What's new

Semogue 620 issue

I am having an issue with my 620, and I'm sure this has been discussed before, but I thought I would throw this out there again. The issue is the brush not holding enough lather. I find that I almost always have to reload after the second pass. This is not that big a deal I suppose, but it just irks me.

I don't want to get rid of this brush because I LOVE it otherwise - it is super soft, has good backbone, feels great in the hand, and has excellent control when face lathering. Any advice, or should I just quit whining and deal with it?
 
How new is the brush? Performance will improve as it breaks in. The 620 is not a terribly large brush but you should be able to load more than enough soap for 3 passes.
 
My 620 experience: Very long break in. Scrubby! Then it went all floppy after a year or so. Moved on to the 610. Better in every way.

Clean it with Dawn.

Now, is it retaining lather, not releasing it? Or, is it not lathering well because you need more product? Are you only using one soap? Try a different type to see if results are the same. Are you soaking? Try wetting only the tips!

Good luck, sir.
 
So to respond to everyones' helpful replies, the brush is fairly new - I picked it up in January of this year, and admittedly, it doesn't get a heck of a lot of game time as I am mainly a synthetic user. It has probably been used 15-20 times. I feel like it is plenty soft now, but perhaps it has some more breaking in to do.

I have not shampooed it, so I will try that and see if that helps. I don't think it is a problem of the brush holding on to the lather, there just simply isn't that much lather remaining when I go for my third pass. I can squeeze all of the lather out of the knot, and there isn't much there. I have used it on everything from triple milled soaps to soft croaps, and I have also tried increasing my load time, but I end up with the same results. Hopefully the shampoo and the further break in time will solve the issue.

Thanks guys for your input.
 
I have the same issue with my semogue 1250, which I've had for over a year now. When new it would hold enough lather for 3 passes. Since it has broken in it has become floppy and holds only enough for 2 passes. I tried loading more soap but it didn't help. I gave up and now load more soap as needed.
 
When I use a shave stick I can't get any boar brush to give me a second pass. Boars are good for one pass only when using a stick. For me anyway.
 
You need to break it in more. Mine got real nice at about 40 shaves in.
Now it holds enough for three passes no problem
 
there just simply isn't that much lather remaining when I go for my third pass. I can squeeze all of the lather out of the knot, and there isn't much there. I have used it on everything from triple milled soaps to soft croaps, and I have also tried increasing my load time, but I end up with the same results.

IMO, no need to wash it if you've only used it 15-20 times. It's still brand new. If anything, you'll probably just make the bristles more thirsty if you use dish soap at this current stage.

Three things to take into consideration:

- Based on my experience, a 50mm lofted Semogue is not the best option for 3 passes or more. You could successfully use it for 3 passes, but only after it has fully broken-in and even then, you'd still be stretching it. If I wanted to have a 3-pass shave, I'd personally chose another brush (but YMMV). These days, I only do 2.5 passes and my broken-in Semogue 610 achieves that fairly easily.

- As mentioned in the post above, you probably just need to double the amount lathers until it performs adequately (it will get better after 30-40 uses). The Pantene theory rings true with Semogue boar brushes - "It won't happen overnight, but it will happen".

- Unlike synthetic, boar does absorb lather & water. As a result, you'll need to load more product and I also recommend you leave a bit more water in your brush (More water will also help the bristles stay hydrated during the longer loading process). I'm not sure how much longer you are loading, but try loading 3 or 4x as long to begin with and then just play it by ear by reducing the amount of time you load as it breaks-in over time. Personally, I never follow any 20 second or 30 second loading rule. I load for as long as it takes and only stop loading after the bristles look to have enough soap.
 
You can break it in very quickly using the old fashioned quick dry technique - based on the old muslin / open fire trick.

Modern version :

1) Soak in cold water for 30 minutes
2) work hair conditioner into the backbone (leaving the tips clear).
3) shielding the bristles with your hand dry just the tips with a hair dryer on the highest hottest setting. Make sure the body of the bristles don't warm up.
4) Soak the brush in cold water for a further 30 minutes and repeat the hair dryer trick.
5) rinse the brush thoroughly.

Boar bristles behave like human hair and absorb water. Like human hair, if you hydrate and dry rapidly the tips will split and feather. This creates a softer feal and more surface area from which to build lather.

Semogue use particularly absorbant bristles. They have a tendency to absorb and retain soap which over time causes lather problems and loft collapse. If you work conditioner into the sterns it keeps seal and strengthen the bristles.
proxy.php
 
Top Bottom