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Thinking of using the same brush every shave starting Jan. 1...

I like to experiment with different aspects of this hobby. I'm curious to see how using the same brush every single shave for a whole year affects the brush. I have a Simpson Trafalgar that I don't love or don't hate. It's a very serviceable brush from a well known maker. I shave my face every single day, unless an emergency pops up, and shave my head every other day. The brush would get plenty of use.

My brush collection is pretty modest as it is. I never really went down a rabbit hole there. Would it be advisable to at least wet my other brushes (mostly boar, a few synthetics and one badger) occasionally or should they just stay dry over the course of the experiment?

I know many (most? all?) of us started with one brush and one brush only. Mine was a VDH boar from the drugstore. I wound up with 3 of them at one point because they lost so many hairs over the course of a few months shaves that I would buy another one to see if it was any better. I still have one of the three and use it a good bit now. After 20+ years it finally quit shedding. ;)

Any advice or comments? I figure I could check in here every so often and update the look/feel of the brush with some pictures. Since I don't have a rabbit hole for brushes, I think this is actually doable for me. I could never do it with razors, soaps, etc.
 
I found a brush in a back alley in Milwaukee in 1974. It was a pure badger brush with a clear acrylic handle. It had a fish hook embeded in the clear acrylic. It was lost by someone moving out of my apartment building. I of course, did not know how long he had used it.

I used that brush, my only brush, each day, until around 2010. Most of the center of the knot was gone. My estimate is that it was a 20mm knot to begin with. I broke down an bought another pure badger, and used that brush every day until October of this year when I got into trying synthetics.

That second brush was starting to show the same wear patterns (i.e., center loss of hairs), I tried to remove the knot, didn't know what I was doing, and ended up breaking the hole edge of the handle.

The point is that these brushes can last a long, long time and still be quite functional. There are probably thousands of these brushes still in use years and years after they were manufactured.

@CANES I think you will be pleasantly surprised at the end of the year.
 
I found a brush in a back alley in Milwaukee in 1974. It was a pure badger brush with a clear acrylic handle. It had a fish hook embeded in the clear acrylic. It was lost by someone moving out of my apartment building. I of course, did not know how long he had used it.

I used that brush, my only brush, each day, until around 2010. Most of the center of the knot was gone. My estimate is that it was a 20mm knot to begin with. I broke down an bought another pure badger, and used that brush every day until October of this year when I got into trying synthetics.

That second brush was starting to show the same wear patterns (i.e., center loss of hairs), I tried to remove the knot, didn't know what I was doing, and ended up breaking the hole edge of the handle.

The point is that these brushes can last a long, long time and still be quite functional. There are probably thousands of these brushes still in use years and years after they were manufactured.

@CANES I think you will be pleasantly surprised at the end of the year.
Thanks for the reply and interesting story behind it! One reason I think I've settled on the Trafalgar is the fact that it's a synthetic. I have very little experience with synthetic knots and don't know how well they hold up in the long run. I'm used to boar brushes and my other synthetics are floppier than what I like, so don't get used as often. Because of the Shave Buddy app, I know that I have used the Simpson 25 times already. It will be easy to deduct that 25 at the end of the year. I'm also curious how the handle will hold up. I believe I've read that the Simpson stickers deteriorate pretty quickly with regular use. My old VDH boar and an estate Ever Ready that came with a razor from Ebay have decent sized cracks in the plastic handles. I don't know about the ER brush but I don't think I abused the VDH over the years- and it still cracked. Simpson definitely has more of a pedigree than VDH so it would be interesting to see what happens with that handle.

I think I've talked myself into doing this experiment now. ;)
 
I think I have like 6 brushes. All synthetics and one horse hair. One of them is the Trafalgar T2 and it's the brush I like the least. I think I've used it like 3 times! It will be interesting to see how your Trafalgar works for you on your long term test. My focus has been lots of razors since it's what I like most in this hobby and I can go with the same brush (that I like) for a long while. I'm one that uses the same one every day: A Razorock Plissoft Barber handle 24x57 mm.
I've used it nonstop daily for like 6 months and so far it still looks like new!
 
:popc: That will be interesting... my prediction is the knot more or less will look like on day one (26th use 😉 ) as long as you don't drop the brush...

