Very disappointed with Muhle V2

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Vetinari

Vetinari

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Tuesday May 14, 2013
When I first started DE shaving I had a couple of old brushes to try (one boar and one badger), but quickly bought myself a Kent synthetic. Around £12 and it has been excellent.

However, I kept seeing posts saying how good the new Muhle was so I finally succumbed and ordered one.

To say I am disappointed would be something of an understatement.

The thing has a hole (~ 0.5cm) in the centre before it is even dampened, and once it actually has lather the hole expands to ~2cm.

The brush is absurdly soft which means it's hard to load and get a good lather - you can do it but each process takes about three times as long as the Kent. The softness also means that it's not much good for getting the lather on your face as you can only really paint it on rather than stirring up the bristles as I prefer. Lathering on the face is nigh on impossible because of the massive hole and the softness.

All in all a complete waste of money - which is made extra annoying by the fact the damn thing cost three time the amount the Kent did.
 
isaiah53 said:
i absolutely love mine, it does everything i want from a brush. YMMV as they say.
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For £36 for a brush, you should expect a consistent product, not one that may or may not work properly.

Helveticum said:
Your description doesn't look anything like the 3 Muehles I've owned.
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So it would seem that manufacturing consistency is a problem with this product.

I would very strongly advise against buying one of these unless you can easily return it if you happen to get a lemon.

I don't, however, believe that the softness of the bristles is a manufacturing fault so it would be a good idea to consider if your technique is suited to a brush with a very soft head.

The brush is drying at the moment. I will post photos of it dry, wetted, and loaded once it has dried.
 
Tips are soft, that's all. It's the best brush for face lathering and using with soaps I've tried, and I've tried quite a few, including high end ones. Anyway, no point in arguing, score of people have found how good Muehle products are, but you're entitled to your opinion, although the whole case is rather strange.
 
As a potential synthetic buyer, can I ask the owners what size their respective Muehles are please? (Just incase there is an issue with a particular size.)
 
Helveticum said:
Tips are soft, that's all. It's the best brush for face lathering and using with soaps I've tried, and I've tried quite a few
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Interesting because I can see a very good mechanical reason why the brush is not as good as the Kent for face lathering.

The Kent is stiffer, and thus pushes the soap around the face with the brush bristles meeting resistance from the face bristles and thus stirring the soap up, adding air and creating lather.

The Muhle, on the other hand, being soft, simply slides across the face - bristles included - and takes a lot longer to produce an inferior lather.

including high end ones.
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I'm afraid that 'high end' is a bit 'emperor's new clothes' when it comes to soap performance. There are no magic, hyper expensive, ingredients that allow a soap to perform better for shaving, and Proctor and Gambol have a bigger research budget than any other soap maker, so if anyone is going to find the best way to combine ingredients it's them. And they sell their stuff pretty inexpensively.

Anyway, no point in arguing, score of people have found how good Muhle products are, but you're entitled to your opinion.
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The large hole in the centre of the brush is hardly a matter of opinion.

All I'm saying is that people should be aware that there is a problem, either with the design or with the manufacturer's quality control, and they should ensure they have an easy path for exchange or replacement if they have a problem.

It's also good that people should be aware how soft the brush is as that may well inform their buying decision.
 
i thought the whole idea of these brushes was that they have soft tips and a strong backbone, everything ive read about them, and my own experience of this brush, points to that. i dont think that in itself is a manafacturing fault, i think its the nature of the beast. it comes down to what youre looking for in a brush and your expectations.
 
PhilD said:
As a potential synthetic buyer, can I ask the owners what size their respective Muehles are please? (Just incase there is an issue with a particular size.)
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I don't think it's a problem with synthetics.

The Kent I have is excellent and I would have been (and probably will be) perfectly happy with it for the rest of my shaving life.

I was just sucked into believing that the Muhle was in some way magically better and it now seems as if - assuming you get one that has been properly manufactured - it's really more a matter of whether you prefer as softer brush or one with more backbone.

The Muhle I bought was the 21mm model.

isaiah53 said:
i thought the whole idea of these brushes was that they have soft tips and a strong backbone, everything ive read about them, and my own experience of this brush, points to that.
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Compared to the Kent, the Muhle has no backbone. It's just floppy.

