When is a boar brush finished breaking in?

[beginish]

As many of you know, I was inspired by jkh's Brush Chronicle of the Semogue 1305 to pick one up for myself. I have been very pleased with it from the very first lather, when I bowl lathered Cade soap and the brush gave me the best lather with that soap that I have achieved. I am a believer!

I've used the brush about a dozen times and the bristles have been splitting very nicely. The brush has been getting softer at the tips and I have ventured a couple of face lathers with it with good success. So my question for the experts is, when will break in be over and how can I tell?

 

[Loric]

It took months of use for my SOC to break in. Even on days when I did not use it to shave, I made sure to soak it. When all of the hairs split, I called it broken in.

 

[vitaman]

When I decided my 1305 was broken in, the white tips were not only split but there were not as many gaps from a overhead view when dry. The knot when looking down on it will appear more full or filled in. Hope that makes sense.

 

[beginish]

Thanks, guys. Both make sense to me. Given how well this brush has performed, making gobs of lather from Day 1, the notion of a break in period still seems pretty foreign to me. Is there something special about the 1305 that makes it so good right out of the box?

 

[Red Horn]

1460 for 2 1/2 months using about three times a week. Tips are 50% split up nicely. Still sucks in lather and has a ways to go.

620 for less than a month used couple times a week. Tips still appear like new, but it face lathers soaps almost a nicely as my 4 month old Simpson two-band.

 

[beaver7158]

My 1305 is in the mail. Do I have to do anything to it to break it in? Is there anything that can speed up the process or make the process better?

 

[Klarion]

IMO, I don't truly consider a boar broken in until the brush's ability to absorb and retain water in the bristle has stopped changing. Up to this point, it will get enough use for the tips to properly split and curl, softening for your face. This is about 45-60 uses, in my estimate. From this point on, your brush shouldn't change too much and the performance should feel similar to how it will be with to 2 to 3 times more uses.

 

[Drubbing]

Thanks, guys. Both make sense to me. Given how well this brush has performed, making gobs of lather from Day 1, the notion of a break in period still seems pretty foreign to me. Is there something special about the 1305 that makes it so good right out of the box?

I've only had 1 Semouge that broke in after just a few shaves - the 1460.

The 1305 took at least 2 weeks of daily use for me. It was always pretty soft, but didn't retain water well, and made loading tricky. Now it's no problem. The SOC took well over 3 weeks, and was abused daily for a while.

I think there's bound to be some variation in break in even among the same model of brush - the hair is the same grade but different animal(s), and the variables of local water and products used.

 

[Islander]

The combination of hair grade and density will be the main issue on determining the time of break in, IMO.
The 1305 has premium grade hair and a knot that´s not too dense, so that makes it pretty much usable straight out of the box and with a relatively short break in period.
My 830(same hair type but more dense) I started using it right away and the only issue at first was the lather hogging but the tips were very nice from start and I think it´s part of the process to follow our brush "evolving" and enjoy it very much!
Currently working on a 1438 and it´s a lot longer process (similar to a 620,I imagine), but a champion face lathering soaps from the start!