Water retention/pre-soaking is unecessary

[Hercule]

I have come to believe that the water retention quality of a brush is really a non-issue; pre-soaking the brush is as well. Sure, you should wet your brush, but soaking for minutes at a time is unecessary in my opinion. It'll hold plenty of water to start your lather when you initially get it wet, and if the lather needs more water then add it. Anyone else think this?

H

 

[biomesh]

+1

I never soak my brush and I have never had a problem being able to generate a good lather.

 

[M80]

I've tried it both ways with my omega boar, and it seems easier to build later when I soak it first.

 

[johnniegold]

I have always soaked my brush in the scuttle while I take a shower. However, when pressed for time, I have used a brush without a pre-soak and can honestly say that there is no appreciable difference.

That being said, I will continue to pre-soak my brush before shaving.

 

[Ignatius]

Boars need it, badgers don't. Synthetics, I don't know.

 

[gaping46and2]

For me, it's really not about soaking for water retention, but rather the increase of heat retained by the brush after soaking for a bit. I'm not saying I soak it for 30+ minutes, but for maybe a minute while I'm getting my cream/soap, razor, and filling the sink with water.

 

[mdevine]

Boars need it, badgers don't. Synthetics, I don't know.

+1. It doesn't seem to make any difference with my badger brushes but the boars seem to perform better with a 5 minute presoak.

 

[Zumkopf]

Boars need it, badgers don't. Synthetics, I don't know.

I can't see how synthetics COULD benefit from a soak; by definition, they don't hold water in the bristles themselves. The only benefit I could think of is that it warms the brush up; but that only takes a few seconds under running hot water.

Otherwise in agreement. Boars clearly benefit from a long soak, they're softer and hold more water. Badger, not so much. But since I wet the soap before taking a shower anyway, and partially fill the sink in order to warm *it* up (otherwise the cold porcelain cools the hot water too quickly), might as well soak the brush.

 

[Swampfox]

I don't even presoak my boar anymore. I just run it through hot water real quick, get it nice and warm, and get to work. Probably less than 20 seconds. I never saw any difference between the long soak and none. YMMV

 

[Wil Dorenbos]

I don't even presoak my boar anymore. I just run it through hot water real quick, get it nice and warm, and get to work. Probably less than 20 seconds. I never saw any difference between the long soak and none. YMMV

same with horse.

 

[JPDyson]

I don't even presoak my boar anymore. I just run it through hot water real quick, get it nice and warm, and get to work. Probably less than 20 seconds. I never saw any difference between the long soak and none. YMMV

Newer boars tend to work better when well-soaked, in my experience. As they break-in, it becomes less necessary.

Badger and Synthetic , it's not really necessary (but not entirely without merit - helps me get a consistent amount of water to start with).

 

[talibeard]

I don't soak my boars anymore either; broken-in or not. Just a quick rinse and they perform at least as good as soaked boars and even better when face-lathering.

I could see a theoretical benefit for synthetic (well, the nylon ones) since they do absorb water. I just don't know if that is good for anything though.

 

[Swampfox]

I don't soak my boars anymore either; broken-in or not. Just a quick rinse and they perform at least as good as soaked boars and even better when face-lathering.

I could see a theoretical benefit for synthetic (well, the nylon ones) since they do absorb water. I just don't know if that is good for anything though.

That is what got me away from the soaking. When I bought the Arko, I discovered that the soak wasn't that beneficial.

 

[Mike Schutz]

Boars need it, badgers don't. Synthetics, I don't know.

I agree, soak those pigs.

 

[Timber Wolf]

Ive always wonder why peopled soaked there brushes for minutes some times 15+ at time only to ring them out almost dry. I usually just do a a couple of seconds or a minute in some warm water to wet and warm up the brush and away i go. Also im speaking for badger i dont know about boar.

 

[Loric]

I soak my badger brushes to warm them up. I like bigger brushes that tend to hold heat better so it is a boon to give them a soap in hot water. Plus my two band Simpson needs a bit of a soak to get soft, not like my boars of coarse, but there is a pronounced difference.

 

[Saturn]

Ive always wonder why peopled soaked there brushes for minutes some times 15+ at time only to ring them out almost dry.

Because this is a shaving forum, and while shaving doesn't have to be overcomplicated, that doesn't mean we can't try!

Soak the brush, soak the puck of soap. Then shake the brush three times with exactly X force, wring it dry, shake it twice more. Dump all of the water off the puck of soap. Start working the brush on the puck to make pre-lather. Then dump all of the pre-lather off the soap and down the drain. Work the brush on the puck again. Finally, when you've got enough soap in the brush, start working it in a bowl. Add water a drop at a time, every 15 seconds, over a period of three minutes. ...

and so on.

 

[James1971]

I just dunk mine in the hot water and shake out the excess... No problems so far.

 

[SliceOfLife]

Badger hair softens by an almost ridiculous amount after a soak on most of my brushes.

 

[johnniegold]

Soak the brush,
soak the puck of soap. Then shake the brush three times with exactly X force,
wring it dry, shake it twice more.
Dump all of the water off the puck of soap.
Start working the brush on the puck to make pre-lather.
Then dump all of the pre-lather off the soap and down the drain.
Work the brush on the puck again.
Finally, when you've got enough soap in the brush, start working it in a bowl. Add water a drop at a time, every 15 seconds, over a period of three minutes. ...

and so on.

Yep. I do the same thing only I add a drop of water every 10 seconds or else my lather tends to dry out.

Good stuff.