Should I try the Turkish brush #6?
- Thread starter smballer
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It is "fun." Very capable of flinging lather. Not as narrow as an antique, but not dense enough to meet modern standards. That makes it both broomy and comfortable, quick to break in and not prone to destroy lather with excess water in the fibers. No quality deficiencies other than initial smell and minor cosmetics. I trimmed the ring with an Xacto knife, and filled the punch hole in the handle bottom with a dab of superglue.
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- #3
From a small pink horse. Oink oink.
I have no basis for judgment. If there are hairs on a horse that are pretty much exactly like boar, though... this would be made of those.
Turkish brushes are often represented as horse-hair. It is widely rumored that they are actually boar. The makers and sellers allegedly lie and say they are horse-hair because most Turks would not buy or use them knowing they are from swine. It is well-known that pork is forbidden in Islam, but furthermore swine are seen as symbolic of defilement so any products made from them would be unappealing. Some people who claim to know their livestock attest the brushes are boar, and some enthusiastic equestrians attest they are indeed horse. Circumstantially, you can surmise that there are horse farms in Turkey, whereas there is but one pig farm, so if they are boar then the fibers would have to be imported and would therefore be expensive. DNA testing would settle the guesswork once and for all but no one wants to take on the expense. As inexpensive as the brushes are, you can always just buy one, take your chances, and at worst your collection would have a boar brush masquerading as horse.
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- #8
I have one, but my only other brush is a body shop synthetic so I can't compare it to other boars/horses. It does an ok job, I guess, I like it so far, but I'm thinking about grabbing either an omega or semogue boar to try.
I don't think this is true. From my knowledge, in Turkey, the consumption of pork mean or the growing of pork is not forbidden by constitution, like it is in Iran, Pakistan or Saudi Arabia. Not common meat to find in all grocery stores, as it's not consumed by biggest part of population, but you find it in hotels or stores oriented forward tourists.
But anyway, most bristles come from China anyway. There is no need of a farm for it, as long as they can get it cheap, already cut and prepared for brush making.
Those brushes surely look like boar. Hairs are thick and they split just like boar ones do. Just ordered one, will post my impressions about it when it arrives, but don't expect much for the price.
The Turkish #6 "Horse Hair" is a decent brush for the price, and worth a try if you're intrigued. If you'd like a "True" Horse Hair, Gifts & Care does have the widest selection, and you can change the loft to your desired height in the comments box at checkout. If you buy more than one Horse Hair, specify the Model # with each requested adjustment.
You may find this useful before your first purchase of a Vie-Long Horse Hair http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...e-Long-El-Caballo-Español-(The-Spanish-horse)
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- #14
Never had that problem with any of my V-L's, but they are handmade and a defective knot can occasionally sneak through. Their Horse/Badgers are very good brushes as well, makes for a nice change from Badger, Boar or Horses.
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- #16
Actually the Natural Whites are unbleached, I'd guess from Horses with White Hair, and I'm not trying to be a smartypants. I couldn't find a 14030, but if it was the 14033M, the former has a 24mm knot and the latter a 20mm knot. Honestly I found the handle on the 12601 too small with a rough seam, not as well made IMO.
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As i was saying, ordered, received the brush yesterday. Not what i was expecting, and in a good way.
The build quality is actually great, having in mind the price. No glue around the loft, as i saw in some pictures. They stated on the website that the product have been revisited and the quality improved. Was not expecting it to be so nicely build, for a $3 brush.
Now, regarding the whole "is it boar? is it horse?" thing, my theory is that is either boar or mixed. The hairs have the same aspect as boar ones. Only had Vie-Long 50/50 ratio, 12705B, white one, and, those bristles looked nothing like these. Now, why do i say that it might be mixed? Because it's soft. Much softer than my Omega 10066. This might be due the fact that the Turkish brush is not so densely packed.
Now, about the performance. The bristles are cut, so, you get a little scratch, at least i got on my first two uses. Will give it time to break in. I suspect it will ameliorate over the time. There is not much backbone going on, but it's fine. Now, despite the fact that it's not so densely packed as my Omega 10066, it actually managed to hold more lather that the Omega. I went for 3 passes without any problem with my Turkish #6, while, with Omega, on last pass, with the same Proraso green, i was adding a little more shaving cream.
The handle it's from wood, lacquered. I find it being a little slippery sometimes, with soap on it, but it's fine. The lacquer will probably start roughing up after few uses.
What more can i say... I'm really impressed, so, my response for the OP questions is that he should definitely try it! Hard to go wrong for the price. At $5, shipping included, you can find some bad brushes, that can only hold lather for a single pass, and they feel awful too.
