What do you like about synthetic brushes?

[musicman1951]

They are good for travel because they dry fast.

If you use it like a badger it will fling lather around the bathroom. It's the spring back. But if you move slower you won't have that problem.

I have an EVO that is better at splaying than many of the synthetics. It does require a fair amount of pressure to keep it splayed, but it does a fine job. I rarely use it at home, but I'm delighted to use it as a travel brush.

I think your best bet is to treat it as a different animal. Swirl slower, even with brush strokes it's not a bad idea to move a little slower at the end of the stroke. Appreciate it for what it is, not how it differs from your favorite brushes.

 

[Atlantic59]

It won't make lather with the tips, when I try the Italian Barber process, which has become my go-to lathering process.

It splatters lather on my mirror.

The brush is a Simpson Duke 3 with Platinum bristles. It should be a good synthetic brush, but I'm having trouble figuring out what's good about it.

Synthetics don't absorb water as natural hair does. Synthetics "hold" or "retain" a small amount of water by surface tension. Once you exceed the limit, the water escapes from the brush in a solid stream or messy spray.

This means the Italian Barber "wet method" of making lather does not work as well with synthetics. Instead, it's better to start with a damp brush shaken out. Load a soap paste onto the damp brush, then add water gradually in stages to build your lather.

...It doesn't want to splay. I have to paint the lather on...

Some synthetic brushes splay easily, there are some that don't, though. Knots like the silksmoke, cashmere, or mink splay fairly easily. It helps to have a smaller, less dense knot with longer loft.

 

[TexOkie Shaver]

i love my RazoRock 400 synthetics. They are soft, release their lather quickly and easily. I have gotten brush burn from my Badger and no longer use it.

 

[Badger in the Sun]

I keep my brush in the shower, which would wreck natural hair brushes. My favorite synthetic, the Motherlode, splays as well as any badger or boar I've tried. Other pluses: It makes lather faster and has softer tips.

 

[Tester28]

The right synthetics offer fantastic performance, luxurious face feel, back bone and scrub.

They are also relatively more reasonable in price.

The price of a decent badger brush has gone through the roof...and it is, at the end of the day,
a perishable product with a more or less finite lifespan. (unlike an expensive razor)

 

[Whilliam]

What do I like about synthetics? Everything!

 

[xiletero]

For $15 you can get a nice looking brush that will make an effortless excellent lather , you won't have to re-load soap, and it will be pleasant to your skin.
It washes easily and dries fast. Will probably last longer than any natural hair brush and no animals were killed to make it.
I do have all sorts of brushes (boar, horse, badger (some $$$) and truth be told, none beats the $15. There are some more expensive synthetics....they are nice but in all honesty for my taste they are not better than the $15.

 

[Rudy Vey]

The - for me - one and only good thing about syns is that the dry fast, so when you travel, just brush it over the towel and pack away. Prior to Covid, my syn got a lot of workout due to my travel, but I have not used a syn since last March. Personally, I do not like syns, I am a badger guy!!

 

[Tirvine]

I have two Simpsons, a Chubby 1 (the Little Shedder) in best and a T2 synthetic. IME the T2 is the better brush. It does not splay nearly as well as my Kent BK4, but it splays better than the Ch 1, whips up and holds lather well, and does not fling bristles hither and yon.

 

[never-stop-learning]

I have, and regularly use, Badger, Boar and Synthetic brushes. They all work fine, build nice lathers and get the lather applied to my face.

My preferences are better defined by favorite knot types within each category:

• Badger: Shavemac 2-Band Silvertip Fan, Maggard SHD Fan
• Boar: Omega Premium Bristle, Semogue Owners Club
• Synthetic: Omega EVO, TNS BOSS v1 Fan, TNS Quartermoon, TNS Timberwolf Fan, TNS Full Moon, PAA Roswell Hybrid, Simpson Platinum Grade

I enjoy using my synthetics and do not feel that I suffer a "penalty" of any type when using a synthetic knot. It's all preference. In my opinion, folks should try different knot types to see what works best for them - their face and beard.

Just my opinion and YMMV.

 

[Brutus]

I had no luck with Simpsons synthetic brushes, having owned and sold a Chubby synth and a Trafalgar. If I were to judge synthetic brushes on the basis of my experience with Simpsons, I would conclude that they are inferior to natural hair brushes. With that said, I have several excellent synthetic brushes from Yaqi, PAA and TurnNShave that in many ways outperform my badger and boar brushes. For me, synthetics are by far the most efficient shaving brushes, i.e. they can put more lather on your face in less time than a natural hair brush. And the new synthetics no longer fling lather all over the place.

Yes, synthetic brushes are not all made equal.

