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Success!! Boiling water dipping and lots of combing.
Kudos to pjgh, a gentleman & a scholar!!
That really is incredible!
"Undoughnutting" Synth Brush
- Thread starter Bogeyman
- Start Date
That really is incredible!
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- 766
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- North London
OP
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- 7,011
- Thread Starter
- #19
Hold the knot about halfway in the water for about 20 - 30 secs. and then pull out and shake loose water off quickly. The quickly start combing the "knap" ATG to straighten the strands. I had to repeat this several times on the Cashmere as it was in rough shape.
Remember: you have to comb.
Remember: you have to comb.
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- 88
Very informative,i had never heard of this or seen it but then i have only been de shaving 9 months.
- Messages
- 3,735
- Location
- Ireland
Thank you @Bogeyman for your post here as it had never occurred to me to comb a shave brush , but it works a treat for sure.Years ago when I started using synthetic brushes no one knew to comb the knot post-shave to prevent the dreaded "doughnut" effect that many face latherers get. I do that on my newer ones thereby avoiding this, but my Cashmere & Mew Brown have it bad and no amount of combing solves it. I have read however that if you dip the knot for a minute or so in boiling water and then comb/bind you can bring them back to new.
Has anyone done this & care to comment?
- Messages
- 15,872
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- Halifax, Republic of Yorkshire
You've never used a horse hair brush then @RussellR5555? Those things should come with a pet comb!
- Messages
- 3,735
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- Ireland
No Never used one of those
- Messages
- 15,872
- Location
- Halifax, Republic of Yorkshire
No Never used one of those
You do right ...
Nice idea, terrible in practice. It is literally impossible not to end up with a tangled knot when lathering. I really, really wanted the idea of horse to work out for me but I just could not get past having to groom it after every use. It was a stress ... and shaving should not be that.
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- 3,735
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- Ireland
I have only ever used Synthetics , but I am amazed by the variety you can get with synthetic brushes.
- Messages
- 15,872
- Location
- Halifax, Republic of Yorkshire
Indeed! It took a while, mind. When I came to traditional shaving the Muhle Silvertip Fibre, good as it is, was pretty much the only choice. That, or the not quite as good Kent Infinity. That was my first synthetic and I used it almost exclusively for a year or more; so much so the nylon started to get split ends like animal hair. Then PurTech and that was a game changer ...
Now, you've got literally everything from super-soft boar-alike cashmere to high end badger-alike tuxedo. Good to see companies like Kent taking a lead with their ethics, moving their entire line to synthetic.
... and so, when we get our nylon in a twist, a simple dunk in boiling water and comb through will reset it to near new.
OP
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- 7,011
- Thread Starter
- #28
I tried one from the 1st Gen. of synths before MÜHLE & Plissoft and it was barbaric!! Like the bristles were made of brass!!
- Messages
- 15,872
- Location
- Halifax, Republic of Yorkshire
... the fishing wire type? I've had a few through my hands (including one manky blend of nylon and badger - the 'BadgerLon') for reknotting, but never lathered up with any of them. I had one where I think someone had tried to soften the tips by burning them. I could tell from just running it over my arm that it had made quite the opposite effect.
- Messages
- 3,735
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- Ireland
I only recently tried what i think is Muhle Silvertip Fibre ? in an Ediwin Jagger Brush I bought from the BST , and I was surprised just how good it is.
OP
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- 7,011
- Thread Starter
- #31
In its time (I bought mine in late 2014) it was state of the art.
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- 2,094
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- Out of off of Chorley
Most of my synths are exhibiting doughnutting and a flattening of the top, as seen below. New they showed a dome when viewed from the side.
I have had these for several years (actually >7, 4, 3, >7 years) and they have been used many times (actually >203, 255, 154, >270 times).
It doesn't seem to affect their performance though so I'm not really bothered.
In comparison the horse hair brushes have fared better (5 and >7 years and used 70 and >191 times), even though most people say they get tangled easily I've never had a problem and don't comb them.
I have had these for several years (actually >7, 4, 3, >7 years) and they have been used many times (actually >203, 255, 154, >270 times).
It doesn't seem to affect their performance though so I'm not really bothered.
In comparison the horse hair brushes have fared better (5 and >7 years and used 70 and >191 times), even though most people say they get tangled easily I've never had a problem and don't comb them.