soc 2-band scratchy?

[Galhatz]

My other 2-band is a tgn knot in a restored handle and the tips are a soft as can be. This one is nothing like it. I love the handle, the backbone and the flow but it is on the scratchy side, at least for me.
are these supposed to break-in over time?

 

[shanman]

The SOC 2 band and TGN 2 band are not even close as you have clearly seen. Both great knots, but different. The SOC 2 band is Semogue's Finest and does impart some scritch that will calm with use and usually ease down to a pleasant scrub. I have the SOC 2 band in cherry, and I love it- at first I did not but I kept at it and it is a very satisfying brush now.

 

[Larsson_Power]

My SOC 2-band was as scritchy as can be, gave it to a friend whos like it.

 

[breadstick]

I bought my SOC on the B/S/T mostly broken in and it's heaven every time I use it. I'm considering buying another just in case anything happens to it. It's a treat to use every time and I don't ever want to be without it.

 

[Vivasanti]

they DO soften up eventually

 

[Galhatz]

Thanks for the encouragement. I decided to speed things up and lather it a few times a day. I have a $1 plastic salsa dish from the supermarket I sometimes use for bowl lathering. It's surface is not completely smooth so it gives a little scrub to those scrubby tips. I see them starting to ''hook'' here and there and after a few days of this treatment it is coming along nicely. I used it today and it was a lot more fun.
The feel reminds me of my Duke 2 in best, only bigger with much better handle.
Here's from today's shave with the trusty Ever Ready 1914.

 

[Greg1911]

Mine never seemed scratchy.

i think some guys just have wimpy faces

 

[Nick Danger]

I'm usually pretty sensitive when it comes to scritchy brushes. My first pure badger brush was far too rough on my face.

However, I don't find my new SOC 2-band to be scritchy - meaning it isn't prickly and sharp feeling on my skin. It's slightly scrubby, which means I feel it doing a touch of exfoliating and sometimes it briefly leaves my skin a tiny bit red, like when I use any exfoliating face wash. The redness passes almost immediately, and I'm getting some of my best shaves ever. The SOC 2-band really primes my whiskers, and I end up with a BBS shave every time. Plus, the few small pimples on my face have cleared up, probably because I'm getting that extra bit of exfoliation.

Is it as soft as a luxury silvertip? No, but I don't like super soft, floppy brushes. I like a lot of backbone that can tear right into the hardest soap, yet with tips soft enough that I don't feel like I'm shaving with a hairbrush. The SOC 2-band is just about perfect in all respects for me, including having the most comfortable handle of any brush I've tried.

Nick