New Plant-Based Synthetic from Mühle

[DarkSpy]

I've got to get something off my chest.
I've bought a STF brush in 2020 I liked it so much that I decided to buy just the knot to make my own brush. Two years later (2022) I bought two knots (there were two options with no description to the differences). Just looking at them, they seemed different. Shaving, I would say, had a small difference (slightly less backbone on the newer one). Unfortunately I never had both brushes in the same place to do a direct comparison.
The newer version has the whiter top part, like @apshaveco mentioned, but the 2020 version does not.

The brush I bought in 2020 was this:

And the 2022 looks more like the 3rd image by apshaveco or the 2 brushes on the left in the official Muhle website:

Does anyone else noticed a difference in recent years? I only have minimal experience with brushes from this brand with only two buys.

I already mentioned this before, but I feel that Muhle is one of those companies that tweaks their products and doesn't tell the consumer. Case in point the Rocca. It was the community that labeled the versions (if I'm not mistaken) and demanded a better product, for that matter.
Meaning that I have serious doubts when we talk about the v2 in STFv2.

Maybe @Rudy Vey can help me shade some light on my doubts, has he has seen this knot more than the majority of people (I'm guessing).

 

[Rudy Vey]

I've got to get something off my chest.
I've bought a STF brush in 2020 I liked it so much that I decided to buy just the knot to make my own brush. Two years later (2022) I bought two knots (there were two options with no description to the differences). Just looking at them, they seemed different. Shaving, I would say, had a small difference (slightly less backbone on the newer one). Unfortunately I never had both brushes in the same place to do a direct comparison.
The newer version has the whiter top part, like @apshaveco mentioned, but the 2020 version does not.

The brush I bought in 2020 was this:

And the 2022 looks more like the 3rd image by apshaveco or the 2 brushes on the left in the official Muhle website:

Does anyone else noticed a difference in recent years? I only have minimal experience with brushes from this brand with only two buys.

I already mentioned this before, but I feel that Muhle is one of those companies that tweaks their products and doesn't tell the consumer. Case in point the Rocca. It was the community that labeled the versions (if I'm not mistaken) and demanded a better product, for that matter.
Meaning that I have serious doubts when we talk about the v2 in STFv2.

Maybe @Rudy Vey can help me shade some light on my doubts, has he has seen this knot more than the majority of people (I'm guessing).

I think I have posted this before, but according to Muehle - prior to these new partially plant based fibers - there were no different versions of the STF knots. Somehow this came up a few years ago on the shaving fora that there are different versions, but they confirmed twice to me this is not true. I use the STF knots probably well over 10 years and did not see or feel anything different.
The new knots with some 37% plant based fibers will replace the STF, and one may call them now version 2.
Due to my COVID diagnosis I have not unpacked the plant based sample knot they shipped to me and it arrived Monday, still sitting unpacked in its box. So, I have to wait to Friday....

 

[Rudy Vey]

My testing of the new, partially plant based synthetic knot was a bit delayed due to Covid, but I finally got to use it today for the first time.
A couple of things first: the knot is whiter than the STF, which has a very faint yellowish hue, this new one is definitely whiter, can be seen good between the plug and the dark band.
The knot itself is shorter than the old STF. I had a handle laying around that was drilled for a STF, and the resulting loft was only 51/52 mm instead of the 55 I am aiming for. Easy fix with a cork slice. Measuring the two side by side it shows the new plant based knot is about 4-5 mm shorter.
I set mine at the same loft as the STF, so 54/55 mm. In use I think it is a slight touch softer as the STF, otherwise, not knowing this is a different knot, I could not say I can pick out which one is which.
Overall, I think it is as great a knot as the STF is. In my opinion the STD and the new version STF-Plant (37% plant based) are still the best synthetics there are. Not sure when I am start using the new knots as I just had loaded up earlier his year with a years supply of the STF.

 

[luvmysuper]

People who do 3D printing have been using plant based plastic for years.
PLA.
Also "renewable" as you can grow new plants.
It's not 100% plant because you can't make plastic out of 100% anything, except of course other plastic.
I would guess that these new "plant based synthetic fibers" are just some tweaked version of PLA plastic.

 

[thombrogan]

The knot itself is shorter than the old STF.

The Mühle people are trying to take my G5C monies away!

They’ll have to make to make their 19mm even proportionately shorter and @apshaveco will have to offer an etched handle with an ankylosaurus skeleton for them to succeed, but they’re trying

 

[apshaveco]

Bumping this thread to provide everyone with an update. I am actively working with Muhle in an attempt to get them to produce an "XXL" size for me and our community at 27mm. They told me they are trialing this and will let me know if it's feasible for them to produce. A hopefully exciting step forward!

Once confirmed if it's possible, I'll have these plant based STF knots available for everyone to try.

 

[Omega48]

"XXL" size for me and our community at 27mm

That is fantastic news !!!
Thank you.

 

[clickity-click]

Interesting thread. Purchased another STF before Muhle transitions to the new 'plant based' fibres in their STF knots. I suspect the change is more to do with energy costs — Germany has been paying three to four times more for its Gas, post Nord Stream 2 sabotage — than improving the knots performance. It seems to me, that Muhle's track-record of new product introductions is not a good one and their communications are often evasive — the debacle over the Rocca being a case in point, where consumers effectively were testing an underdeveloped product for several years. Surprised the new knots are 4-5mm shorter. In my opinion the length of Muhle and Simpson synthetic knots is what gives them there unique characteristics - size matters. I will wait for members real-world usage views on Muhle's new fibres — there is no conflict of interest — before taking the plunge.

 

[Obetron Rex]

I have an STF XL knot stored on the shelf for the future as well. I've found product changes are rarely better no matter how many times they say they are.