semogue 620 troubleshooting

[freeze205]

Hi all,

I have a Semogue 620 over a year now in my rotation so it is well broken in by now. I bought it after reading so many great reviewsabout it here on b&b as a facelathering brush.
It's supposed to be a real lather machine but I typically get barely 3 passes out of it. And the third pass is usually rather thin.
I have 2 other boar brushes, a no name cheapo and the turkish no. 6 horse hair which is actually boar. These are both very cheap brushes but till now they outperform the 620 which seems odd to me.
I have tried loading with a wet brush, a dry brush, long soaking and short soaking but the results more or less are the same. I always expected this brush to produce lather for a whole army but I'm having trouble getting there. I must be doing something wrong...
How do you guys lather up your 620? Any recommendations or help is greatly appreciated.

 

[oldtrout]

It is no crime to revisit the software between passes.

 

[Doryferon]

I have a Semogue 620 over a year now in my rotation so it is well broken in by now. I bought it after reading so many great reviewsabout it here on b&b as a facelathering brush.
It's supposed to be a real lather machine but I typically get barely 3 passes out of it. And the third pass is usually rather thin.

Same here
I am still in break-in period but after the second pass no matter how hard i load it "it's running out of gas"
The third pass is always in paint moves that i don't like.
I have use it in bowl and in face lather but suits me for face lathering.

 

[Moondancer]

More product. The only times I've had your problem with my 620 was when I went light on the soaps / creams.

 

[Foyle]

The 620 has a fairly short loft. Boars with longer lofts tend to hold more lather. I found the 620 would hold enough lather for three passes, but the lather on the third pass was not as abundant as it was with something like a 1305. That being said, load up on the soap. It may help.

 

[cugel]

My first question would be, how was the shave? If it was good then why not just use more soap or re-lather?

 

[Okla1911]

My daily driver is the 610. Load for a 40 count....

 

[freeze205]

Reloading a brush doesn't really appeal to me, feels kinda like cheating.
With all my other brushes I can manage a 3 pass shave with just loading once. I assume it should be possible with a 620 too.
I could try loading more but I feel I'm already exaggerating this, compared to other brushes.
Only thing I haven't tried yet is a brush cleaning. I should probably give that a try and see if it helps anything.

 

[jsj_297]

Well if reloading is cheating, than load it up for bear the first time!

 

[not4pr0phet]

I have the same problem with my 1460 (same sized knot) and have always assumed it to be because of the short loft. I look at it as a trade off. The same characteristics that make it my favorite face lathering brush, the short bore bristles with well worn tips, also prevent it from holding huge amounts of lather.

 

[Doryferon]

My SOC in bowl lather
2 minutes soak and 1 minute load with La Toja.
In the 3rd pass i had lather for painting moving but not for swirling.



That brush does not love circular moves.

 

[Mugwhamp]

Same here with 9 months using the 620. I do 3.5 passes, but I'm forced to reload every time after the 2nd pass if I want proper lather, which is not the case with my taller Parker black badger. I'm thinking the 830 might be more up my alley for the number of passes I do. What do you think?

 

[dpm802]

I have a 620 and find that it holds enough lather for 2 passes, which is my norm.

True, it doesn't hold as much lather as most of my other brushes, but I don't think that is much of a problem. As others have said, if you need more, just reload after the 1st or 2nd pass.

I usually keep the 620 in the shower stall, and use it as an exfoliator and pre-shave treatment. Sometimes I add a shaving cream, sometimes just with water. The 620 is scritchier than I normally like, so that's why its not part of my daily rotation.

My next Semogue purchase will probably a 610. Same size as the 620 with a softer, fuller knot. In the meantime, I'm using a Semogue Custom 2010 blond boar ... I wish I could track down specs of the knot, I'm not sure what grade of bristle it has. All I know is it took a really long time to break in, but its nice and soft now with plenty of backbone.

 

[mata777]

The 620, in my experience, holds enough lather for a 3 pass shave with a bit of surplus for touch ups using only one loading. As other have mentioned load heavy, more than you thing is good enough. What soap are you using?

 

[Mugwhamp]

The 620, in my experience, holds enough lather for a 3 pass shave with a bit of surplus for touch ups using only one loading. As other have mentioned load heavy, more than you thing is good enough. What soap are you using?

Currently rotating the three Prorasos, Cella, Parker Sandalwood and Shea Butter, Speick stick and cream. I load 60 swirls using Marco's Method.

 

[kyles]

My daily driver is the 610. Load for a 40 count....

I have a 610 on the way this week. How do you like yours? Any tips? I already have the 830, but was wanting to try the shorter loft of the 610... plus some moron was giving it away on ebay for 10 bucks....like i'm not gonna jump on that deal!

 

[kyles]

Same here with 9 months using the 620. I do 3.5 passes, but I'm forced to reload every time after the 2nd pass if I want proper lather, which is not the case with my taller Parker black badger. I'm thinking the 830 might be more up my alley for the number of passes I do. What do you think?

I love my 830, but you still need to load heavy for 3 passes.... however, the SOC boar gives 3 passes easily once broken in...

 

[williabe]

I have two 620 and a 1438 Semogue brush. They started to hit their stride after 5-6 lathers. As other have stated, load heavier. I use these brushes in a regular rotation and have enough to provide a 3 pass shave. I think Semogue "Extra-Tops" is their best grade after the "Premium" in the SOC boar.

 

[mata777]

Currently rotating the three Prorasos, Cella, Parker Sandalwood and Shea Butter, Speick stick and cream. I load 60 swirls using Marco's Method.

I have tried the Marco method many times with no success, my lather comes out airy and too thin (not saying it dosen't work for others). Be it a badger or boar I like to start on the damp side and add water little by little to get the lather to my liking.

 

[Fiend606]

Soak really well, at least 10 minutes during break in. Some relatively new Semogues(Less than 90 uses) can be tough to get the Foundation Channel wet/broken in and sometimes an air bubble gets trapped in there so the brush doesn't hold lather well or seems to eat lather. Try soaking the brush for 10 minutes, pumping it under water a few times to get locked air bubbles out and then run water into the Foundation channel from the faucet to make sure its nice and wet. Nothing hotter than luke warm at first. Load it like heavy. You should be able to just use the brush normally once it has 90+ uses on it. I'm using an 830 for the last 6 months and its still breaking in and evolving. Its a completely different brush about every month or so since I got it. Like everything else though, YMMV.

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