I remember back when I joined B&B, before the "Boar Renaissance", badger brushes reigned supreme. The general consensus was that boars were okay but clearly inferior, and synthetics were hardly ever mentioned. Even today, synthetic brush threads are lucky to get more than a few replies, and one of those is always "They're crap...go with a quality badger." Such is their plight.
They got a little more talk in 2009 when Omega and Muhle (along with Edwin Jagger) released their respective new synthetic fibers, and last year when Taylor released theirs. They were better, but there were still some drawbacks. The fibers were soft but splayed awkwardly, sometimes prickly when wet, and face lathering was more difficult. But, even so, if you read Gary Young's interview that he recently gave to this website, he stated that he believed that the future of shaving brushes lay away from natural hair.
Well, based on this evidence, I can agree with that. Muhle's new synthetic hair, which they've dubbed "Silver Tip Fiber" and developed side-by-side with silvertip badger hair, is very impressive. It's superior to their synthetic fiber of just 2 years ago. If you didn't know beforehand that it was synthetic, when you first look at the brush, it would be hard to tell. It looks different, feels different, and side-by-side with an Edwin Jagger Super badger, it is eerily similar. But it's more than a gimmick. It performs differently to the 2009 fiber as well. When I first saw it on Muhle's US website and inquired about it, I received an email from a rep of Muhle Germany. He seemed genuinely excited about it, and said that they didn't just change its appearance, it was an all-new product, and even went so far to say that it just might be the "better" choice to badger in terms of creating lather and durability. Bold claim indeed. Sure, it was borne of marketing and salesmanship, but was he onto something? I was curious.
So the brush came yesterday (it wasn't in stock at Muhle US, so it came from Germany). I've tested it with a soap and a cream. I've shaved with it. And while there are a few drawbacks, it's clearly a huge step forward for synthetic. It's gone a long way to close the gap with natural hair, and I believe I'm experienced enough at this point with all kinds of brushes to say that.
Quality: It's Muhle. They make quality stuff. Well built, nice resin handle.
Knot: Again, it's Muhle, so it's not the densest thing in the world, but it's more dense than the first brush I ever got, a Muhle Pure badger. It's also slightly more dense than my Edwin Jagger Super, and noticeably denser than my Muhle 2009 synthetic.. I got a "size medium" brush, with a 21mm knot and I don't really know the loft (Muhle), but I would guess it's about 50mm-52mm, which is taller than I'm used to with non-boar brushes.
Hair: I guess it would be more correct to say "Fiber," but like I said before, the similarity to natural badger is quite remarkable. Side-by-side with my EJ Super, in natural light, there is a striking resemblance. It even FEELS like natural hair; very soft, with a little bit of scritch. But if you look closely, you can see that it's synthetic by the slight sheen the fibers give off in the light and the middle "stripe." But below the stripe and with the tips, this is eerily similar to Super badger. The tips even have the color variation that real hair does.
I know there are those who think this is a gimmick and there's a point to be made there. After all, if hair is synthetic, why make it look like badger? I don't know. I thought the color of the previous fiber was fine, but I guess Muhle thought that if they changed the texture of the hair they might as well change its appearance too.
Performance: Here's the substance. I tested it with Klar Klassik soap and Proraso cream. Both times, it made wonderful lather (synthetic fibers usually do, even if they've never been recognized for it on this forum, so this was no surprise). And I noticed immediately when loading the brush on the puck of Klar that they have solved the "splay" issue. This synthetic fiber does NOT stick together like a tube, making loading from a soap and face-lathering awkward. It spreads on soap and on the face just like natural hair, behaves like natural hair, and most importantly, retains water and moist lather like natural hair. Lather does not dry out in this brush like it does with Omega and 2009 Muhle Synthetics.
In terms of water retention, it's comparable to boar. It lathers cream and soap as well as badger or boar. Both times I got mountains of lather. In terms of heat retention, there's room for improvement, but I'm not complaining. So if there are drawbacks here, like I said, first would be heat retention. Second would be more of a personal thing -- the loft and density of the knot is pure Muhle/EJ style, so the drawbacks that come with that type of brush are the same with this brush. For now, as this is a Muhle development, that's the only option. Perhaps in the near future we'll see other companies copying this fiber and using it to make shorter, denser brushes.
This is a huge step forward, quite an innovative triumph from Muhle. In a few years, synthetics could probably be true equals to badgers. In the coming days I'll test it with more creams and soaps, but I don't really think I'll uncover any drawbacks. So if this is truly the way that shaving brushes are moving, based on this evidence, I don't think anyone can really complain.