But I'm just guessing...👍
 
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You can do that!!!!??
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musicman1951

three-tu-tu, three-tu-tu
Except for my synthetic while traveling, I have been performing the exact opposite experiment: never using the same brush two days in a row. All my brushes still look like they did when I purchased them. I'm anxious to read about the results of your experiment. I assume you're a daily shaver or it wouldn't be much of an experiment.
 
I've been trying to do that. I just have bad luck it seems. My first brush was the stock supermarket boar Wilkinson Sword. I used it for a year almost, it lathered great but it ate soooo much lather. So out of frustration, I bought a Simpson's T2 synthetic. Then I saw it's kinda small for me. So I bought a Semogue boar 1460, but that became soooo floppy and it can't lather anything so now it's actively collecting dust. And my latest purchase, purchased with the intention of being the one, is an unbleached boar Zenith. But even that one is annoying me with broken hairs appearing here and there. So I'm kind of back to my T2. But I fell in love with they space handle Yaqi synthetic.... fortunately, I have no money to spare for it hahaha.
 
Should be no problem just to use one brush only, generations of our forefathers did this, limited offerings for brushes then. But why?? Variety is great!
Rudy, Obviously you would hate if all of B&B used a single brush daily 😜, but I need to ask your thoughts on not letting a brush dry properly with daily usage.

Would rotating two brushes make a difference to lifespan in your opinion? Shoes for example last much longer if they are allowed a rest between uses to dry. Just curious as to your thoughts…
 

Rudy Vey

Shaving baby skin and turkey necks
Rudy, Obviously you would hate if all of B&B used a single brush daily 😜, but I need to ask your thoughts on not letting a brush dry properly with daily usage.

Would rotating two brushes make a difference to lifespan in your opinion? Shoes for example last much longer if they are allowed a rest between uses to dry. Just curious as to your thoughts…
I have seen a brush once that was used daily for a very long time, forgot exactly how many years, but it was more than 20 years. It looked outstanding, nearly like new. And I have seen some that were only a few years old and looked they were on their last shaves. I believe how a brush is treated has to do a lot of how long it can be of service. Rinsing it out properly, use without too much pressure, not smashing it in your face etc all are factors that have an effect on their life. I use sometimes a brush for a few days in a row, without thinking I may harm it, but then, mine are drying over night, rarely do I have a brush the next morning that shows any wet/moist hairs. My granddad used a boar brush every day, kept it standing on its hair in a mug, typical "Boar bend" that we see sometimes on vintage boars here. My father used a brush and a DE when I was very young (got a hold of one of his razor blades when I was not even two - scar can be still seen on my cheek - mom freaked out; this is one of my earliest memories), but switched to an electric razor when they became available in Germany, maybe mid - end of the 50's.
 
I think this is a noble cause. Good luck with it. Before I discovered "wet shaving," I used whatever drugstore VDH boar brushes and pucks (sometimes Williams and Colgate too) were available in the nearby drug store. Used whatever brush I had every day. At one point, in late 2010, the knot of the VDH boar brush I was using sort of cracked and split apart. That was the start of a search for a new brush, coupled with a safety razor rather than the Atra II carts I'd been using since high school in the late '70s. The rest is the stuff of legend and a cautionary tale. Beware the rabbit hole.

Not sure I would seek to use a synth brush everyday to see how it degrades as synth brushes are fairly inert from my experience. If I would have to do things every day with one brush, I would go with maybe a cheap, mid-sized Omega boar. Also depends on the cream or soap you plan to be using. Are you sticking with one soap/cream? Or different options? Are bowl lathering, face lathering, palm lathering, etc.? That too would determine the brush to be settled upon for everyday use.
 
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I use the same brush for 98/100 shaves. When I deviate from it, my lather gets worse, not better. The brush shows no wear or tear. I shave every second day.

The same soap and razor too. I've been using PdP 63 from the start of the year, almost finished it now.

It can be done and happily.
 
That PdP 63 is the cat's pajamas.
Yes it is. Amazing soap. I'll get a year of perfect lathers and shaves, no fuss, no gimmicks, for $25cad.

@CANES just let your other brushes sit. Some of mine sit on an open concept medicine cabinet and some are stored away in their boxes in the closet. They'll be fine for years without being used. No need to periodically wet or use them, at least by my knowledge and experience.
 
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