Anyone else like really old brushes?

Well I thoroughly enjoyed looking at your pictures, Jar. And using my vintage butterscotch Rooney earlier today was sublime. Marked as best badger but as soft as many a silvertip or super. Will be trying out a vintage butterscotch Culmak made for Addis and labelled as such for my next shave but that will be Tuesday. Be interesting to use a vintage Pure Bristle knot.
 
Yesterday and today it has been two brothers with different mothers. Yesterday was a StrongSet wood handle boar while today was a Century pure badger. Both brands were made by the Leopold Ascher Company of New York, USA.

The sixth and seventh brushes from left on bottom shelf:
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Very nice indeed, @jar . It's a great feeling to be giving these old timers a run out and find that they're just as good as and in some cases, better than their modern counterparts.

Yesterday I used a butterscotch Culmak 44 labelled for Addis, who make or made lots of plastic utility goods like bins, utensils, etc. It's a pure bristle and worked very well indeed.

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I was lucky enough to find another nice Peerless pure badger brush for sale, this one from the Canadian plant. It, like other Peerless pure badger brushes definitely could pass for a modern High Mountain White or Manchurian or Silvertip from any of the modern makers.

I decided to do another top shot but in addition to a couple Peerless pure badger brushes that are over a half century old to include a Kent BLK8 and Blk4 silvertips, a Thater 4125 Finest Silvertip, a Semogue 730 Super Badger, a Zenith 506 Manchurian and a Whipped Dog High Mountain White. Unfortunately I did not remember where I put each brush and although I can recognize one for sure I cannot pick out the two that are half century old pure badger.

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Do the knots of old brushes if unused remain OK after years? Because i have <cough> a few boar brushes in stock.

P.S: What do you feed your little furry creatures and they look so fat and happy? :D
 
Obelix said:
Do the knots of old brushes if unused remain OK after years? Because i have <cough> a few boar brushes in stock.

P.S: What do you feed your little furry creatures and they look so fat and happy? :D
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Generally, yes as long as you give them a Spa Vacation before expecting them to work.

Here is what I suggest.

What is needed is Borax powder, Dawn dish detergent and a favored shaving cream.

First fill a bowl that is about as deep as the bristles with warm water. Put a small handful of Borax powder in and stir with your fingers until it is dissolved and the water feels silky. Add a drop or two of Dawn. Put the bristles in the bowl and just let them soak for an hour or so. Then take them out (save the water for the next day) and rinse the brushes under running water.

Gently wrap the brushes in an Egyptian Cotton towel and let it absorb most of the water then let the brush dry over night.

Repeat the Borax Dawn soak daily until the bristles feel like new.

Then, using a cream you like build a mess of lather. Flush the brush to get all the soap out and then do a set of twenty east-west swipes on a towel and twenty north-south swipes and let the brush rest over night.

Repeat the shaving cream cycle increasing the post flush swipe sets until you are doing four iterations with no signs of hair loss.

Should be good to go at that point.

If they have been sitting only for years and not decades then only one Spa Day might be needed but you can judge what is needed by feel. If they feel brittle go slow. Once they feel like a new brush they are ready to go into rotation.

Half Century or more (wood handle Strongset likely from late 1920-early 1930s) old Boar knots:
medium800.jpg
 
jar said:
Generally, yes as long as you give them a Spa Vacation before expecting them to work.

Here is what I suggest.

What is needed is Borax powder, Dawn dish detergent and a favored shaving cream.

First fill a bowl that is about as deep as the bristles with warm water. Put a small handful of Borax powder in and stir with your fingers until it is dissolved and the water feels silky. Add a drop or two of Dawn. Put the bristles in the bowl and just let them soak for an hour or so. Then take them out (save the water for the next day) and rinse the brushes under running water.

Gently wrap the brushes in an Egyptian Cotton towel and let it absorb most of the water then let the brush dry over night.

Repeat the Borax Dawn soak daily until the bristles feel like new.

Then, using a cream you like build a mess of lather. Flush the brush to get all the soap out and then do a set of twenty east-west swipes on a towel and twenty north-south swipes and let the brush rest over night.

Repeat the shaving cream cycle increasing the post flush swipe sets until you are doing four iterations with no signs of hair loss.

Should be good to go at that point.

If they have been sitting only for years and not decades then only one Spa Day might be needed but you can judge what is needed by feel. If they feel brittle go slow. Once they feel like a new brush they are ready to go into rotation.

Half Century or more (wood handle Strongset likely from late 1920-early 1930s) old Boar knots:
medium800.jpg
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Thanks a lot. This is valuable information, so i copy pasted your post to a document file and put it in my archive, because otherwise, 10 years later, i won't remember the whole procedure.
 
jar said:
Ten years from now you will just use your Sonic Screwdriver.
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I always wondered how Dr. Who shaves! :D Seriously though, Gillette may come out with the lazerbeam razor, but i don't see me quitting wetshaving. And as a matter of fact, i have enough razors, blades and brushes for the rest of my life. I hope soaps won't just disappear and if they start doing so, i will rush and buy a truckload of triple milled soaps and stock up.
 
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