Can a brush be too dense...?

MandoBear

MandoBear

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I've been using my Vulfix 2235 for a few weeks now and really enjoying the way it whips up a fine lather in almost no time. Now, the Vulfix isn't the densest or stiffest of brushes (I recall Antad once colourfully referring to it being "As soft as shite."). I wouldn't go quite that far, but it is pretty soft and floppy.

For a change, I swapped over to my Simpsons Colonel - a slightly shorter, smaller knot, and way more dense. And here's the thing... The Simpsons does produce a good lather, though it takes more effort and more working the soap, but it feels like the devil's own job to get the brush to release the lather from its clutches and onto my face. The brush has a lovely dense, firm feel on the face (and is more satisfying in that regard than the Vulfix), but it's like the brush just wants to hold onto as much of its precious lather as possible. It can be done, but it takes quite a bit more cunning and persuasion. In contrast, the Vulfix delivers and releases lather onto my face with great generosity and without any hesitation.

So I have this kind of enigma - the Simpsons feels like the nicer, better brush, but the Vulfix gets on and lathers up my face in a much easier manner. I like both brushes (and I'm not about to part with either) - but I just wondered whether others have had similar experiences and observations? I feel there must be a happy medium somewhere in the middle.
 
Short answer is no, use more product.

Use the Colonel for a solid week or three without going back to the Vulfix and start by overloading with more soap than you would ever need, you may also find leaving a bit more water in the brush helpful. Work back and lessen the amount of soap loading per shave until you've found a happy medium between quantity and ease.

I've been using almost exclusively this one brush for the last three months, just for a change I swapped it with something quite different that I'd happily used before. I couldn't lather worth a damn I was so unused to how this brush performed, practice then give it a continuous run, unless you have a freak of a brush (which I doubt) you should be able to overcome.
 
Wise advice, Tony.

I was finding this morning that working the soap for longer, and then dripping in a little more water did seem to be the way forward. It's just interesting how quickly one can get out of the technique of getting the best from a particular brush/soap/razor. Always a balance between trying and exploring different things (for a bit of variety), and getting really familar with (and getting the best from) one particular setup. All part of the fun.
 
A tight dense knot will require more effort to lather up and it will hold the lather more/longer than a softer floppier knot.
The hairs won't separate as easily as a loose knot which means less air at the business end between the hairs which means longer to lather up.
And when the hairs are charged, again, becaause of the tighter hair cofiguration the lather gets trapped and won't release as readily as a looser hair knot.
I often notice this when I'm testing knot types/lofts etc and that for what it's worth is my explanation.
As antdad rightly says, water and soap balance does also comes into play.
regards, beejay
 
The "breach" of the knot is certainly the engine room, try this as an experiment...

All things being equal try lathering by squirting shaving cream (I find tube is easiest) directly onto the tips of the knot, then try lathering by squirting the same quantity directly into the breach of the knot. See how easier and quicker the latter is? Imagine what you then have to do to get a decent quantity of hard soap into the breach of dense knot.

That's why I particularly favour the hybrid method of lathering hard soap...face lather as normal then (with chops still lathered) move to a bowl and start lathering again, no need to reload as I find moving to the bowl releases the trapped lather and I can paint it on for subsequent passes which I prefer to do anyway.
 
antdad said:
That's why I particularly favour the hybrid method of lathering hard soap...face lather as normal then (with chops still lathered) move to a bowl and start lathering again, no need to reload as I find moving to the bowl releases the trapped lather and I can paint it on for subsequent passes which I prefer to do anyway.
Click to expand...

Sounds like I may be trawling the local charity shops for a suitable bowl for lathering...:icon_smile:
 
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