Out of interest, what soap are you using
@Ian5?
When I came to traditional shaving, I bought a cheap badger off eBay and didn't really like it. I replaced it within a very short time with the Kent Infinity Silvertex, which I used exclusively for well over a year before buying a further brush. It's a good 'un!
We could introduce you to the notion of face-lathering ...
Simply wash your face with hot water and optionally bar soap, nothing special. With a still damp face, wet the brush and flick once to remove the excess water. Load up on the soap and maybe add a drop or two of water to encourage a good loading. Then, the fun part ... lather up on your face. First, you kinda run it all around the area to be shave so as to incorporate all the water on your face. Lather and add small amounts of water as necessary until you get a thick and over-paintable lather. Second and subsequent passes can then be painted on.
No need for an exfoliating product, either.