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What's the holy grail of synthetic brushes?

BradWorld

Dances with Wolfs
This right here with some added Rudy magic.


Yup! That right there is the pinnacle of the synth brush world. ^^^^

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A while back I bought a basic Maggard Tuxedo brush for travel. Small tube of Jack Black Supreme creme. Inexpensive, you're not out much money if you lose them. The brush dries quickly. Shake it out, wrap it in a dry washcloth for a couple minute, fluff it (back and forth across the palms from several directions and no clumps of damp brush).
It beats the pure badger I got for Christmas a couple years before. Somebody posted it beats a best badger. It's less than $20.
It does beg the question, what synthetic brushes are competitive with the better badger brushes and still cost less. Bang for the buck.
Not that it would stop me from buying a superior product, China is basically the only supplier of badger left.
 
A while back I bought a basic Maggard Tuxedo brush for travel. Small tube of Jack Black Supreme creme. Inexpensive, you're not out much money if you lose them. The brush dries quickly. Shake it out, wrap it in a dry washcloth for a couple minute, fluff it (back and forth across the palms from several directions and no clumps of damp brush).
It beats the pure badger I got for Christmas a couple years before. Somebody posted it beats a best badger. It's less than $20.
It does beg the question, what synthetic brushes are competitive with the better badger brushes and still cost less. Bang for the buck.
Not that it would stop me from buying a superior product, China is basically the only supplier of badger left.
I tend to think synthetics brushes are just different from badger. You either think that all good synthetics are better than badgers, or you think none of them are as good.

What characteristics of a good badger do you like? Backbone? Scrub? Water retention? Ease of splay? Natural / variable feeling tips? Some synthetic brushes can do some of those things as well as a badger, but not all of those things. And synthetics do some things better than badgers - softness, fast lathering, quick drying, for example.
 

Phoenixkh

I shaved a fortune
Here are my synthetic brushes. All of them are excellent....That said, I don't use them. I let me wife choose a couple for her to try. She's even semi-interested. We'll see how that develops. She chose the blue handle Alpha Shaving G5 "D" and the Rudy Vey STF.

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A while back I bought a basic Maggard Tuxedo brush for travel. Small tube of Jack Black Supreme creme. Inexpensive, you're not out much money if you lose them. The brush dries quickly. Shake it out, wrap it in a dry washcloth for a couple minute, fluff it (back and forth across the palms from several directions and no clumps of damp brush).
It beats the pure badger I got for Christmas a couple years before. Somebody posted it beats a best badger. It's less than $20.
It does beg the question, what synthetic brushes are competitive with the better badger brushes and still cost less. Bang for the buck.
Not that it would stop me from buying a superior product, China is basically the only supplier of badger left.
most of my synths beat my only badger, the finest 2 band Semogue, but this is only to me. Long time badger users are looking for a synth that mimics badger. New guys like me, that started with synths, look for a badger that is at least as good at applying lather as synths, i.e. it should be a good painter. the finest Semogue is not, it is lacking in this regard. It has a superior face feel, but the goal of lathering is to have a well applied lather, and in that the synths are better and quicker. Some synths even have a little scrub, without being poky. It is different from the badger feel, but different does not mean worse.
Anyway, this is just a different viewpoint. And as I said already, my PAA Amber Aerolite, on its own, lacks nothing, for 30eur. Maybe a $300 badger would be better, but I'm not in a hurry to find out as it beats the semouge that cost 2.5 times as much. I even prefer my omega boar to my badger. :cheerful:
 

musicman1951

three-tu-tu, three-tu-tu
Muehle STF
I don't know everything (yet), but I'm not foolish enough to argue with Rudy Vey about shaving brushes.

Of course there is no piece of shaving equipment that qualifies for the holy grail moniker. The variety of answers by the end of this post will show that to be true. My favorite is the Muehle STF, but if you like a lot of backbone the Omega EVO might be your choice.
 

never-stop-learning

Demoted To Moderator
Staff member
So, following the thread of "What's the holy grail of boar brushes", I had to create this one. I do love boar and badger, but for me, synthetics are my go to 7/8 out of 10 times when I shave.

They require less soap/cream to deliver a fantastic lather, are way easier and fast when cleaning up or drying, and literally everytime you use them, you know they will build fantastic lathers almost effortless, and there are plenty of fiber types to fullfill all the tastes.

For me, the sweetspot are the 26mm knots, and my favorite knots are: Timberwolf, Faux Horse and Cashmere!

So, considering this, what's your favorite knots, diameter, brands, etc? Share with us!
Mühle 25mm STF knot in a @Rudy Vey handle. :)

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I think I may need one of the Simpson M7s after reading this.

My experiences involve the Muhle, Plissoft style, Ubersoft and Synbad.

For many years I used my old Shave Revolution brand 22mm plissoft style until it was developing actual wear on the tips.

This was my solid daily driver for years except on weekends. Soft with great flow. Lather quality wasn’t super amazing but pretty good when I was being fast before work. Reknotted the brush and happy now.

When I reknotted I did some research to see what else was new on the market and got a Synbad knot. Not as much splay as the plissoft which can be nice, less springy and developed a real thick lather. Debated between this and a tuxedo knot but glad I chose this. Takes my top spot but still has to fight off the plissoft Style. Will be restoring another handle with one in time.

Muhle Gen 2 is what got me into believing synthetics can be good. It is still a great brush that I’ll use but my top two preference. It performs similar to the plissoft style but the plissoft feels softer and splays nicer which puts it ahead.

Ubersoft is soft, just not as soft as my favorites, similar to the Muhle. Builds lather well but other Brushes perform better for me and have a slightly better feel. It just faces stiff competition.
 
Has anyone tried ordering a Chubby 2 synth with longer loft, say 54 mm?

My Muhle STF 25mm is superb. I didn’t like the knot on Trafalgar T3—too short for knot width. So I’m guessing I wouldn’t enjoy a standard Chubby 2 synth.
 
My Muhle large STF used to be my favorite synthetic brush but for the last 2 weeks Ive been using my new Chubby 2 Sovereign grade.

Now my Muhle feels too soft.

This Chubby 2 reminds me of the old Simpsons best badger grade. Before they became too harsh for me to face lather with. When they were still decently soft but had the perfect amount of scritch. Great for soaps and creams.

This Chubby 2 Sovereign feels like a perfect mix of the old best badger feel and my worked in larger sized Omega Pro boars. Great flow through, backbone , scritch and just the right of improvement over my T3s.
 

Phoenixkh

I shaved a fortune
My Muhle large STF used to be my favorite synthetic brush but for the last 2 weeks Ive been using my new Chubby 2 Sovereign grade.

Now my Muhle feels too soft.

This Chubby 2 reminds me of the old Simpsons best badger grade. Before they became too harsh for me to face lather with. When they were still decently soft but had the perfect amount of scritch. Great for soaps and creams.

This Chubby 2 Sovereign feels like a perfect mix of the old best badger feel and my worked in larger sized Omega Pro boars. Great flow through, backbone , scritch and just the right of improvement over my T3s.
All my synths are nice but still a little too soft for me, as you noted. I have a Large STF, Omega Evo, 26mm G4 and G5"D" knots... I much prefer my SV 2.0 Manchurian badgers or even my Zenith 27.5mm Manchurian knot. I had a T3 but it was a bit too pokey for me... pokey instead of scrub.... or what i think you mean by "scritch".
 
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