Looking for any info on this brush - Age and bristles?
So I was futzing around with some of my stuff and realized I had not tried out this Opal brush before and said it looks decent so I gave it a go. The knot doesn't look like it has been used much and the bristles are very stiff so I was thinking it must be boar. I gave it a long soak in hot water and made a quick lather but it still felt extremely stiff. I mean it softened up but not as much as I wanted so I rinsed and let it soak for another 1/2 hour in hot tap water and made another lather. Again, it was a bit more flexible but had a lot of back bone/scritch to it. I rinsed it out and looked at the bristles with a magnifying glass and most look like they have been cut at the ends rather than coming to a taper that you would expect with natural bristles.
Can anyone tell me if this could be an old attempt at making synthetic boar or if it is actually boar and just needs a long break in. These pics are after todays trial run.
So I was futzing around with some of my stuff and realized I had not tried out this Opal brush before and said it looks decent so I gave it a go. The knot doesn't look like it has been used much and the bristles are very stiff so I was thinking it must be boar. I gave it a long soak in hot water and made a quick lather but it still felt extremely stiff. I mean it softened up but not as much as I wanted so I rinsed and let it soak for another 1/2 hour in hot tap water and made another lather. Again, it was a bit more flexible but had a lot of back bone/scritch to it. I rinsed it out and looked at the bristles with a magnifying glass and most look like they have been cut at the ends rather than coming to a taper that you would expect with natural bristles.
Can anyone tell me if this could be an old attempt at making synthetic boar or if it is actually boar and just needs a long break in. These pics are after todays trial run.