Explain the obsession with backbone
- Thread starter wayne_m
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it really depends on what you mean ???
if you mean scrubby then i love it,
a proper brush will agitate the hairs & get the soap underneath the hair but i also like the exfoliating feeling i get.
if you mean scrubby then i love it,
a proper brush will agitate the hairs & get the soap underneath the hair but i also like the exfoliating feeling i get.
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Hmm. I'm not sure "yardbroom" is what people have in mind. There's scritch (prickliness), scrub, the exfoliating feeling of some brushes, and there's backbone which is the knot's tendency to keep or spring back to shape, it's a feeling of firmness. A brush can have some stiffness and still have soft tips. Some very very soft fluffy brushes feel lovely but are hopeless for bowl lathering as they're just too floppy. Too much backbone, however soft the tips, might also not make for a particularly good feeling or flow of lather. At the end of the day it's personal preference and will depend on how you use your brush, face or bowl, cream or triple milled hard soap etc.
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I‘m not a fan of brushes with strong backbone, everyone has their preference though. I love my Kent Silvertip brushes and have never has an issue with them lathering triple milled cakes of soap.
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I can only refer to boars and synths as they have their own ways of working.
Boars
Backbone is a good thing. When the brush is wet and building a lather, a brush without is more likely to push the lather around or hold it and I find they are less enjoyable to build a lather with. I much prefer a brush with some backbone, as the knot it more likely to keep some shape and add air to the lather, and create a lather with more cushion.
Also, I find boar brushes with a lot of backbone to begin with, some of it will be lost as the brush breaks in. My Omega 10075, with a 23mm/48mm knot was stiff and pokey to begin with but after a number of shaves it was much easier to splay and a joy to use.
Synths
I find brushes with a lot of backbone are less likely to splay and the harder they are to splay, the less enjoyable they can be for face lathering.
They can still be great brushes for building a lather though. I prefer soft floppy synths without much backbone (eg Cashmere, SynBad). I have no problem using these brushes to load from hard soaps.
I like a bit of variety in my brushes as well. It's nice using a scrubby boar brush one day to face lather a shaving stick, and a soft fluffy cloud SynBad to face lather a shaving cream the next day.
These observations are purely YMMV.
Boars
Backbone is a good thing. When the brush is wet and building a lather, a brush without is more likely to push the lather around or hold it and I find they are less enjoyable to build a lather with. I much prefer a brush with some backbone, as the knot it more likely to keep some shape and add air to the lather, and create a lather with more cushion.
Also, I find boar brushes with a lot of backbone to begin with, some of it will be lost as the brush breaks in. My Omega 10075, with a 23mm/48mm knot was stiff and pokey to begin with but after a number of shaves it was much easier to splay and a joy to use.
Synths
I find brushes with a lot of backbone are less likely to splay and the harder they are to splay, the less enjoyable they can be for face lathering.
They can still be great brushes for building a lather though. I prefer soft floppy synths without much backbone (eg Cashmere, SynBad). I have no problem using these brushes to load from hard soaps.
I like a bit of variety in my brushes as well. It's nice using a scrubby boar brush one day to face lather a shaving stick, and a soft fluffy cloud SynBad to face lather a shaving cream the next day.
These observations are purely YMMV.
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I can't stand a limp, sloppy, mop for a shaving brush. There needs to be firmness and some scrub or you may as well just smear the stuff on with your hand.