It took me quite some time to get used to my Simpson synthetic and even today I like (= use) it less than my Shavemac Synthetics or Mühle Silvertip Fibres, but more than any of the Omega synthetics that I tried.

Early synthetics were dreadful and it clearly matters what synthetic you decide on.


B.

 

[Test4echo]

I like everything about my PAA brushes. Easy to use in every way. Great lather, feels great on my face & performs as good, or better, than any brush I ever used.

 

[SterFry]

They're way tougher than natural hair brushes

Much more time and product efficient

They don't have to be soaked for optimal performance

They dry rapidly

They're more hygienic

Softer than naturals ever could be

You can get really nice ones for less than $25 bucks...hell, less than 10

No animals need be harmed to produce them

They never stink

There are some characteristics that aren't better or worse...just different. For example, some people will try to tell you that synthetics don't hold as much water. This isn't true; although they do hold water in a different way (surface tension). The splay is also different in many cases, though even two synthetics can have very different splay, so that's hard to compare without painting in excessively broad strokes.

I personally find synthetic overall superiority quite obvious and anticipate most folks capable of being objective will deduce the same where sheer function as a tool is concerned...but function isn't the only factor, and so I reckon naturals will stick around. I still use and enjoy my naturals very much.

I'd get yourself a different synth if easy splay is what you're looking for.

 

[thombrogan]

I fling more lather with my Ω10048 pigarooni than my Maggards tuxedo, but that’s me.

The downside of synthetic brushes is the best one is still being made and none of them smell like culled boar on their own and It’s next to impossible to explain why you’re rendering pork loin fat for your synthetic brush without sounding a skosh creepy.

 

[merovirginian]

For me, the two areas where synthetics objectively are better than natural hair: drying faster and maintenance. And this makes it the best choice away from home. I always take my Turn n Shave Quartermoon when I travel. I sometimes take an extra brush for fun or variety depending on the length of time.

The one area, again to me, where synthetics are not up to snuff in general: face lathering. My Quartermoon is the only one of many that I have tried that work for me. Still not as easy as natural hair, but very, very close (I usually have to puff out my cheek to force the splay I want/need when face lathering to whip up the lather). So many other synthetics are just plain floppy or refuse to splay well when face lathering.

If you bowl lather, synthetics compete very well with badger and boar hair (and I don't have other animal hair knots, so I can't say anything about them). I usually face lather, but sometimes use a bowl. This objectively means that I need different kinds of brushes. You know, for health

For those that love the Muhle/EJ synthetics, I so wanted to love it. As a bowl latherer, I do (I like my XL Edwin Jagger). As a face latherer, ouch. It's pokey. As I'm getting my younger son into DE shaving, he bowl lathers and loves the Edwin Jagger better than the Yaqi I got him. The EJ stays in my bathroom, thank you very much.

 

[TMacpherson]

1. They smell better.
2. They dry faster.
3. Most important, I don't have to have the guilt (which is very real) of killing an animal simply to shave my face. The older I've gotten, the more important this has become.

 

[albsat]

Pros:
Low in cost
Low in maintenance
Need less soap, because they don't hog lather
Good lather flow, same reason
No need to soak them before use
Don't stink
No break in time
Long lasting
Less temperamental in getting a good lather
No prolongued drying time needed to prevent rot

Cons:
Less scrub than a boar, and therefore less exfoliating
Don't splay as well (easier to start to paint, then swirl once bristles are bent, than to just try to mash the brush against the face)

Same opinion too. Hope we will have a synthetic brush with the same scrub like that of a boar brush one day.

 

[Mempho]

1. Cheap
2. No soaking
3. Wash out cleanly
4. Dry fast -- big plus for travel
5. Lather quickly
6. Use less product
7. Cruelty free

 

[Rusty Blade]

I am asking this question because I got one, and I just don't see the appeal. I want to learn how to appreciate this brush, but it's hard when:

It doesn't want to splay. I have to paint the lather on.

It won't make lather with the tips, when I try the Italian Barber process, which has become my go-to lathering process.

It splatters lather on my mirror.

The brush is a Simpson Duke 3 with Platinum bristles. It should be a good synthetic brush, but I'm having trouble figuring out what's good about it.

Once you get it figured out you will enjoy the synth experience. How do I love my EJ synth? Let me count the ways -- a perfect lather every time, dries quickly, splays just right, not too soft, not too hard...just right. As for splattering the mirror...don't hold it so close to the mirror, hold it lower to the sink.

 

[FarmerTan]

I like the smell of boars better. I mean, boars HAVE a smell.

And natural hair changes over the "life" of the brush.


In short, the thing I like about synthetic brushes is also what I dislike about them: their predictability. I find them "BOAR"ing, to be honest.

Again, I crack myself up!