*.....Cue "Terminator" theme music....*
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6auDCAGJgE&feature=related[/YOUTUBE]
They got a little more talk in 2009 when Omega and Muhle (along with Edwin Jagger) released their respective new synthetic fibers, and last year when Taylor released theirs. They were better, but there were still some drawbacks. The fibers were soft but splayed awkwardly, sometimes prickly when wet, and face lathering was more difficult. But, even so, if you read Gary Young's interview that he recently gave to this website, he stated that he believed that the future of shaving brushes lay away from natural hair.
Well, based on this evidence, I can agree with that. Muhle's new synthetic hair, which they've dubbed "Silver Tip Fiber" and developed side-by-side with silvertip badger hair, is very impressive. It's superior to their synthetic fiber of just 2 years ago. If you didn't know beforehand that it was synthetic, when you first look at the brush, it would be hard to tell. It looks different, feels different, and side-by-side with an Edwin Jagger Super badger, it is eerily similar. But it's more than a gimmick. It performs differently to the 2009 fiber as well. When I first saw it on Muhle's US website and inquired about it, I received an email from a rep of Muhle Germany. He seemed genuinely excited about it, and said that they didn't just change its appearance, it was an all-new product, and even went so far to say that it just might be the "better" choice to badger in terms of creating lather and durability. Bold claim indeed. Sure, it was borne of marketing and salesmanship, but was he onto something? I was curious.
So the brush came yesterday (it wasn't in stock at Muhle US, so it came from Germany). I've tested it with a soap and a cream. I've shaved with it. And while there are a few drawbacks, it's clearly a huge step forward for synthetic. It's gone a long way to close the gap with natural hair, and I believe I'm experienced enough at this point with all kinds of brushes to say that.
Quality: It's Muhle. They make quality stuff. Well built, nice resin handle.
Knot: Again, it's Muhle, so it's not the densest thing in the world, but it's more dense than the first brush I ever got, a Muhle Pure badger. It's also slightly more dense than my Edwin Jagger Super, and noticeably denser than my Muhle 2009 synthetic.. I got a "size medium" brush, with a 21mm knot and I don't really know the loft (Muhle), but I would guess it's about 50mm-52mm, which is taller than I'm used to with non-boar brushes.
Hair: I guess it would be more correct to say "Fiber," but like I said before, the similarity to natural badger is quite remarkable. Side-by-side with my EJ Super, in natural light, there is a striking resemblance. It even FEELS like natural hair; very soft, with a little bit of scritch. But if you look closely, you can see that it's synthetic by the slight sheen the fibers give off in the light and the middle "stripe." But below the stripe and with the tips, this is eerily similar to Super badger. The tips even have the color variation that real hair does.
I know there are those who think this is a gimmick and there's a point to be made there. After all, if hair is synthetic, why make it look like badger? I don't know. I thought the color of the previous fiber was fine, but I guess Muhle thought that if they changed the texture of the hair they might as well change its appearance too.
Performance: Here's the substance. I tested it with Klar Klassik soap and Proraso cream. Both times, it made wonderful lather (synthetic fibers usually do, even if they've never been recognized for it on this forum, so this was no surprise). And I noticed immediately when loading the brush on the puck of Klar that they have solved the "splay" issue. This synthetic fiber does NOT stick together like a tube, making loading from a soap and face-lathering awkward. It spreads on soap and on the face just like natural hair, behaves like natural hair, and most importantly, retains water and moist lather like natural hair. Lather does not dry out in this brush like it does with Omega and 2009 Muhle Synthetics.
In terms of water retention, it's comparable to boar. It lathers cream and soap as well as badger or boar. Both times I got mountains of lather. In terms of heat retention, there's room for improvement, but I'm not complaining. So if there are drawbacks here, like I said, first would be heat retention. Second would be more of a personal thing -- the loft and density of the knot is pure Muhle/EJ style, so the drawbacks that come with that type of brush are the same with this brush. For now, as this is a Muhle development, that's the only option. Perhaps in the near future we'll see other companies copying this fiber and using it to make shorter, denser brushes.
This is a huge step forward, quite an innovative triumph from Muhle. In a few years, synthetics could probably be true equals to badgers. In the coming days I'll test it with more creams and soaps, but I don't really think I'll uncover any drawbacks. So if this is truly the way that shaving brushes are moving, based on this evidence, I don't think anyone can really complain.
*.....Cue "Terminator" theme music....*
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6auDCAGJgE&feature=related[/YOUTUBE]
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My only experience with synthetic fiber is a $12 Body Shop brush that I've used in the past, but its performance is nowhere near what you describe in the Mühle.
