What's the best (stiff) shaving brush for soap

[douleny]

hello all,

this is my first activity here on B&B, however I've been lurking around, reading what you guys had to say about different wet shaving topics in the past 4 months or so...and i thank you for all the feedback you gave me.
now, i started wet shaving around 4 months ago, and i'm sure as most of you did, i went online and bought everything from proraso to floris and got the Edwin Jagger razor plus the fatboy...of course this all was done to find the gear that suits me/my skin the best....as someone said it's all trial and error at the beginning.
i think i found the fatboy to be really good and i'm going to stick with it for a while...as for the cream/soap i found that the D.R Harris Arlington to be monumentally amazing...i totally fell in love with it...the soap of course.
now, we reached to the brush part...i got the Edwin jagger best badger hair which was my first "good" brush and later i got the Semogue 2040HD silvertip badger which i also love.
but...both of my brushes are somehow soft and i think for soap, it's better to get a stiffer brush...so to get to my question:
what do you think is the best (stiff) shaving brush for soap? ... price is not a big deal...

 

[Jarick]

You don't need a stiff brush for soap, but you could try a good boar. If you like your Semogue, an 830 or SOC would be a good choice.

 

[RVshave]

I used a Vie Long HH and it picked up MWF really well. If you liked Arlington then you'll love DRH Windsor.

 

[douleny]

i will give the semogue boar a try...a bit reluctant about horse hair brushes...any other great stiff brushes?...i haven't tried the windsor yet but it's in the pipeline, it should arrive within 5 days or so...i would love to meet the soap that will beat the arlington...

 

[SteveWY]

There is no "best" (as in everything), just what works for you. That said, in my opinion as a mainly soap user, I find that any of the Semogue brushes and the Badger & Blade Essential (Omega made) perform very well with all soaps, even hard triple-milled soaps.

 

[Dave Colangelo]

Boar is the go to for most when they think "stiff". Personally I don't like (almost hate) boar. For me it takes to long to soak, does not quite bloom like some of the badger knots I have. I also find that boar tends to clump up in a way that badger does not. I started on soaps and am now almost exclusively a cream user, I do go back on occasion to soap when the mood hits. When I use soap I always use my SOC in Silvertip. It is as soft as a badger should be but has the stiffness needed to lather up soaps really well. My Duke1 and Simpson 55 would be too floppy and I have yet to try soaps with my chubby 1 but I dont see why it wouldn't work at least ok.

Thus my suggestion would be the SOC in Silvertip badger.


Regards
Dave

 

[Icebear]

Semogue SOC boar (Vintage Scent) or Vie-Long (Gifts&Care) White Horse or natural brown horse (both custom fan shape). Both VL's are awesome latherers no matter what you throw at them. All of these will require some break in period to get rid of the funk and get the hairs soften a bit.

And welcome to B&B !

 

[bosseb]

so to get to my question: what do you think is the best (stiff) shaving brush for soap? ... price is not a big deal...

I have attempted a write up on some of the things to think about while comparing brushes. The first part (on my stick brushes) is here: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/359040-Stick-brushes-shootout . The second part (on my puck brushes) is still unwritten.

Although the comparison is about my stick brushes I do think that it might assist you in determining in which direction you might go. The brushes are certainly capable of handling both sticks and pucks! These are the brushes I compared:

​

 

[douleny]

wow!!! don't know about their performance but your brushes are good looking

 

[douleny]

ok...i just ordered the SOC boar with cherry wood handle...i think it should be good enough...i also noticed that unlike badger hair brushes where you have pure, best and silver tip grades...in boar you get just boar

 

[Jut]

ok...i just ordered the SOC boar with cherry wood handle...i think it should be good enough...i also noticed that unlike badger hair brushes where you have pure, best and silver tip grades...in boar you get just boar

now lets talk about 75% tops....

 

[jodypress]

Good luck with the boar. I tried one once and stuck with it until it was broken it. I just couldn't get on with it.

The Semogue SOC LE 2012 is a fantastic brush. It's a badger/boar mix and will devour soaps.

 

[Jimmyinkedup]

I like my Omega Boar when im looking for a stiff brush. 10065 I believe ...

 

[Eeyore]

10065 or 10066 would be good choices indeed.

 

[nymtber]

I love my Semogue 1470 boar. It doesnt hold lather like my badger does (just a cheap Tweezerman badger) but it DOES eat up soap better, resulting in much SLICKER lather. Slickness is important, more so than a big poofy lather.

Now, I still swear by my badger when it comes to creams or shaving sticks. The boar just can't compete with those two. Palmolive stick with my badger is a match made in heaven for travel.

 

[Dngolden]

I was at Pasture's in NYC looking for a brush that was stiffer than my Simpson Duke 3 but still soft on the face. After trying about a dozen boar, acrylic, and horse brushes on the back of my hand, I settled on this Vie-Long. I've been quite happy. I used the standard BB pre-soak/wash to help break in and eliminate any odor. The brush seems to provide a good balance between picking up soap and softness (not as soft as my Duke, but better with soaps). The acrylic handle is indented which makes the grip quite nice. I've not really had any breaking in issues after the initial soak. While i'm not totally into the "no animals are harmed" thing, all else being equal it is nice to know the brush came from a renewable resource and that the animal lives on! At $40, pretty good deal. In full disclosure, I've not used a boar brush, so I can't compare.

(P.s. I'm pimping for the on-line shop in the link below, which I've never used - it just came up in a search.
But if you're in NYC, GO TO PASTUERS. They let me try dozens of brushes and even did a blind test on my with my final two).
http://www.shopmasc.com/Vie-Long-Ho...th-WhiteTransparent-Acrylic-Handle_p_852.html

 

[Steve_in_CT]

I recently bought a Vulfix 404 "Grosvenor"; it's a combination boar and badger. The first 2-3 weeks I wasn't too sure about it, but now that it's broken in I really like it. It's quite "scrubby" so it works well with soaps. And it was under $20 shipped from diamondedgeltd.com.

 

[vpayne]

Don't mess around, get a Semogue SOC 2 band finest, or most 2 band finest brushes will do fine. You could also get a 2 band finest knot form TGN and make your own brush or have someone set the knot into a handle for you. They will not break down, be floppy or be too soft.
Good Luck.
Vic

 

[MrLara]

Are there different "types" of boar knots?

I have this omega:


And besides that simpson, it's the softest brush i have.

Now the pure badger from Col. Conk, seems to have a bit more "scratch/stiff" in the bristles.

 

[Icebear]

ok...i just ordered the SOC boar with cherry wood handle...i think it should be good enough...i also noticed that unlike badger hair brushes where you have pure, best and silver tip grades...in boar you get just boar

Congrats !
I only have two backup brushes of the same type and both are the Semogue SOC's (a 2-band and a boar).
There are actually also different grades of boar bristles , like tops and premium. These have been mentioned somewhere here on B&B already but I don't have time now to search for it.