What’s the appeal of big brushes?

[Proper Irish]

New shaver here, I’m trying to figure out what the appeal to large brushes is?
In looking at the shapes & sizes of brushes, I’m shocked at how large some of them are. Large in diameter, large knot, heavy, etc.
Are you trying to put on as much lather as possible? Or just like the feel of a large handle?

Coming from the art & painting world where brushes are designed to be as light, slim and svelte as possible, It seems really foreign to want a big chunky heavy handle.

Looking at something like a Simpsons Chubby 3 with its short fat handle.. I don’t understand it at all.

Is the disconnect of me not understanding the fat size and stubby shapes in the grip?
I don’t understand why’d you’d want to have the butt pressed into your palm and hold it by your finger tips, rather than holding it like a paint brush (as that’s essentially what these are- brushes to paint lather on your face).
Maybe it’s just me not being used to holding it that way.

Here’s a picture of the first 3 brushes I‘ve bought. I had no idea how chunky they were until seeing them in person. If I’m being honest, none of these fat round handles are what I’d call comfortable to hold and use.

In looking around the interwebs at all the different brush handle designs- to my painter‘s brain, these style handles seem like they’d be the most comfortable to hold and use:

Essentially a longer thinner handle that you’d hold like a paintbrush, rather than having the butt pressed into your palm and holding with your finger tips.


What am I missing here?

 

[silverlifter]

I like larger handles. I have bigger hands, but I also enjoy face lathering, so want to have the whole handle firmly grasped in my mitt whilst I smuch and swirl the brush around. It's like a hound eating breakfast; there is nothing dainty about it--but it gets the job done!

 

[Theodore]

Omega 48 user here. It's a large brush, but light due to the hollow handle.

The appeal is efficient use of my time and effort - I can scrub more of my face at once with a larger knot.

I do face lathering as a vigorous exfoliation, not just a gentle painting motion. Consequently, having a firm grip on a large handle is useful.

 

[gpjoe]

I don't get it either, and own two brushes (out of a dozen or so) larger than 24mm: a Razorock Monster and an Omega boar that I have only used on my head, where I have more area to lather...and honestly, I buy handles on visual appeal and have yet to own a brush that didn't work or feel right.

As always, it comes down to personal preference rather than logic. What seems odd to me or you may be bliss for another. I don't give it much thought.

 

[Eben Stone]

^^ I'm a huge fan of the RazoRock 400 brushes (clones of the vintage Rubberset 400). I hold it either like a pencil or put the butt end against the inner knuckle of my index finger and hold it with my fingers. Very comfortable and easy to hold.

I thought I would like chubby handles, but I tried the Trafalgar T2 and Omega Evo and thought the ergonomics were terrible. So it may seem like a good guess that I might like skinny brush handles, but...

^^ This Parker brush with a skinny handle is probably my least favorite of any I've tried so far.

^^ I bought this Mühle Purist brush just for the shape of the handle. I thought it would be everything I wanted in a brush handle. Turns out it's just okay.

 

[Rocket 1]

I typically can adapt to most handle sizes and shapes. But some are more ergonomic than others. When thinking about a hold for traditional drawing and painting, I typically use an underhand grip. But when it comes to a shaving brush, I tend to migrate to something that is between overhand and underhand, because of the opposing plane of your face, as compared to painting on a traditional surface that would normally be facing you. And unlike traditional painting, I don't find the brush control and "release" as critical.

 

[Darth Scandalous]

I lean towards barber handles but I'm not too picky as long as the handle isn't too squatty. No Chubbies for me. Big knots are fun but my face isn't all that big...so I usually end up cleaning my ears out too with a big knot.

 

[thombrogan]

I thought big knots let me make lather without having to know what I’m doing.

Turns out small knots do, too, but I didn’t realize that before assembling my loyal army of lather monsters.

 

[OldSaw]

I like big brushes and I cannot lie…

 

[Omega48]

26 mm: borderline, but quite small.
28-28.5mm: OK, but just because the Chubby 3 does not come in a larger diameter.
30mm: perfect.
31mm: perfectest.

 

[rsp1202]

I used to like 24-26mm badgers. An SOC Finest was just about perfect. For synthetics, 25-26mm knots tend to have some bloom, and I don't care for small, tight knots. As for handles, I prefer variants of the barber style with their classic look and feel. And since I'm at it, color-wise I like faux ivory, porcelain white, and transparent, and save the fancy colors for sofa pillows.

