do it justice. If anyone has a favorite brush that needs a new lease on life, I can't recommend PJ highly enough -- quick to respond to PM, good guidance on the restoration, fair price on the work and great quality! Can't wait to shave in the AM. Now I have to track down that brush break in thread...

Cheers!


PDM

 

[Rivguy]

I am sorry for the late post, but I just now ran into this thread. I have this brush as well as several of the mugs. The brush handle and mugs are definitely pewter and thus are a "soft" metal. The others that state that the original brush is soft and floppy are correct to a point. Because any evaluation is subjective, let me offer another view.

I would call it soft and luxurious. The one I have is original and was broken in by me. The knot is about 23mm at the base and 55mm in height. It measures 60mm at the widest part of the bulb. The brush is 105mm in overall height. These measurements were taken with a very good quality caliper by one who knows how to take accurate measurements. (He said modestly) I absolutely love this brush for its luxurious feel and the way it builds lather so richly. It holds plenty of lather for three to four passes. I do not know how to rate the badger hair as to type but it is very beautiful in my view. I agree with all who have commented on the handle. It is truly beautiful. In the interest of full disclosure, I am very partial to pewter items. The brush has an excellent feel with superb balance that makes it a joy to use.

Having said all of the above, let me say that while it is not my favorite brush, that title is currently reserved for my Simpson Ehsan, I do look forward to using it in my regular rotation. It is equally good with soaps as well as creams. I now use it only with RL Safari soap which I find to be very excellent with a scent that in my view is very pleasing. This also satisfies my latent purest streak.

This brush has recently started to shed a hair on occasion which I think may be due to its age. If that continues I will certainly rebuild this beautiful handle.

I hope that the owner of this beautifully restored brush will enjoy it for many years. I noticed that the pictures before restoration showed a considerable amount of scuffing around the top of the handle. This is understandable due to the fact that the matching mug is quite deep. I have solved that problem by inserting a standard NHL hockey puck. Quite fitting, isn't it. The hockey puck is ideal for this application because it is obviously waterproof and should not be adversely affected by sitting in the bottom of the mug. I have used this in other mugs as well. It is a very inexpensive option.

Good luck with your "new" brush.

Happy shaving,

Doug

 

[pdmcadams]

Thanks for the info! Neat trick with the hockey puck -- I'll give that some thought. The current soap is just about gone, so now would be the perfect opportunity. You are correct that the scuffing is from making lather in the deep mug. After the restore, however, I have been much more cautious and make sure that I have a finger between the brush handle and the mug. Doesn't impede my lathering but does keep me from hitting pewter on pewter!

Cheers!

 

[Aberneth]

It's not aluminum, it oxidizes gray/white. Hard to tell from pics but pewter will oxidize dark gray and silver charcoal-black. Could be pewter with silver embossing.

I would tend to agree. The finish and luster of that material look like a high copper pewter to me, and it tends to be harder than a super-tin alloy. The silver though... That's fine detail for silver embossing. That makes me all the more jealous of this brush. Absolutely beautiful! Wonderful restoration work, too.

 

[sid3000]

The Safari product hoarder within me must have this