Basic question: Brush drying

[Canuck]

Just a very quick one: Should you absolutely hang a brush from a drip drying stand to dry it or are other ways acceptable?

At the moment I normally just squeeze mine out, shake twice, then lean it in my shaving bowl, handle down, bristles sticking up into mid air to dry. I hope I'm not causing damage or short life.

I'd like a razor and brush stand but they're crazy expensive... I don't think I've seen one under about 50 quid.

How do you dry yours?

 

[Adam D]

A few shakes and a quick rub with the towel and then leave it in the open to dry.

 

[Gary Young]

Don't invert the brush to dry - not necessary with a badger hair brush. Don't shake too much, a gentle 'paint brush style' rub on a towel.

 

[Urban Hermit]

Different manufacturers will often recommend how they suggest their brushes be dried and maintained, but mostly, personally, I gently shake most of the water out, then gently brush them dry-ish on a towel, and stand them on a shelf (or in their stand), usually bristles rampant.

 

[Blades]

I "wack" my brush in the shower corner area and quarter turn and keep "wacking" til there is no obvious water in it :mrgreen:

B

 

[Fido]

Don't invert the brush to dry - not necessary with a badger hair brush. Don't shake too much, a gentle 'paint brush style' rub on a towel.

Gary should know!

I must stop shaking my brushes quite so vigorously!

 

[Blades]

Whatta bout boar brushes Fido?

Blades

 

[henkverhaar]

once you shake out the water, there is no 'free' water in there anymore, all remaining water is 'tightly' associated with, or 'in' the hair, and needs to evaporate. This happens at the same rate, whether straight or inverted. If you hang your brush inverted after shaking it vigorously, I wager a bet that you won't ever find a droplet of water, or even just a water stain beneath the brush...

 

[Blades]

Wow!..I never knew that..looks like I can worry alot less about my brush bouncing on the floor!.. :mrgreen: Is this video irrelevant to the drying/rinsing process or is this guy overdoing it?...germaphobe. :roll:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NMhYtrCovI" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NMhYtrCovI</a><!-- m -->

Blades

 

[Mikael]

Don't invert the brush to dry - not necessary with a badger hair brush. Don't shake too much, a gentle 'paint brush style' rub on a towel.

Gary should know!

I must stop shaking my brushes quite so vigorously!

I did stop shaking, after reading Garys post, almost :lol:. Now I squeeze the brush gently, at the knots base, then when I hold it (in the squeeze mode) I gently skake the brush and then dry the tips gently on a towel. Most brushes dry sitting on the handle w bristel in the air.

 

[Dipesh]

That's what I do too Mikeal. The shake that I do is the tinyest one. More of a jolt. After that they get a quick wipe and hung to dry.

 

[Chris]

Hello,

After reading Gary's advice a while back not to shake the brush I did a little experimentation and found that if I gently squeezed the brush, about halfway down so as not to damage the base of the knot, a reasonable amount of water was expelled. I then gently stroked the tips of the brush against my hand, just enough to ease the hairs apart again, and then I repeated the squeeze, by doing this a couple of times I'd reckon I expelled most of the water I did when I used to shake my brush.

Hopefully with this new procedure I'm not placing any undue stress on the brush, it certainly seems more friendly than shaking it, however satisfying that originally felt.

Chris

 

[heroblob]

So whats the issue with shaking then. Are we saying that brushes aren't made strong enough to withstand the shake, or is it in case you loose your grip and send it sailing across the bathroom. I would have thought that resins and materials where more than capable of withstanding the shake. As for the hair itself, have you seen the way a badger dries itself off. :lol:

 

[henkverhaar]

I vigorously shake all my brushes, and have been doing so for all my life (although I have had badger brushes for only 2-3 years or so, I've had boar brushes for many more). THere's not enough mass in the knot of a brush to be damaged by acceleration (read: vigorous shaking). Shaking a fully loaded (with water) brush could potentially be damaging (although I doubt it), but a gentle squeeze before you shake easily takes care of that. In fact I think that lathering is more damaging to the knot/hairs than any amount of shaking ever can be...

But hey, dis is just opinion. Not backed by systematic fact...

 

[Fido]

I gave my brush the usual vigorous shake in the shower this morning. Old habits die hard.

I do the same with the few boar brushes I have. No idea if the hair makes any difference.

 

[Yellow Jim]

The first time I used a brand new Semogue 830, I gave it too vigorous a shake, the brush shot out of my hand, hit the sink and ended up with a tiny chip on one of the corners. It's barely noticeable, but still enough to annoy.

I hold my brushes a bit tighter now.