What’s the appeal of big brushes?

[EclipseRedRing]

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.

Shavemac do indeed offer an excellent range of smaller brushes; I own several sub 26mm Semogue Finest and Simpson Manchurian brushes but I was not referring to any of those brands by "the most expensive, hand tied in house, end of the market".

 

[Proper Irish]

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.
View attachment 1794503View attachment 1794510

Thank you for that wonderful post!
Even though they don’t really make sense to me, I do plan trying large brushes and/or short stubby ones. No better way to understand a tool than to use it.

Also, I’m envious of that Fumerie Turque bell jar! I have it in the Gratte-Ciel bottle, which I’m not a fan of (too tall,tippy, doesn’t photograph). One of my favorite dark fragrances.

Cheers!

 

[psfred]

I prefer a small, soft knot since I basically paint the lather on rather than scrub. Small handles too, even though I wear XL gloves at work and some of them are tight.

Brushes are just tools to put lather on your face to shave with, use whatever makes you happy.

 

[StuMcB]

Just gonna say Kent BK 12.

 

[Raz0rboy]

I need large ones to finish soaps... lots of soaps

 

[Goblin]

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).

But they aren't. They are for making lather.

Part of the reason I like a big handle is that it's easier on my hands. Also, only excess of lather is proof of lather! I don't consider it a successful shave unless the bathroom walls are splattered with lather. That's the appeal of big brushes.

 

[njpaddy]

The fun in wetshaving is finding what products work best for you, including brushes. I kind of miss those early years of experimenting. My first brushes were 22mm. After a bit I started going smaller, the smallest being a 16mm brush done by Rudy. I then went the other direction with the largest a 26mm 2-band Thater. My favorite brushes today are badgers in the 22-24mm range, but a 24mm RazoRock Plissoft synthetic is my go-to for conserving discontinued soaps.

 

[Cal]

Q. What’s the appeal of big brushes?​

A. (For me,) NONE.

I'm a face latherer (no head shaving for me) and like to be able to lather only the parts (face and neck) to be shaved. If I wanted to lather my ears, nose, and chest I'd go for big brushes. So, for accuracy (and no mess) my preference is tiny brushes (knot <18mm).

Here's my (current) top three tinies (in order):

1) Shavemac "Kleiner Bayer" Silvertip D01 2-Band 14/42, 2) Simpson Wee Scot 13/39, 3) Simpson Wee Scot 13/42.

When loaded properly all three can hold sufficient lather for three passes (and without that lather dribbling onto the handle).

I like my shaves to be like my equipment, neat and tidy.

 

[Cal]

I don't consider it a successful shave unless the bathroom walls are splattered with lather. That's the appeal of big brushes.

Our mileage certainly varies.

Vive la différence.

 

[Hu3ir0 Hu3Hu3]

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2251832726336722.html

 

[Wgg2017]

My favorite brushes today are badgers in the 22-24mm range, but a 24mm RazoRock Plissoft synthetic is my go-to for conserving discontinued soaps.

Synthetics sure do require much less soap to build lather than a natural hair brush. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't experienced it myself.

 

[KW Driver]

I face lather, and run some 18mm travelers in badger, up to 24mm in boar and badger as my biggest as a preference. My 20mm M&F blonde badger does just fine. Plenty of… 20mm+ do just fine, if it fit’s your hand comfortably.

My favorite handle is a wood Semogue SOC. The acrylic is too heavy to suit me. My holds for most of my brushes excluding my travelers with shorter thin et handles in which case I just fingertip pencil grip:

And your painted Semogue, if you haven’t heard? The paint will crack, water will get under it, and it’ll flake off until you sand it down along the edges and seal the bare wood/repaint it. Not a bad knot though if you like smaller, softer knots when it’s broken in. I can’t find my old example to show you

 

[NorthernSoul]

You do tend to see a lot of the big brushes in photos and whatnot. Despite that, I think the average knot size around here is probably closer to 24mm.

Big brushes are handy if you are shaving someone else. Look at the usual Italian barber brushes, for instance. 26mm to 28mm tall boars, usually.

A larger brush can hold more lather. I will usually face lather, meaning the brush should store enough lather for three passes or so. 24mm is a good size, but I've got a few larger (and smaller) ones.

 

[spacemonkey42]

If you are talking handles, I don't like ones that make me cramp up my hands to hold them. I tend to like barber handles, or ones like the Razorock Bruce. The Wald handles are also excellent.

If you are talking knots, I use synthetic brushes and prefer 26mm or larger. Just my preferences, everyone should use what they like.

 

[Rudy Vey]

I like larger handles, for me they are better to hold. Short and stout styles like Chubby or so are the worst for me, others like the PJ, AS3M, Keyhole and such are very ergonomic and good to hold for me.
Knot-size, I have 20-31 mm, and like initially smaller, fan shape brushes, but now I have a lot of bulbs in the 24-28 mm range.
So in my case the preferences changed over time.

 

[blade08]

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.

True though Mühle still makes a 19 and 21 model.

 

[EclipseRedRing]

True though Mühle still makes a 19 and 21 model.

There are many such makers of smaller brushes in that price range.

 

[anoop]

My perfect sized brush is the Original handle from Plisson in a size 12. Not sure what knot size that corresponds to.

Original - grid · size-12 - Plisson 1808

Original - grid · size-12 - Plisson 1808

www.plisson1808.com

I've tried smaller (a couple of travel brushes, one which was my first by Vulfix and then one by Acqua Di Parma) and those took much longer to lather. I bought and subsequently sold a larger brush without even trying it because it felt too heavy (a Muhle Sophist with a wood handle and metal base). Some day I may try something bigger than the Plisson Original size 12 but with a wood handle.

 

[blethenstrom]

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 think this is an excellent point. I have personally used smaller brushes < 22mm with face lathering and if I do use those I have to go back and add more product between passes because I am exclusively face lathering. It makes perfect sense.

So for the @Proper Irish this can become a factor to look at when determining the right brush.

 

[blade08]

Brushes with knots of 21mm and below, shine when palm lathering. I like doing that with creams from a tube and smaller knots work better in my experience.