Soap lasts longer.
What do you like about synthetic brushes?
- Thread starter Herrenberg
- Start date
I like badger, boar and synthetics equally.
However, if I bring in the Muhle/EJ Silvertip Fibre brush into the picture, then nothing compares!!
However, if I bring in the Muhle/EJ Silvertip Fibre brush into the picture, then nothing compares!!
Is this a benefit or disadvantage of a synthetic?
That depends on weather or not you have soap acquisition dissorder.
I’m not crazy about synthetics but I do have one. The upsides are that they’re robust and dry almost instantly. I keep mine in the shower and take it with me in my gym bag sometimes. I don’t look after it and it puts up well with the abuse. I’ll never be converted but they do have their uses. It’s not the kind brush that I’d pull out for a nice relaxing shave at home for the reason no mentioned by the OP.
My synthetics don't shed.
This
Synthetic brushes are great. They create great lather and that lather actually leaves the brush and settles on your beard as you make lather on your face. The silver tip brushes are great for making lather but the lather never leaves the brush untill you squeeze it out with your fingers. The synthetic brush dries quickly and it does not shed. I have the older Body Shop synthetic brush with white fibres. It is good. My badger brushes dont get used any more.
This might be the first problem as most Simpson synthetic brushes don't splay well at all and it takes most people some more time to figure it out or get used to it... I think the majority of Simpson synthetic owners that don't care for them are the ones that own Simpson badger brushes and expect the synthetic to act exactly the same, which btw, is impossible!!
Though I've never owned a Simpson brush of any flavor, I question why they seem to think that their synthetic line requires the same loft or very close to the same as their badger brushes!! This just won't work at all because of the differences between natural and synthetic fibers when wet. My guess is that instead if the Duke 3 having 51mm loft and even went to say 60-62mm loft they would have more success and probably sell many more brushes, imo, of course!!
In my experience I found that a synthetic brush needs to be 10-15mm higher loft than a natural haired brush. I experimented with this about a year after getting into this hobby full time and started putting together my own brushes and found my sweet spot to actually be 65-67mm loft on all of my brushes. I currently have 3 knots, all from TurnNShave, 25mm Quartermoon, 25mm Angelhair, and 26mm Timberwolf that round out my needs and will most likely never purchase a ready-made brush ever again because I've asked to have knots set at the loft I want and no seller is willing to set them that high yet they are the ones I've had the best luck with to date.
I'm a fulltime face latherer and I have never had a problem splaying any of my current brushes, flinging any lather, or them not drying out completely within 2-3hrs!! I started traditional wet shaving at the end of 2016 and by mid 2017 I had switched completely to synthetics and haven't looked back because of all the positives I see in them and really enjoy what they do for me...
Easy to use and perform well with no need to presoak. That said I still have some badger and boar.
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.
The only synthetic I own is one for my wife. It stays in the shower since it does well in damp environments. I personally prefer badgers and boars, in that order.
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I agree with this, not only Simpson’s but overall. We need manufacturers, sellers and users to stop the fallacy that synthetics are getting close to Silvertip. They are not - for the better or for the worse
Low maintenance, great for travel brushes
It’s a different feel, not quite artificial, more homogeneous. Whereas natural hair feels,well…more natural. The synthetic feel has grown on me. I like the difference, I like the variety.
AimlessWanderer
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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)
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)
Synthetics are lather slingers, my bathroom is a mess after using them. Tried thrice, then banned then forever from my house.
They don't splay, don't retain water, they all have that HORRIBLE spring-effect in some way.
Of course never tried the 70+ bucks ones, but at that price I totally fail to see the point, since then we're in badger territory.
They don't splay, don't retain water, they all have that HORRIBLE spring-effect in some way.
Of course never tried the 70+ bucks ones, but at that price I totally fail to see the point, since then we're in badger territory.
I wonder if you've tried some of the newer knots from Yaqi, PAA, TurnNShave, etc. They are very modestly priced, do not fling lather and do not feel "springy". The Yaqi mink, for example, costs less than $20 and performs as well as any badger brush I've used. Of course, you may still prefer the feel of a badger or boar brush.
- Thread starter
- #39
OK, I'm in. Yaqi mink on the way. I'm determined to give this synthetic thing a fair shake, gotta find that merit, and the price is right.
While I'm waiting, I'll try to get used to splaying on my chin, even though I don't shave there.
I'll be interested to hear your reaction to using the Yaqi Mink. I find that it splays quite easily, unlike the Simpsons Platinum brush I had, so I think that you can leave off practicing using your chin to get the brush to splay.
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