Semogue Boar eating lather

[IanR]

Why do some boar brushes 'eat lather' - the lather looks good in bowl and on brush? Once worked on face, it slowly disappears. The brush has had around 20 uses.
Some suggest soaking brush for a long period before lather and others say to use only a small amount of water in brush before. I've tried both approaches and perhaps minimising pre-soak works better.
Any help appreciated.

 

[Smudge]

Sounds as though your brush is not fully broken in yet, even after 20 uses. My Semogue 610 took about 50 wet/dry cycles before I started to like it. It's now one of my favourite brushes that is a regular in my rotation. Stick with it - you'll love it, eventually. I don't soak mine for too long - a couple of minutes is plenty.

 

[IanR]

Sounds as though your brush is not fully broken in yet, even after 20 uses. My Semogue 610 took about 50 wet/dry cycles before I started to like it. It's now one of my favourite brushes that is a regular in my rotation. Stick with it - you'll love it, eventually. I don't soak mine for too long - a couple of minutes is plenty.

Thanks for encouragement. I'll persevere

 

[Danielsan87]

Why do some boar brushes 'eat lather' - the lather looks good in bowl and on brush? Once worked on face, it slowly disappears. The brush has had around 20 uses.
Some suggest soaking brush for a long period before lather and others say to use only a small amount of water in brush before. I've tried both approaches and perhaps minimising pre-soak works better.
Any help appreciated.

I always pre-soak my boars in cold water whilst showering. Then I remove the cold water and get enough hot water in the sink to cover 3/4 of the knot. Result = knot soft and warm Now to the "eating" part, I found that when switching from one brush to another I always struggle at first. Why? because I got used with the previous brush I was using. Yes, they're all brushes, but they're all different. Each one of them requires more or less water/soap/pressure/soaking time/swirling/painting etc etc. The "some brushes" usually accused of eating lather are Semogues. I found this too with my 620 and SOC whilst transitioning from either one of my Omegas or one of my synthetics. But then, I adjust the "working" method et voilà, it works like a charm. With my Semogue I apply a lot less pressure when doing circular motion than with my Omega or synthetics. The knot is quite short and applying more pressure would release all the lather resulting in an excess of soap for the 1st pass and not enough for the 2nd. Another method is to leave a tad more water in the knot and take a little bit more time working the soap, or if using creams, adding a little bit more than usual. That does the trick for me. Hope the above make some sense.

 

[IanR]

I always pre-soak my boars in cold water whilst showering. Then I remove the cold water and get enough hot water in the sink to cover 3/4 of the knot. Result = knot soft and warm Now to the "eating" part, I found that when switching from one brush to another I always struggle at first. Why? because I got used with the previous brush I was using. Yes, they're all brushes, but they're all different. Each one of them requires more or less water/soap/pressure/soaking time/swirling/painting etc etc. The "some brushes" usually accused of eating lather are Semogues. I found this too with my 620 and SOC whilst transitioning from either one of my Omegas or one of my synthetics. But then, I adjust the "working" method et voilà, it works like a charm. With my Semogue I apply a lot less pressure when doing circular motion than with my Omega or synthetics. The knot is quite short and applying more pressure would release all the lather resulting in an excess of soap for the 1st pass and not enough for the 2nd. Another method is to leave a tad more water in the knot and take a little bit more time working the soap, or if using creams, adding a little bit more than usual. That does the trick for me. Hope the above make some sense.

Thanks for your detailed reply. This indeed makes sense. In fact some aspects I have noticed already.
This gives me confidence and a direction to proceed along.
Synthetics I always find so easy to work with. No doubt now that the experience there has caused my problem with the SOC.
Much obliged.