I was a 'badger' shaver, but am now a firm convert to 'plastic'. I no longer own anything but fibre, and luv em. I agree it's surprising how much water a fibre can hold, my method is now to swirl the brush in warm water, squeeze the knot and load the brush. I am in a soft water area which helps, I find lathering this way is easy as you can always add some water if needed by dipping the tip of the brush. I only face lather but think the method may be the same for bowl lathering.
Synthetic question?
- Thread starter bagman
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I run them under the sink for a few seconds, except with the Chubby 2 I plunk that into a mug of water until the bubbles quit. They are so dense it can surprise you how long it takes them to saturate.
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I still soak my synthetics in hot water, more to increase the pliability of the bristles than anything. It certainly helps on my Body Shop synthetic, that thing has more backbone than the average vertebrate!
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I've been soaking my brushes (synth and badgers) while I shower and I must admit I can find no real difference in the warmth of the bristles (taking into account ambient air temperature), while the badger bristles to feel a bit softer than before soaking. I think soaking them (and shaking) before lathering can help you gauge how much water you need to add. I'm probably wrong, but that's nothing new.
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Ditto
Synthetic brushes need a different approach. They do not hold water very well. None of them. But, they do lather like a beast. And my method is to bloom hard soap with a short soak of hot water. Not necessary with soft soaps or creams. Then load the synthetic brush until you think you have enough for your shave. Your experience guides this. Then face or bowl lather adding very little water until you have what you like. And, I find synthetics, using this method, are way faster then badger or boar. Different strokes for different folks. I use boar, badger and synthetics according to mood. And, they all work very well!