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Synthetic versus Badger

Phoenixkh

I shaved a fortune
I still have a few synths... I sold the rest... and I thinned out my boars too... and one wonderful badger was sold... I have a smaller, but very enjoyable brush group.
 

Rudy Vey

Shaving baby skin and turkey necks
I nearly use exclusively badgers. However, my preferred brush for travel was/is a synthetic (a small 19 mm Muehle knot in one of my handles), big benefit is that this little guy is good for facelather and dries in a few hours. Im traveled a lot prior to Covid and this was my most used brush.
There a many synthetics out, and it seems to me every few months a new variation comes out, sometimes only a new color of the fibers. I have a few synthetics - a Simpson Chubby 2 when they first came out with synthetics, a Shavemac - first one in the USA and a Muehle with the 25 mm STF knot, and some with the Plisson knots - from all of these, the Muehle is the only one I use regularly as it is for me the most similar to badger. But as I always say, this is my personal choice, others have their own preferences. Brushes, even synthetics, are a very subjective topic.
 

Phoenixkh

I shaved a fortune
Rudy, I just love the Amboyna Burl handle you turned for me..... I like the STF knot... but I still prefer my Manchurian badgers... My wife is loving it for her shaving needs.... she doesn't like the feel of badgers. They aren't quite soft enough for her liking. I'm glad it's being used.. it's such a lovely brush.
 
These days I use a variety of different kinds of brush and I don’t really have a preference. There are differences of course but I couldn’t say which I enjoy more, which performs best for me, or even which I prefer visually. I like them all - at least the good ones of each type.

I’ve even started to dabble in Zenith horse hair brushes and I like those too - the 100% mane hair knots are very soft and floppy and synthetic-like in feel, and the 50/50 mane / tail hair knots have more backbone and slight (pleasant) scritch but also a soft overall feel. It’s just something different and they work really well too.
 
I don't think it's good to strictly limit yourself on one kind of brush. I most prefer my unbleached Zenith boar, it has a big long knot, whips up lather and doesn't eat it, it's soft on the face, it's just so enjoyable. However, on some days I don't feel like soaking the brush or bowl lathering so I take my T2 synthetic and do a quick shave. I'm currently waiting for my Vie-long horse brush to arrive, I want to try that too.
That being said, I don't think there is need to have 20 brushes, having a couple of each type is more than enough so don't fall into the hole.
 

Phoenixkh

I shaved a fortune
I don't think it's good to strictly limit yourself on one kind of brush. I most prefer my unbleached Zenith boar, it has a big long knot, whips up lather and doesn't eat it, it's soft on the face, it's just so enjoyable. However, on some days I don't feel like soaking the brush or bowl lathering so I take my T2 synthetic and do a quick shave. I'm currently waiting for my Vie-long horse brush to arrive, I want to try that too.
That being said, I don't think there is need to have 20 brushes, having a couple of each type is more than enough so don't fall into the hole.
I feel more relaxed now that I have reduced my brush count by 7. I have some boars I doubt I'll use but they are so inexpensive, it doesn't make sense to sell them.. and giving them away would cost me far more than placing an order and having it shipped as a gift to someone. It isn't that they are bad brushes either. I'm sure they'd be fine. It's just that for a boar brush, I enjoy the bleached and unbleached Zenith brushes more than the other ones I have. I did the same thing with razors. I parted with 10 razors I had accumulated. I fell into that hole and ordered, in my own opinion, too many at once. In the meantime, I found 6, soon to be 7, razors that all give me 12 hour shaves. Those are going to be my mainstay. I don't have a favorite among them, at this point. That could change over time and when I get Wolfman, all bets are off. <eg>

Truth be told, I don't think the Wolfman will trump my other razors. I think I'll end up liking each one for its own personality. I think it will be like a great group discussion where all parties contribute and all learn from each other. We have those here in various threads. We all learn from each other.
 
Once my two remaining brushes arrive, I'll have four in my rotation and do not plan to purchase anymore. I agree that any brush used regularly becomes familiar, and just about any brush will work. Today I shaved using my synthetic Chubby 2, which did a fine job. But I still prefer my Semogue badger brush. I will continue using my Chubby 2 and plan to rotate between my four brushes equally for fun. However, I could easily choose one brush and run with that until it fell apart. I did use my Semogue for ten years straight, and it is still going strong, so I'm not sure I would ever wear out a brush. It is interesting to try different brushes.
 