 

[Proper Irish]

View attachment 1794382
^^ I'm a huge fan of the RazoRock 400 brushes (clones of the vintage Rubberset 400). I hold it either like a pencil or put the butt end against the inner knuckle of my index finger and hold it with my fingers. Very comfortable and easy to hold.

Yes, the ergonomics of this are exactly what I’m talking about! There doesn’t seem to be a lot of shapes like this out there, I had trouble finding many examples.


Are these what people refer to as “barber” handles or barber style handles?

 

[Proper Irish]

Big hands, big faces, more time efficient. Those definitely seem like good reasons to use a larger brush.

And I didn’t even think about using one to lather a head, a big knot that covers a lot of area certainly makes sense in that application.

Good stuff. I knew there had to be some valid reasons for the larger brushes.

 

[blade08]

24mm is my maximum. And I like the 'Persian Jar' type of handle.

 

[Eben Stone]

Yes, the ergonomics of this are exactly what I’m talking about! There doesn’t seem to be a lot of shapes like this out there, I had trouble finding many examples.


Are these what people refer to as “barber” handles or barber style handles?

Try searching for "Rubberset 400 shave brush". That's the original company that created that design. The search results should include all the modern clones. I don't know of any other names that refer to that style specifically.

I'm no brush expert, but I think the Rubberset brush in your original post qualifies as a barber style handle.

 

[ajkel64]

I have Reynaud’s Syndrome so I have poor circulation in my hands. I prefer bigger brushes as I can feel them much better in my hands than smaller brushes. Lofts etc don’t bother me that much it is more about the handle.

 

[EclipseRedRing]

The fashion for larger knots, say 28mm and up, may be driven by the fact that few if any 'high end' brush makers offer anything smaller. They could simply be offering what the market demands, but I suspect the profit margin is higher on large brushes. There are smaller knots from the inexpensive and mid range price producers, but at the most expensive, hand tied in house, end of the market there appears to be nothing but large brushes on offer.

 

[Antique Hoosier]

First let me say Welcome to B&B and remark on what a thoughtful and well written post on an interesting topic.

I will in turn attempt hopefully a response from a guy who has been around a fair amount of brushes. I lost count actually and a whole lot of them have been BIG. Shaving brushes all come down to personal aesthetic, comfort, and performance from a lathering sense.

When I came to Badger & Blade in late 2006 BIG shaving brushes were in style. So much has changed over the years primarily the synthetics. In a nutshell for some of us you never know until you try…. and by try I mean lots of them. I still have the first shaving brush I purchased off the Buy Sell Trade forum here. Thank you @slcsteve
He was the guy I bought it from in early 2007 and it was boar and it was vintage and I wanted it because I read all of @slcsteve posts and he was (is) a freaking cool guy especially as a newbie. He flew helicopters in Vietnam. He must know his brushes!

I could probably look it up but my shaving life changed when I first tried a Simpson Chubby badger. It was the aesthetic, COMFORT. To make a long story short, try a few brushes because if you found your way here you surely will experience some variety of products. Traditional wet shaving is a ton of aromatherapy, ASMR, and a few dollars, pounds, yen, out of the pocket as you experience all the aspects.

Cheers and I will say it’s great to have an artist among us.

 

[musicman1951]

Welcome to the forum.

I wouldn't paint my house with one of your artist brushes, and I wouldn't use a small brush on my face for the same reason - I guess I'm solidly happy with my laziness. But people use all sizes of brushes here. YMMV means use what works for you - and enjoy your shaves.

 

[Wgg2017]

Welcome! I prefer smaller brushes in the 21-24 mm range. I bowl lather so there is no need for the brush itself to hold enough lather for 2 or 3 passes. It only takes a few seconds to scrub the lather over my face so I don't see how a bigger brush could speed that process up given my lather method. Bigger brushes also require more soap or cream and that just seems wasteful to me.

I have to admit I've never given much thought to handle shape. I just go with a medium sized handle, nothing too big or small. I only want a good grip for whipping up lather and a very thin handle doesn't sound great for that, although ymmv.

The fashion for larger knots, say 28mm and up, may be driven by the fact that few if any 'high end' brush makers offer anything smaller. They could simply be offering what the market demands, but I suspect the profit margin is higher on large brushes. There are smaller knots from the inexpensive and mid range price producers, but at the most expensive, hand tied in house, end of the market there appears to be nothing but large brushes on offer.

Shavemac has brushes that are 23mm. I don't know if they are considered high end or not, but they definitely wouldn't be considered cheap. They also offer a great variety of hair types and handle shapes so that just about anyone should be able to find something to their liking.