How to hold your brush?

Fido

Fido

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Location
New Forest, England.
I saw this on Mantic's blog:

"Hi Louis. There are two reasons why it can be a good idea to hold the brush by the base of the bristles. First, it helps retain water. The real business of mixing water and cream or soap for lather takes place deep inside the center of the brush, sometimes called the "breech". The wetter the breech, the more likely you are to get a good lather more quickly. Second, it can give you more control over where you're lathering, avoiding lather in an ear on up the nose.
Do you have to hold it by the base? No. If you have a relatively small brush with high quality hair, you may not notice any difference. But its one of those little tricks that can help a new shaver with getting a handle on their new pleasure."

I wonder what brush makers think about this? Was it their intention that we should hold some of their brushes by the base of the bristles.

It's not something I have bothered with, but others here may find it helps?
 
I fear this is flawed logic, mainly based on the jargonized fairytales whipped up by good (ahem) old Charles Roberts.

- I've tried holding a brush by the base of the bristles; I find it about as easy or difficult to lather tight spots as when holding it by the handle. The claim that it will hold more water is IMNSHO false. Basically you're squeezing the brush; with most materials (including, I think, brushes) squeezing decreases the amount of free space, i.e. water holding capacity.

- There is essentially no major movement of water and air within the base of the brush. The generation of lather really takes place at the end of the brush, where the tips of the hairs whip air into the water/soap mixture to generate a stable foam. The so-called 'breech' of the brush is nothing more than a lather reservoir, if that.

- Oh and BTW that whole hoopla from CR about 'dry' and 'wet' mixes, and how all normal soaps and creams are dry mixes of air and soap, and his magical products are a mixture of water and soap is just so much BS. Any lather is a foam of air (or other gas, if from an aerosol can) bubbles with a soap solution envelope. The soap's main function here is to lower the surface tension of the water film so that the air bubbles are stable (i.e. do not disintegrate OR merge into larger ones). The function of the lather is hydration and keeping the wetted area hydrated. Additionally, the soap degreases the hairs and the lather lubricates the razor.

Henk
 
I raised this because I am one of these people who think that when someone designs something they take fully into account its intended use. Then make it so that it is as effective as possible in doing the job. I think that if something has a handle, that's the best thing to hold.

Now I must get on with watching the cricket. So glad I'm retired.
 
I've tried both holding the handle and holding the base of the bristles. I didn't notice any real advantage with the latter, so I hold the brush as it was meant to be held, by the handle.

Ian
 
Fido said:
I raised this because I am one of these people who think that when someone designs something they take fully into account its intended use. Then make it so that it is as effective as possible in doing the job. I think that if something has a handle, that's the best thing to hold.
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Yes. However, I don't think shaving brushes were ever designed along those lines. A brush simply was a means to bundle and keep together a bunch of animal hairs. I think the only design that went into shaving brushes is in the aesthetics of said handle, not in the actual function of the brush and its handle. That's something you'd expect from a graduation project of an industrial design major...
 
hunnymonster said:
It's a matter of preference surely - if you have a floppy brush, you can increase the apparent stiffness by holding the base of the knot, rather than the handle...
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True, but in that case I would probably go for a more permanent solution, even if it only consisted of a few rubber bands...
 
hunnymonster said:
It's a matter of preference surely - if you have a floppy brush, you can increase the apparent stiffness by holding the base of the knot, rather than the handle...
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I've got a floppy one but I can make it stiffer by squeezing it at the base. :shave
 
Pig Cat said:
hunnymonster said:
It's a matter of preference surely - if you have a floppy brush, you can increase the apparent stiffness by holding the base of the knot, rather than the handle...
Click to expand...

I've got a floppy one but I can make it stiffer by squeezing it at the base. :shave
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I clicked on this thread knowing that PC would have posted somewhere. On scrolling down, I was disappointed not to see his post. Then, Lo and behold, it's the last one! hehe.

I hold it as a fellow member taught me a while ago: with the end of the handle touching my palm and fingers at the base of the brush hair. Brushing like this looks cool!
 
it depends on the handle but i never hold the knot

if it's too floppy get a stiffer brush or a smaller knot :roll:

the only advice i know that differs from brush manufacturers is how to apply the lather, paint strokes (Simpson) or do as you please
 
This is advice from an old barbering manual, because I remember seeing it discussed on either SMF or B&B and someone had even pasted in a picture from the manual. If I remember correctly, it showed the brush being held by the handle, but with two fingers in the bristles - supposedly to give the barber a bit more control of the brush.
 
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