I got my Semogue 620 roughly a month ago and I've been using it every other day. It's a great brush for the $20 I paid for it, but it seems to just swallow up lather (I have to relather after my first pass). I know it takes a while to break them in, but should my 620 start to hold lather better soon?
Semogue 620 Eating Lather
- Thread starter GilletteSetter
- Start date
In a word, yes. I had the same thing with mine after I bought it I was very underwhelmed and thought how does this brush get such good reviews. Then one day around 5 or 6 weeks after I bought it, I was face lathering with Cella and out of the blue the lather just exploded. That was about a year ago and now it can easily hold enough lather for 3 or 4 passes, not that there is anything wrong with having to go back to the puck to load more I just find I don't have to. It is one of my favourite brushes now and I've found it works best with harder soaps. My advice to you is to stick at it they are excellent brushes but the break in period just takes a bit of patience.
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Normally I washed a brand new natural hair brush either boar or badger with shampoo straight away, this will help to remove any foul smell or any left over when the brush was made from the factory. Also the shampoo help to bring back the natural hair quality feel and to help soften a little bit, and when you face lather always load the brush like you hate it for 45 or 50 second this means you need more product (shaving soap) the more used the brush the more will soften up.
If you're using a hard soap try loading the brush, then stop to wet the tips, then go back and load more soap. I do this about two to three times and it holds enough soap for more than three passes. The brush will get better once broken in.
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- #5
Thanks for the reassurance, guys. It's not that I have a probably with reloading, but I was just surprised by how little the brush has been holding. In the mean time I'll try out what Ruva suggested and wait for that magical moment Nate described haha
I felt the same about my Omega 10005, another inexpensive brush, and I'd need to reload it for a 3 pass shave for the first month or so.
Six months later that same brush easily holds enough lather for a 6 pass shave, and clean ups if I still needed any with my Tech. It amazes me how much lather it will hold and it gives it all back too. If theres any lather in it, it will paint it on my face.
From what I understand, the 620 is an even better brush.
I have the 610 and 820 and I would estimate that each brush took in excess of 50 shaves before it was fully broken in. Both of them now are superb. I'm so pleased that I was patient with them because I came very close to throwing them both away.
Give it more time - it is a wonderful brush and will easily hold enough for three passes plus touch-ups. ISTR mine took a few months before fully breaking in, but it will be worth it.
Yep, it takes awhile to really break in a boar brush! Keep at it and I predict you will be happy with the end result.
I have about 30 lathers on my 610 and feel it’s still improving. Softest boar I have owned for sure.
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- #11
The feel of my 620 is great right now, so I definitely can't wait until I get some more split ends and it starts holding a nice rich lather!
Love the 620. Still in the break in process, but it keeps getting better!
The only problem I've had with my 620 is that when it's dry, the knot can be twisted (rotated) in the handle. Maybe it will fall out one day. It's fine once it's wet though, and does not affect its performance.
This is why I havent bought one. When I heard first of "rattling" knots/handles I did some reading and some have actually fallen out, but it seems fairly common that what the knot itself is embedded into starts to loosen in the acrylic handles.
A rattle like that would drive me nuts lol.
I figure if it falls out in one piece I can just glue it back in.
Either that or replace it with something like a tuxedo synth.
Either that or replace it with something like a tuxedo synth.
Semogue 1250 and 620 are probably most inefficient brushes that I own. I can load these suckers for half an hour, I'm not gonna get more than two passes out of them.
The 1250 has the rattling knot thing. I don't care too much about it, I hope that it will eventually fall, so I will have a reason to throw it away. But I can't rotate it.
Omega 10066 had exactly the same problem right out of the box. I could twist the knot around and it would rattle when shaken. About 400 shaves later, it still rattles and I can still twist it. Still waiting for it to pop.
The 1250 has the rattling knot thing. I don't care too much about it, I hope that it will eventually fall, so I will have a reason to throw it away. But I can't rotate it.
Omega 10066 had exactly the same problem right out of the box. I could twist the knot around and it would rattle when shaken. About 400 shaves later, it still rattles and I can still twist it. Still waiting for it to pop.
Interesting, I have the Semogue 1250 and have not had any issue with it rattling or not holding a lather. I can get 3 passes and it still has some to spare. I do have to load it heavier than my other brushes, but I figured that's the case with boar.
I have the exact same issue. It twists slightly either way but the knot stays put and hasn't shed a hair. Very weird. If the knot does eventually fall out, I hope it comes out properly so I can put it in another handle. Very well broken in and would hate to lose it.
Well... the physics/chemistry says lather = soap + water + air.
So what do you mean by the brush eating lather? Is the lather disappearing? This would be the case of the lather being too loose and drying out (kinda backwards that lather built with too much water dries out quicker). The other thing that could happen is there is leftover soap/cream in the brush that just has not turned into lather. That all said... usually not enough lather is just a result of not enough soap.
So what do you mean by the brush eating lather? Is the lather disappearing? This would be the case of the lather being too loose and drying out (kinda backwards that lather built with too much water dries out quicker). The other thing that could happen is there is leftover soap/cream in the brush that just has not turned into lather. That all said... usually not enough lather is just a result of not enough soap.
My three Semogue boars are the same. It takes quite a bit more soap or cream to produce enough lather for two passes and touchups compared to my badger brushes. I almost gave my 1305 a thorough cleaning after this morning’s shave.
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