I was lucky enough to be given a Vulfix #2006 Pure Badger Brush in a B&B Father's Day Giveaway (Thanks, BullGoose!).
I gave the brush a baby shampoo cleaning and let it dry for a day. Eager to give it a whirl, I soaked it, swirled it in my Tabac soap and got....well, not lather, just a slurry. I noted a dark color in the slurry, and having broken in a couple of badger brushes, just figured it needed a little more use. I washed it vigorously with the Tabac, dried it out and let it set another day.
Went to use it again and while the results were slightly better, it produced a thin, wimpy lather. Face lathering gave usable, but not great results. Just to check myself and the Tabac I lathered up for my last pass with my old Tweezerman and got a rich, thick lather built up in no time.
I rinsed the Vulfix out, gave it another shot of the leftover Tabac lather the Tweezerman had left me in the bowl, and rinsed it out again.
It's drying as I write, and I can't recall my Tweezerman or DeLong brushes needing more than an initial wash and rinse and they were producing good lather, even if the initial wet dog smell was still with them. Even my VDH boar will make more lather with less effort than this new badger, at this stage at least.
Is this typical of the lower end Vulfix brushes? Is there anything that might speed the break in process along?
I gave the brush a baby shampoo cleaning and let it dry for a day. Eager to give it a whirl, I soaked it, swirled it in my Tabac soap and got....well, not lather, just a slurry. I noted a dark color in the slurry, and having broken in a couple of badger brushes, just figured it needed a little more use. I washed it vigorously with the Tabac, dried it out and let it set another day.
Went to use it again and while the results were slightly better, it produced a thin, wimpy lather. Face lathering gave usable, but not great results. Just to check myself and the Tabac I lathered up for my last pass with my old Tweezerman and got a rich, thick lather built up in no time.
I rinsed the Vulfix out, gave it another shot of the leftover Tabac lather the Tweezerman had left me in the bowl, and rinsed it out again.
It's drying as I write, and I can't recall my Tweezerman or DeLong brushes needing more than an initial wash and rinse and they were producing good lather, even if the initial wet dog smell was still with them. Even my VDH boar will make more lather with less effort than this new badger, at this stage at least.
Is this typical of the lower end Vulfix brushes? Is there anything that might speed the break in process along?
