Simpson Manchurian behaving strangely

[Kyle89]

Hey all! New to Manchurian but not new to Simpson (double digit collection at this point). Picked up a Duke 3 LE a couple months back and have been using it primarily to break it in. One thing I've noticed- after about 25 uses it's still shedding at least 5 (usually more) hairs per shave. Sometimes they're from the base of the knot, other times it seems like the tips break off. I"ve never had this happen with any brush (let alone had a Simpson shed like this). I'm not too worried about it though as they say this could happen up to about 50 shaves, so I'll stick with it for now and see if it stops.

Here's the strange thing though, and I'm asking if this is normal or not. Once the brush dries after rinsing it very thoroughly after a shave, the bristles get HARD and brittle. Is this normal? I don't have any pictures/video of how weirdly hard and clumpy the hairs get because I did a dilute vinegar soak yesterday which softened things up, but next time I use it I'll show what I'm talking about.

Is their Manchurian variant just quirky and weird like that? Thanks.

 

[brucered]

My Simpson M7 Mancurian from mid 2010's gets crunchy when dry. As do a few of my Rooney/M&F (gel tip).

 

[Multum in parvo]

Crunchy and clumped tips usually point towards gelling but that would be against all Simpsons and especially against their Manchurian grade.

Mine (Duke D3) was a bit scritchy on the first 10-15 shaves but this went away. Total hairs lost ~5-10. I can take a pic of it when I'm back home to show you how it looks dry.

If the brush is older than one year you might have issues replacing it so get in touch with them early if you feel uncomfortable.

 

[Kyle89]

Yeah crunchy describes it perfectly, and interesting on how that's a quality of gelled tips. Is that a thing they do now?

 

[brucered]

Yeah crunchy describes it perfectly, and interesting on how that's a quality of gelled tips. Is that a thing they do now?

I'll try to remember to take a pic of mine. It's not Ronney Gel feel, but I believe the tips are "hooked" a bit when dry.

Mine is from 2013 or so.

 

[Rudy Vey]

This is not normal shedding if it loses 5+ hairs each in the 25+ shaves; maybe a total of 5-10 during the break in would be OK, but not more. I have two Simpson Manchurians and they do not show any sign of clumping/drying crunchy. This is normally a sign of altered hair, I have a couple brushes, a Declaration Grooming, a Varlet and a Oumo that do this. The Varlet the least, and the Oumo is the most. Natural hair may show some clumping/sticking together after years of use as the hair tips will get thinner and may split, tips getting hooked etc - have a couple brushes that doing this now, but it took several years of use.

 

[Multum in parvo]

@Kyle89 last usage June 5th

 

[brucered]

@Multum in parvo No need to post my pic, that's what mine does too. Similar to how Rudy described.

 

[Kyle89]

Thanks for the info guys. I'll give it another spin very soon and post some pictures but it does seem like my knot has some issues. Lovely brush though which is a shame. I think I'll give it a few more uses before I make a decision on how to proceed. In the meantime I'll wait for the brush to dry again and post a photo.

 

[Kyle89]

I guess my brush caught wind of me making this thread because I lost like 20 hairs just in the bowl when lathering. Didn't even end up using it. This knot is toast.

Mods- you can close this thread.

 

[Barbarian80]

I have one Simpson in Manchurian grade and the hairs don't clump together when the brush dries. Its hard to say but the picture of your knot looks like those hairs have been treated beyond what you would buy from Simpson. Looks like a good amount of the tips are keeled over like a gelled/treated knot. Did you buy this knot from Simpson or from a third party?

 

[Alex Jr]

My Berkeley loses 1 or 2 hairs every shave, I don’t think they are from the base of the knot though. They’re thin and seem fragile.

I’m not sure I’ve passed the 50 shaves mark with it, but I’ve been using it for some time.

 

[Cino]

I have several Simpson Manchurians; some are crunchy, some are not. The crunchy knots are softer while the non crunchy are scrubbier. I've had two that lost a couple of hairs or more with each shave but settled down within 20 or so shaves. One still loses a hair or two but it's still relatively new. Five hairs per shave after 25 shaves seems excessive.