Soap Destroyer

[Chuck Sirloin]

Hello - I'm relatively new to shaving with a brush. The only brush I'd known until recently was my synthetic Jack Black brush, and I was pretty good at wielding it. Recently, I bought a Semogue 620 (or somthing like that), and while I like the scrubbiness of the brush, I find something odd about it.

With my super-soft JB brush, 60 seconds of loading my Harris or Mike's soaps yielded enough lather for 4-5 passes, easy - and it barely seemed to make a dent in the puck. With the boar, however, a 60-second load yields enough lather for only 1-2 passes... yet it demolishes the puck! Where is all the soap going? I don't get it...

 

[Kostas1]

It hides in the bristles...waiting to attack when you least expect it.

My 830 seems to be doing the same thing lately.

 

[beginish]

How many shaves do you have on that Semogue? It can take 20-30 latherings before a boar is fully broken in.

 

[Emanon]

Maybe your brush is too dry. Actually brush and soap. I have a 620 and I can see my Mikes wearing down but I never used mikes before so I have nothing to go by as how fast or how slow his soaps go. But I get plenty of lather and my brush loads pretty fast and heavily. Maybe your loading too dry and with too much pressure?

 

[Chuck Sirloin]

I probably only have a dozen shaves on the boar... so I agree that it's not fully broken in. I may have to finish the breaking-in period with a soap that I don't care for, though. My hungry new boar devours too much of my Harris and Mike's!

 

[Dusty1]

Yeah, you will have that with a boar before its broken in. Try loading for 20 seconds before each pass until its broken in. The lather will disappear between passes.

 

[rand77]

I gave up boar for the same reason, I had a Semogue 2000 that just didn't lather up my soaps with the same volume as a good badger brush. I chalked it up to a lack of density + low water retention properties of a boar. I could get 2-3 conservative passes worth of lather tops with the boar (tops). and I'm pretty sure its broken in (lathered ~20 times).

It does seem to agitate the soap puck very well, not sure what I'm doing wrong.

 

[Emanon]

Even before I switched to a Boar brush I had read that Boar brushes were better for soap. It made sense since soaps are somewhat harder than cream.

 

[beginish]

Even before I switched to a Boar brush I had read that Boar brushes were better for soap. It made sense since soaps are somewhat harder than cream.

In my experience, that's an old wives' tale. Badgers lather soaps just as well as boars. The only catch is that you have to experiment a bit with each brush to dial them in for the best performance. That goes for brushes of the same type as well. One boar does not necessarily lather the same as another. But that's just part of the fun of this hobby.

 

[Emanon]

I used cream for shaving until only recently when I switched to soap so I really have nothing to compare to. When I switched to soap I also switched to Boar but that was more about face feel than anything to do with soap really. But I haven't had any problems lathering with the Boar brush. I've used VDH, Mama Bear and now Mike's Natural and all have lathered well with the boar. I get plenty of lather and it lasts 3 passes plus.
But I never used a badger on soap so like I said, I have nothing to compare to. But right now it's workin' so I ain't gonna try and fix it.

 

[takeshi]

Even before I switched to a Boar brush I had read that Boar brushes were better for soap. It made sense since soaps are somewhat harder than cream.

Like any sweeping, generalization it's oversimplifying the matter. I find my badger to be better for soap. As with any subjective matter, YMMV but don't just blindly follow "boars for soap, badgers for cream". I mainly use triple milled soaps and find them easier to lather with my badgers though I've never had problems lathering with badgers or boars. Ease of lather isn't the primary reason I'm a badger user.

Boars and badgers differ and people's preferences differ. What's better or worse depends more on the person than the brush. No one brush suits everyone.

 

[Mandina]

I've had the same problem with an Omega boar (10065), compared with my always wonderfully performing Muhle HJM black fibre brush. The Omega boar should be decently broken in by now, but, face lathering with a wide variety of soaps and loading with a damp brush for 60+ seconds, its lather commonly becomes quite thin by the second and third passes. In contrast, the Muhle HJM delivers 3+ passes of thick, rich lather, even with MWF and Pre de Provence.

 

[athair]

I've only had that happen when I didn't soak my boar brush. The bristles WILL absorb water, and soap along with it if they aren't pre-soaked.