I have always found that synthetic brushes perform much better than badger or boar. Synthetics whip up lather faster and more easier that badger. I have had badger brushes that came highly recommended by guys here and I was very disappointed.
Sometimes I will use a boar just to mix things up. But my preference is synthetic by far. These are my favorite brushes. All synthetic.

Brushes_Best.JPG
 
My last couple of shaves were with my new Simpsons X2L Manchurian Badger brush, which has been fantastic! A little scritch, has a nice backbone, and has a great size and handle shape. Yesterday, my Shavemac DO1 silvertip Badger arrived, and it is nearly identical in configuration to the X2L, which surprised me. There is more of a fan shape with the Shavemac and a bit more loft, and I am anxious to try it out. I am pleased with my four brushes, except I wish my Chubby 2 were Manchurian instead of synthetic. I'll rotate through them regularly to solidify my opinions of them, and may sell the Chubby 2 and replace it with a badger Simpsons. Good stuff.
 

JCarr

More Deep Thoughts than Jack Handy
I had one inexpensive Parker badger brush early on. It was by no means a premium badger brush. But, alas, my Airedale puppy got a hold of it while I was distracted and she had her way with it. I'm all synthetic now. This is truly a personal preference thing perhaps even more so than razors.
 

musicman1951

three-tu-tu, three-tu-tu
Like pretty much everything related to shaving, it's all personal preference rather ''this'' is better than ''that''. I own 4 synthetic brushes and 2 badgers (silver tip and super) and to me badgers just require more effort and feel very floppy while my synthetics just work with everything I throw at them and the results are always 10/10. I'm glad that I had the pleasure of trying badger brushes, but I'm not sold on the so called muh fancy-schmancy feel of the badger.
Absolutely, people like what they like - which is why the plethora of choices is a good thing.

There is another issue with this comparison, there is not one representative synthetic or badger brush. My SOC 2 band badger would never be described as floppy by anyone (tons of backbone), but if you were face lathering with my Kent BK8 you might, and if you were doing any kind of lathering with my giant Parker silvertip you would call it floppy. Comparing a $15 synthetic with a $70 and higher badger doesn't seem like a fair fight to me. My EVO has lots of backbone (more than I like, to tell the truth) and my Muhle has a little less than I like. Shall we speak of my $12 synthetic, my EVO and my STF as being the same brush?

I use the synthetic for travel, I use boar and badger (and one mixed boar and badger) at home. They all make fine lather, albeit requiring their own individual tweaks to technique. Use what you like. There are stiff, medium and floppy badgers with tips from soft to scritchy. All my synthetics have soft tips, but there is definitely some variety out there.

If you want to experience all the extremes of available brushes all you need do is spend a ton of money and build another couple of shelves. Or you could slow your search (I'd say stop, but this is B&B) and enjoy what you like. I don't think the brushes feel like they're in a competition. They just sit on the shelf until called into action.
 
Thanks to many of you here, I’ve recently become interested in boar brushes. The prices for boar can’t be beat, so there’s no need to consider synthetic.
 
Have 2 boars and like them both. Great on hard soaps . Was gifted a badger and it seemed soft floppy and held too much water and was short in my bowl and had a metal handle. No fan. Then bought a synthetic with a tuxedo knot. Still didn't like it for bowl lathering, but then tried using shave stick and the synthetic really fit the bill. Now I would like to get another synthetic, but Wii have to wait till 2024 due to being in GRUYERE.
 
I face lather and I don't like the face feel of synthetic brushes, especially when I splay them. I love the luxurious feel of a quality badger knot (e.g., Chubby 3 Super). Of course, YMMV.
 
Synthetic are great for bowl lather.
If you like to face lather get the real thing.
Oddly, I bought a tuxedo as a travel brush, and a tube of JB Supreme Creme. Perfect combo. Wet face, put a dollop on, and lather it up. It doesn't do the tons of lather, but it provides good lather for a pass. It dries in minutes, and I'd hate myself if I lost a silvertip on a trip.
I found it works a lot better than a pure badger on creme, and soft soaps like TOBS and Noble Otter.
It's now my main brush and the Simpson is sitting the the medicine cabinet.
One of the things that would help is instead of just mentioning the brush, mention the grade of the brush. A lot of brushes come in multiple grades.
 
Have used synthetic brushes since I started wet shaving 12+ years ago. Tried a number of badgers didn’t like the feel and couldn’t get use to them. I was recently PIF’ed 2 boar knots and a handle. Going to put the boar knot in and try that. Have read that boar hairs split and become soft.
 
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