Professor Flanders's Journal of Nerdy Observations and silly camaraderie

[APBinNCA]

Hmm, what is there to say in this first post? By now most people on here have come across a few of my posts that unnecessarily clutter up threads with obscure thoughts and measurements. All that was left to do is was create my own place to put these thoughts, Big Nurse said I could if I take my meds!

BOSC Science

(And discussions that get too far off track to post on a main thread)

 

[Mr. Shavington]

Now this is a thread that we need. Should be stickied, honestly, given the quality of what I’m sure is coming.

Clicked on ‘watch’.

 

[APBinNCA]

For my inaugural post, I am going to do a brain dump of everything I just observed using a scale while using my Wald A1 brush.

TLDR: you don't have to use these methods when shaving, just see if anything is useful and enjoy your shaves! Try keeping your brush drier and loading with more water than you are used to and see how it goes. I would measure the first time and then find some vessel that holds the correct amount of water. You still need to be careful with the water additions so you don't have it running out the knot and down the handle.

It has been observed that, for a synthetic fibre, these knots are slow to dry due to moisture being retained in the knot. As it turns out, this is both true and false; they are actually sufficiently quick drying, but the moisture is deep in the knot! Unfortunately for the reader, this is going to require an explanation from the beginning.

What I have taken to doing with most of my brushes lately, especially synthetic, is use my spray bottle to put a layer of water on top of my soap and load the brush dry. My spray bottle dispenses exactly 1g of aerosolised dihydromonoxide(the premium chemical to ensure perfect lather). This method controls all water being added to a dry brush, but requires some experimentation to find the right amount to start with. What this is intended to do is prevent water from getting deep inside the knot, for several reasons.

What happened in the case of the Wald A1 this morning is exactly what I had hoped, it did prevent the water from getting in, continue past some extraneous details to find out how I know for sure. I sprayed 3g of my precious lab grade dihydromonoxide onto my GD soap and loaded my brush until the surface was thoroughly dry. I had loaded 1.2g of aromatic goodness, perfect. As I built the lather on my face, I added a total of 12g water(1:10 ratio). This produced a very thick, but well hydrated lather. Thick enough to slightly stick to my razor, but noticeably slick. I know, from past observation, that I can go a ways further, but I am enjoying this new to me ultra dense lather.

The interesting part came when I finished my shave and squeezed out as much as I could before rinsing. I still had a full pass that had to go down the drain so I didn't skimp on the loading phase. What was interesting is, upon putting it on the scale, the brush was only holding a couple grams of moisture because the inside hasn't been wetted yet! Wait a minute, here it comes, I rinsed the brush out thoroughly and squeezed it again... 5 full grams of moisture now! After shaking it, it was back to just above the expected 3g which is still more than when I squeezed it after shaving(before rinsing). Further, the tips were actually only holding a fraction of a gram and the towel took care of that. I think that should be a clear demonstration that the knot wasn't retaining water deep inside while shaving, but did after rinsing. This is such a fascinating knot for me to use!

Some interesting further observations; the A1 knot is acting as an air pump to create this magical unicorn lather, I am not kidding! In the early stages of face lathering, I heard and felt little puffs of air coming out of the knot. But it doesn't produce big foamy bubbles, it somehow bypasses this potential problem altogether and pumps up the density instead. You basically just keep adding water until you like the slickness, this is partially a characteristic of this soap(thirsty). I suppose you could keep going until it gets thin and runny, but why bother when it's already slick?

 

[Mr. Shavington]

Pure gold! I’m 10% more intelligent already and I’m sure the market value of B&B has doubled.

Very interesting conclusions and rigorously evidenced. Well done.

 

[APBinNCA]

Very interesting conclusions and rigorously evidenced. Well done.

Thank you and thanks for stopping by.

 

[Alum Ladd]

 

[thombrogan]

w00t!

 

[Mr. Shavington]

It does make sense. The Wald A1 knot is so dense I can easily imagine that water droplets are too large to run between the fibres into the base of the knot. The air pocket is an interesting observation and I will look out for air puffs next time.

I’m glad that your A1 is making unicorn lather for you and it’s not merely beautiful. It’s fundamentally different from any other shaving brush, isn’t it? Whether it’s to someone’s taste or not, it’s a whole new thing. Definitely worthy of your investigations.

 

[APBinNCA]

I’m glad that your A1 is making unicorn lather for you and it’s not merely beautiful. It’s fundamentally different from any other shaving brush, isn’t it? Whether it’s to someone’s taste or not, it’s a whole new thing. Definitely worthy of your investigations.

Absolutely! Like all things shaving, I think one needs to have some variety of experiences to be able to really appreciate something like this A1 knot. It's not merely about whether it will suite a particular preference, but rather a journey of discovery all its own. I am glad that they are as expensive as they are or I could see owning several of these, but yet I have no actual need and I struck gold copper on my first one!

 

[Mr. Shavington]

Absolutely! Like all things shaving, I think one needs to have some variety of experiences to be able to really appreciate something like this A1 knot. It's not merely about whether it will suite a particular preference, but rather a journey of discovery all its own. I am glad that they are as expensive as they are or I could see owning several of these, but yet I have no actual need and I struck gold copper on my first one!

