Semogue OC boar sponges up lather

[masuar]

Hi all,

When I first bought this brush like 5 years ago it took a while to break in, but once it did, it was a pleasure to use. Like one year ago, suddenly it stopped working properly, and began to eat lather like hell. Hairs properties changed dramatically, and wasn't holding lather even for a first pass, and hairs were getting like "compacted" in bunches (see pics).

I washed it with vinegar (50%) and no changes. I left it soaking in distilled water a whole night, and no changes. I've tried with different soaking times before lathering, and still a huge lather eater. I am running out of ideas. Btw, I always face lather and never use any pre-shave or similar. Any clues?

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[SpeedyPC]

Normally I wash the boar brush with shampoo to bring back the natural boar hair, also how long did you soak the brush for before you start lathering and it looks like you need more product means more soap?

 

[masuar]

I already tried the shampoo wash, with no success... I tried soaking different times... starting fron one min, to 15 - 20 min, but no changes. More product? I barely think you can have more product into there, it feels kind of clogged.

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[SpeedyPC]

How long have you had this brush for in your den.

Edit:- never mind your first topic say you've had this brush for 5 years, if I understood this correctly

 

[masuar]

For 5 years, with two years of continuous happy use, and then one more year of less frequent use until getting as it is like now, wasted. Then in a drawer until a week ago that I decided to give it a shot. In these 5 years I switched house (and country) two times, so different water qualities.

No one saw a brush with similar look?

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[SpeedyPC]

All I can say is very strange and I have no idea, let wait and see what's the others has to say about this issue.

 

[Cino]

Are you shaving with mayonnaise? That lather looks odd to me. Did you change soaps or water?

 

[masuar]

Hi,

Yeah, I changed water (living in different countries) and soaps. Also, I can say that I use other three brushes (a Simpsons best badger, a SOC two band, and a Semogue 820) and they work perfectly with my soaps and water. I would say is something related with the hair. I found at least one similar case in a local forum a few years ago, with no solution to the problem.

Quite weird. And quite a pitty.

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[Macfrommichigan]

Less water. Do not soak at all. Try using the brush almost dry, with just a tiny bit of water on the tips only. Then slowly add only enough water to whip up lather.

 

[HouseOfChains]

Have you tried doing a bowl lather and see how that goes? Perhaps you're using too much water with that soap? IDK, you're guess is as good as mine. I would do like Macfrommicgian says and try using less water and don't soak to see what results you get.
I find my Semgoue OC boar does not like certain soaps. I have a hell of a time getting a lather with my Col Conk Lime and Ogallala soap with my SOC boar. However these two soaps lather fine with my Vulfix badger and SOC two band badger.

 

[masuar]

Have you tried doing a bowl lather and see how that goes? Perhaps you're using too much water with that soap? IDK, you're guess is as good as mine. I would do like Macfrommicgian says and try using less water and don't soak to see what results you get.
I find my Semgoue OC boar does not like certain soaps. I have a hell of a time getting a lather with my Col Conk Lime and Ogallala soap with my SOC boar. However these two soaps lather fine with my Vulfix badger and SOC two band badger.

Well, I tried not soaking at all, and also bowl lather, and still the same. Comparing my two boar Semogues, I realized than the hairs look completely different:

The 820 hair looks less splayed, more dense, and with more backbone. Could be that the SOC hair is deteriorated? My last try consisted on using a plastic clamp on the base of the knot, so hairs are less splayed:

Surprisingly, the behavior improved a lot. Now hairs are not getting splayed that hard, and eats up way less lather:

Having said that, lathering with it is not as nice as before anyway. I believe that life is too short for a bad brush, so I will buy another one. Any recommendations on a good boar brush in Europe?

Thank you for your suggestions, gents.

Kind regards,

Mauri.

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[JimC]

Hi all,

When I first bought this brush like 5 years ago it took a while to break in, but once it did, it was a pleasure to use. Like one year ago, suddenly it stopped working properly, and began to eat lather like hell. Hairs properties changed dramatically, and wasn't holding lather even for a first pass, and hairs were getting like "compacted" in bunches (see pics).

I washed it with vinegar (50%) and no changes. I left it soaking in distilled water a whole night, and no changes. I've tried with different soaking times before lathering, and still a huge lather eater. I am running out of ideas. Btw, I always face lather and never use any pre-shave or similar. Any clues?

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[JimC]

More soap...less water.....and work it in!

 

[Macfrommichigan]

Well, I tried not soaking at all, and also bowl lather, and still the same. Comparing my two boar Semogues, I realized than the hairs look completely different:

The 820 hair looks less splayed, more dense, and with more backbone. Could be that the SOC hair is deteriorated? My last try consisted on using a plastic clamp on the base of the knot, so hairs are less splayed:

Surprisingly, the behavior improved a lot. Now hairs are not getting splayed that hard, and eats up way less lather:

Having said that, lathering with it is not as nice as before anyway. I believe that life is too short for a bad brush, so I will buy another one. Any recommendations on a good boar brush in Europe?

Thank you for your suggestions, gents.

Kind regards,

Mauri.

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IMO the 610 is much better than the 820.

 

[SmurfK]

Any recommendations on a good boar brush in Europe?

Omega 10066 or any Omega in that size range.

 

[LovingLather]

Shot in the dark but any chance some kind of pre-shave oil gunked it up?

 

[HouseOfChains]

I was thinking about how you let the brush dry. When I’m done flicking the water out of the brush I do a “invisible” lather and swirl the brush only hand so the hairs don’t stick together. If you think about how your hairs dries when you don’t comb it you can maybe apply the same logic to your brush.
My wife uses a boar brush in the shower and doesn’t swirl in on her hand and it dries like how your brush looks with the lather in it. Make sense?
Am I on to something here? Anyone find the same thing?


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[Al Bundy]

To the OP

Out of curiosity what was the last soap you used before putting it in the draw and the first when you began re using it?

I ask because I've had something similar happen to me following using an olive oil based soap (see link to thread below)

Why can I only lather this soap with synthetic brush?

As well as being a lather killer I'm beginning to think olive oil may be a brush killer too!

 

[jr_vi]

I have a SOC boar also. It behaves similarly to yours. The lather is runny and wet, especially compared to my SOC badger. I have been running out a Tabac soap, and alternating the brushes, so have been able to compare them. I am going to try less water to see what happens.

 

[heyello]

Are you shaving with mayonnaise? That lather looks odd to me. Did you change soaps or water?

This is a bit of an old thread, but i just wanted to bring it back to let you know the mayo comment cracked me up, probably more than it should have.

Since I'm here though, I might as well mention that my 830 had a similar issue. Once it broke in it became floppy, and couldn't build much of a lather. I stopped using it for several months, I came back to it recently and stopped the soaking process before the shave, and it seems to be working quite well now.

I did mistreat it though, causing it to shed a ton, and break bristles as well. My solution to this was to buy an SOC boar, it gets here later today and I can't wait to give it a whirl!