This is why it is so inferior for face lathering. The feeble backbone means that the bristles meet the face at a very shallow angle and just slide about rather than mixing the soap with air to creat lather, as the Kent does.

i dont think that in itself is a manafacturing fault, i think its the nature of the beast.
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So you think that having a large conical hole in the centre of the head is normal, acceptable, and conducive to a good lathering and application?

(Serious question: I honestly don't know if my dissatisfaction stems from the 'hole' or the softness and lack of backbone.) No other brush I've used has this hole.
 
Vetinari, I'm going to chime in, in favour of most of what you've said. I also have a Muhle Silvertip Fibre 21mm. 8-10 months ago I posted similar issues either on here or the shavenook and people said that I must have created the hole by pushing the brush into the soap and my face too hard, however I was quite sure the hole was there from the very beginning. It's nice to see that someone else has experienced the same issues as me! In my original post, someone more experienced with brushes than I suggested the following two things:

Firstly, be careful not to use water hotter than 60 degrees, if it's too hot for your skin, it's too hot for a brush, even a synthetic one.

Secondly, after using the brush and shaking off excess water, wrap a small elastic band around it, about one third down from the top of the brush until the next use. I kept doing that for a month or so an it made a big difference to the hole size, but did not get rid of it completely. Obviously not too tight, just enough to close the hole and pull it all in a bit.

Now, regarding the softness of the brush, I am a bit torn, I love how soft it is on my face, however, I also like something a bit more scritchy sometimes so that it lifts the bristles better. Any suggestions anyone? (I'd rather it was a decent synthetic and had a slightly more modern handle than the Omegas etc). Re backbone, mine does have a fair amount, but I would have liked more, as I also feel that it doesn't lather up soap as well as it could.

Having said all this, I do still like this brush a lot.

Just found the post:
http://shavenook.com/thread-muhle-silvertip-fibre-possible-manufacturing-issue
 
Here is a picture of the head whilst lathering.

c7293eb3dcd7fc32d8e1ba65b7146c97.jpg


It's not as noticeable dry but it's a little worse once dragged around the face.
 
Mr Happy said:
Vetinari, I'm going to chime in, in favour of most of what you've said. I also have a Muhle Silvertip Fibre 21mm. 8-10 months ago I posted similar issues either on here or the shavenook and people said that I must have created the hole by pushing the brush into the soap and my face too hard, however I was quite sure the hole was there from the very beginning. It's nice to see that someone else has experienced the same issues as me! In my original post, someone more experienced with brushes than I suggested the following two things:

Firstly, be careful not to use water hotter than 60 degrees, if it's too hot for your skin, it's too hot for a brush, even a synthetic one.

Secondly, after using the brush and shaking off excess water, wrap a small elastic band around it, about one third down from the top of the brush until the next use. I kept doing that for a month or so an it made a big difference to the hole size, but did not get rid of it completely. Obviously not too tight, just enough to close the hole and pull it all in a bit.

Now, regarding the softness of the brush, I am a bit torn, I love how soft it is on my face, however, I also like something a bit more scritchy sometimes so that it lifts the bristles better. Any suggestions anyone? (I'd rather it was a decent synthetic and had a slightly more modern handle than the Omegas etc). Re backbone, mine does have a fair amount, but I would have liked more, as I also feel that it doesn't lather up soap as well as it could.

Having said all this, I do still like this brush a lot.

Just found the post:
http://shavenook.com/thread-muhle-silvertip-fibre-possible-manufacturing-issue
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Thanks for that.

I really don't feel, however, that you should have to mess about with elastic bands on a product that costs nearly £40.

That picture is taken before application to the face. The hole closes up a fair bit as the brush dries.

I lathered with cold water, so that should make no difference.

As I said in earlier posts, the Kent is excellent:

No hole at all.
Nice backbone - much better than the Muhle.
Only costs £12.

I'd really like to know if people think that (as pictured in the post above) is an acceptable way for a supposed top end brush to behave?

If it is then it looks as if I've just been suckered into wasting my money. If not I will probably try for a refund.
 
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