Got my Chubby 2 Best!

J

jhclare

Messages
517
Hi all,

I cannot contain my excitement. I have a Chubby! :mrgreen: The brush, I mean....

It's a work of art - what a beauty! My God - it is dense, REALLY dense, so much badger. It's also almost twice the weight of the other brushes that I have which are the same height. If anyone complains about this brush not being as good as the pre-Vulfix ones, then.... well, I'd love to have one.

I've used it this morning. This isn't just another brush - this is in a league of its own.

Did I mention it was dense? This holds a LOT of water - you have to make sure you shake and squeeze out enough water before loading.

My initial observations:

  • It's the first brush I've had that smells of Badger. I hope this will fade!
  • The handle is very comfortable, more than I expected it to be. I imagine the size 1 would be too small.
  • You haven't experienced a dense brush until you've tried this, believe me. Makes my Rooney feel floppy in comparison.
  • The brush is quite large, yet applies lather in a very controlled and efficient fashion. It does not splay out like other brushes!
  • The lather is built and kept in the brush. This makes it far less messy than my other brushes, which seem to throw lather everywhere before I've even begun to build on the face. Great for loading soap out of a jar/tub.
  • The lather seems to be more creamy with smaller bubbles. I have not made any meringue-like lather yet! I will practice.
  • The lather is SLICK (tried with Tabac)
  • The brush is SCRUBBY. This is not a brush for those who want that luxury, pillow-soft feel. This is for die-hard face latherers! This will wake you up in the morning. Not for the faint of heart.
  • The brush has already shed 4-5 hairs. I hope this is because it's new, and that this does not continue, like my Rooney 3/1.[/list:u]

    Now the amazing part - I picked up a chunk of my discarded (and loathed...) MWF. I actually was able to create something resembling a shave-ready lather! Very dense and slick. Wow.... I will definitely try this again for an actual shave. It may just be what I needed to get lather out of this soap (and believe me, I've tried everything else...).

    I will post pics and a full review when I get time!

    Initial verdict - a full-on, very different experience to anything else I've used. I look forward to breaking it in and trying it with different products and for bowl lathering too. I have a feeling this may become my only brush!

    John
 
I am now convinced this brush has tiny lather-making elves living inside it. I just made a MOUNTAIN of lather from a small amount of Taylors Avocado.... :mrgreen:
 
Its a lot of money but its a lot of brush.
Initial hair loss is normal but go easy with the pressure whilst face lathering.
As you have discovered it's dense and needs a proper soaking and a lot of loading with soap, like a good pair of shoes I have found it best not to use it on consecutive days to let it dry out thoroughly.
It will take a while to work out how you like to use it but you will in time and love the experience.

Congratulations...welcome to the club.
 
Initial hair loss is normal but go easy with the pressure whilst face lathering.
Click to expand...

I've lathered up a few times today, and it has lost around 2 hairs each time, maybe 10 in total. Is this normal? I hope it stops....

like a good pair of shoes I have found it best not to use it on consecutive days to let it dry out thoroughly.
Click to expand...

Really? Why is this? Does this contribute to hair loss, or lather quality?

Regards,

John
 
I have a Chubby 1 & 2 and they have not lost that many hairs in all the time that I have owned them, if it continues at the same rate then keep the hair and contact the vendor. To answer your'e questions....

Would using a damp brush make any noticeable difference to brush performance? Probably not.
Does using a damp brush increase the likely hood of shedding? Difficult to prove one way or the other.
Will allowing your'e brush to dry thoroughly between use increase the life of your'e brush. Probably.

I suppose the thing to consider is that if the hair is damp/hydrated it is more elastic, weaker and has changed in volume so probably more susceptible to breaking or shedding not forgetting all the active chemicals you have also introduced to it. I just prefer to make sure my brush is absolutely dry before use.

After a good rinse, I just give mine a squeeze, some shakes and a rub over a towel.
 
i look forward to that review. I recently bought my first Simpsons (Major in Super) and I could not believe such a small brush could hold that much lather. Soft yet some spine in it and each shave gets better. It is incredibly densely packed and really benefits from a good soak.

I believe it does help to have a minimum of two brushes and alternate. My first year DE shaving was spent with an HD and a EJ Medium Best and toward the end of the year I noticed that it had started to shed at least 5 or 6 bristle per shave. I then got a second brush the next Christmas and gave the EJ a good wash in borax and then a vinegar soak. I left it to dry and then used them alternatively which seemed to address the hair loss, it still sheds a little but one a shave if any rather than half a dozen.

Perhaps it is shedding the same and am not so concerned because I have a few more now. What I do know is that the SR3824 and dense brushes take more then 24 hours to dry and in the short term this is not an issue. However I do not think anything keeps well in constantly damp environment.
 
Still shedding

Well,

A few weeks in and my beloved Chubby is still shedding. I would say 1-2 hairs each shave. Not good!

I am going to return it to Shaving Shack once I return to the UK next week and I'll report back.

I will hopefully have a replacement Rooney 3/1 waiting for me when I get back - I seem to be cursed with shedding brushes!

 
It still not unusual for a bit of shedding. It is very dense with something like 1000 hairs per gram if not more, so a couple per shave is still not excessive. Up to you, see what Shaving Shack say or are you definitely going for a return.?
 
Mine has continued to shed but seems to have calmed down a bit now. I'm still going to ask for a replacement I think.

The brush has broken in well and is much softer than it was when I first got it. It's actually softer than my Rooney 3/1 Silvertip (although that has not yet broken in fully).

I think Simpsons Best is a fantastic grade of hair, really good value. I don't see what could be improved by getting the Super!
 
These are super dense brushes, I'd expect some hair loss every now and them..if it is continually excessive then a good retailer should sort it out for you, if not then Vulfix/Simpson definitely will.
 
Re: Got my Chubby 2 Best! - UPDATE

Well, it seems to have calmed down now. Still very dense!

However...

....after a couple of months' use, it has broken in, and is now a very different brush to that described in my original post.

The bristles are now much softer and not as scrubby. This I feel is a shame as I really enjoyed the scrubbiness when it was new. It has also become a bit more floppy. This is I presume the mark of Vulfix brushes!

Now, I read somewhere that Simpsons hair grading was slightly different to other manufacturers. I've read that Super grade is actually firmer (but with softer tips) than the Best grade. Is this true? I wonder if this still holds with the Vulfix made brushes? Or maybe the information I read relates specifically to the Vulfix made.

So - I'm deciding what to do with it. At the moment I've returned to my Rooney 3/1 (which was replaced due to shedding). It was very stiff when new but is now breaking in nicely and is resembling more my original Rooney before I returned it (minus the shedding!)

It has a shorter loft than the Chubby and is much more scrubby - something which I prefer, I think.

So - please take this into consideration if thinking about buying a Vulfix-made Chubby.

It is now a strange combination of floppy and soft, yet too dense for bowl lathering!

John
 
My Chubby is now on the BST:

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It's a fantastic brush, a lot of badger, very soft (softer than my Rooney Super). I feel it would perform wonderfully for face lathering creams.

It's just not what I was hoping for in a Chubby model. I like smaller brushes and thinking I should have gone for a pre-Vulfix CH1.

I hope someone will give it a caring home!

Regards,

John
 
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