Synthetic brush shedding

[Rustyshackelford]

I have used a decent assortment of synthetic brushes in my shaving tenure and have not found shedding bristles to be a common occurrence. I recently replaced a knot in a brush with a new synthetic knot, known for good backbone and high density. Much to my surprise, on about the 5th use or so, nearly a dozen bristles shed from the brush while loading. I contacted the retailer with some concern, and they stated that this is typical of a synthetic brush as dense as this one is, for at least the first 12-15 uses. Has anyone else experienced this with a similar type knot?

(I don’t want to disclose the knot and retailer, as I don’t want to appear to drag their name through the mud and they assured me if I gave it more time and was still not happy they would make it right).

 

[Scott0079]

With synthetics ( I have many) I’ve never had more than a couple loose hairs out on the first shave which were clearly just not glued. Your experience seems not good to me.

 

[Roy]

One of the selling points of synthetics is that the is no shedding. My Mùhle has shed one in a year. I'd say your brush is faulty. Keep using it, keep the shed hairs and contact the seller with evidence.

 

[CJB3]

I have a Chubby 2 synth, which is super dense. It has shed zero bristles since I bought it a year ago. My Muhle shed one hair. The retailer’s story sounds suspect to me.

 

[r0hanxo]

I have had a synthetic shed on me, but on asking the person I got it from he suggested I may be applying a lot of pressure while lathering, the synthetic can take a beating but always use use the tips of the brush and dont force it too much on your face.

Also are you soaking your brush in warm water? If you are soaking the brush in a hot water then the glue can come loose. What i do is I never soak my synthetics just wash them before lathering and for badgers I soak them in lukewarm water for 10 mins and the water level is always just under where the knot meets the handle.

 

[EclipseRedRing]

I can see a couple of loose hairs shedding on first use if they were simply not glued. I would not expect a dozen hairs to shed on the fifth use. Synthetics have a reputation for not shedding generally even under heavy use. I swirl and mash my Chubby 2 quite forcibly when face lathering and it has never shed at all and neither is it developing a donut in the top of the knot. I would send yours back if the shedding continues. Good luck.

 

[Cumberland Sausage]

I've only had one synth which shed four or five bristles over the first few uses. I wasn't terribly happy about it, having had zero shedding issues with other synths, but it has now stopped so I reckon it had just a few improperly glued fibres. If it sheds any more, however, I will take it up with the seller.

 

[ackvil]

Try this and see if it works. Take a comb and run it through the hairs of your brush and do that a number of times. If it continues to shed I believe you have a defective brush. That procedure has been recommended by badger brush makers and it should work with synthetic.

 

[TBoner]

I have never lost a fiber from a synthetic. I used an EJ XL for the better part of five years with nary a hair shed. Same with the Muehle/Rudy Vey knot I've used for much of the last three years. Synbad, Plisson, Razorock Plissoft...no shedding. If it's normal for a particular knot/brand, I'd love to know, so I can avoid buying one.

 

[RichieP]

I’ll lose couple of bristles every now and then but I have 1 brush I’m particular that sometimes loses a lot. I’m guessing the way it was made wasn’t done as well.


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[Rustyshackelford]

I have never lost a fiber from a synthetic. I used an EJ XL for the better part of five years with nary a hair shed. Same with the Muehle/Rudy Vey knot I've used for much of the last three years. Synbad, Plisson, Razorock Plissoft...no shedding. If it's normal for a particular knot/brand, I'd love to know, so I can avoid buying one.

It’s popular knot from a vendor with a good reputation, and they do seem willing to replace, if it continues. I don’t want to share the brand or knot type because this isn’t a gripe or shaming post on the vendor or the product.

I just wanted to get a sampling of data from the experience of other forum members to see if this shedding and the logic behind it makes any sense. If it continues, I’ll get it replaced and post that info at that time if it’s beneficial.

 

[Rustyshackelford]

The knot is set a touch deeper than usual. I don’t soak this knot, just run under warm water for a couple seconds. I’m. It really noticing it losing the fibers when face lathering, they all seem to come loose when loading from the puck... the first big shed was close to a dozen fibers on the 5th shave. The next time I used it, no shedding was observed. The time after that I lost another 4 fibers when loading again...

Sounds like this isn’tvery common, but it also doesn’t mean the knot is a dud all together.... yet. We will see...

Thanks all to quick variety of responses!

 

[Badger in the Sun]

I've probably used a few dozen different synthetics. I've had a loose hair every once in a great while. But nothing like what you've described, even during the early lathers.

 

[Timeclo]

Most synthetics shed 2-3 hairs for me. I had one synthetic that shed around 20 hairs initially and nothing afterwards. It could be that there were a lot of loose hairs but 5th use is a bit concerning. I'd keep using it and document the shedding. It could be a QC issue.

 

[Hachet]

I own about 30+ synthetics. They only ever occasionally shed a fiber. It's rare and I've noticed that about half the time it happens, it's not a whole fiber, meaning I broke it off being too rough with it. The most any synthetic brush has ever shed for me at once was two fibers. I almost never see shed fibers from my synthetics. Most of my synthetics are cheap and Chinese.

 

[Ed Gcom]

I agree with the consensus here. My synths seldom, if ever, shed even one strand. Defects happen, that’s why good vendors make things right.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

My Kent Infinity went through a phase of shedding a while ago, but seems to have stopped now. I lost maybe one or two hairs every other shave, for about 10-15 shaves. Not lost a single bristle from my Maggards 22mm synth. I'm not worried. I used to use boar brushes, so I'm used to having to pick out stray bristles every now and again.

 

[Kyle89]

My synthetic has only lost 1 bristle, and I’ve had it for a long time and I’m hard on it

 

[Rustyshackelford]

I’m arranging a replacement knot from the vendor. The report of continued shedding prompted them to offer a replacement.