I do sometimes wonder why I bought more than one Wald A1. It’s hardly going to wear out. Just different colours, I suppose, and it’s uncomfortable to consider how shallow that makes me. My only partial redemption is that my favourite one is still the plain “Werther’s” butterscotch that I bought first, rather than any of the flashier ones.

 

[APBinNCA]

I do sometimes wonder why I bought more than one Wald A1. It’s hardly going to wear out. Just different colours, I suppose, and it’s uncomfortable to consider how shallow that makes me. My only partial redemption is that my favourite one is still the plain “Werther’s” butterscotch that I bought first, rather than any of the flashier ones.

In your defense, and others, the water retention was a reasonable concern and it still needs to be thoroughly shaken to mitigate the issue. I hate to admit that I had the opportunity after ordering mine to order more, there were active buy buttons. I considered it longer than I should have, the only thing holding me back was the unknown.

 

[Eric_75]

@APBinNCA Just popping in to say good evening, oh mighty Coffee Crew co-founder.

 

[APBinNCA]

@APBinNCA Just popping in to say good evening, oh mighty Coffee Crew co-founder.

Good evening Eric, you are most welcome any time! Have fun with the wee ones tomorrow.

 

[BradWorld]

I think one needs to have some variety of experiences to be able to really appreciate something like this

That is the beauty if the A1. It is so different than anything else. I knew that going in. So it only took me a couple of shaves to figure it out. I like it. But it could never be my only brush.

 

[rudygu]

Now this is a thread that we need. Should be stickied, honestly, given the quality of what I’m sure is coming.

Clicked on ‘watch’.

Yep. Me too.

 

[APBinNCA]

That is the beauty if the A1. It is so different than anything else. I knew that going in. So it only took me a couple of shaves to figure it out. I like it. But it could never be my only brush.

I do wonder about your soap usage compared to badgers, your usage is kind of legendary(lol). I certainly wasn't using the scale to be thrifty and I had plenty left. If I did that with my badgers, I think the usage would be higher. Just a useless question since this is the place for it!
(of course this is a thinly veiled excuse for buying an A1, saving money on soap)

 

[amateur]

For my inaugural post, I am going to do a brain dump of everything I just observed using a scale while using my Wald A1 brush.

TLDR: you don't have to use these methods when shaving, just see if anything is useful and enjoy your shaves! Try keeping your brush drier and loading with more water than you are used to and see how it goes. I would measure the first time and then find some vessel that holds the correct amount of water. You still need to be careful with the water additions so you don't have it running out the knot and down the handle.

It has been observed that, for a synthetic fibre, these knots are slow to dry due to moisture being retained in the knot. As it turns out, this is both true and false; they are actually sufficiently quick drying, but the moisture is deep in the knot! Unfortunately for the reader, this is going to require an explanation from the beginning.

What I have taken to doing with most of my brushes lately, especially synthetic, is use my spray bottle to put a layer of water on top of my soap and load the brush dry. My spray bottle dispenses exactly 1g of aerosolised dihydromonoxide(the premium chemical to ensure perfect lather). This method controls all water being added to a dry brush, but requires some experimentation to find the right amount to start with. What this is intended to do is prevent water from getting deep inside the knot, for several reasons.

What happened in the case of the Wald A1 this morning is exactly what I had hoped, it did prevent the water from getting in, continue past some extraneous details to find out how I know for sure. I sprayed 3g of my precious lab grade dihydromonoxide onto my GD soap and loaded my brush until the surface was thoroughly dry. I had loaded 1.2g of aromatic goodness, perfect. As I built the lather on my face, I added a total of 12g water(1:10 ratio). This produced a very thick, but well hydrated lather. Thick enough to slightly stick to my razor, but noticeably slick. I know, from past observation, that I can go a ways further, but I am enjoying this new to me ultra dense lather.

The interesting part came when I finished my shave and squeezed out as much as I could before rinsing. I still had a full pass that had to go down the drain so I didn't skimp on the loading phase. What was interesting is, upon putting it on the scale, the brush was only holding a couple grams of moisture because the inside hasn't been wetted yet! Wait a minute, here it comes, I rinsed the brush out thoroughly and squeezed it again... 5 full grams of moisture now! After shaking it, it was back to just above the expected 3g which is still more than when I squeezed it after shaving(before rinsing). Further, the tips were actually only holding a fraction of a gram and the towel took care of that. I think that should be a clear demonstration that the knot wasn't retaining water deep inside while shaving, but did after rinsing. This is such a fascinating knot for me to use!

Some interesting further observations; the A1 knot is acting as an air pump to create this magical unicorn lather, I am not kidding! In the early stages of face lathering, I heard and felt little puffs of air coming out of the knot. But it doesn't produce big foamy bubbles, it somehow bypasses this potential problem altogether and pumps up the density instead. You basically just keep adding water until you like the slickness, this is partially a characteristic of this soap(thirsty). I suppose you could keep going until it gets thin and runny, but why bother when it's already slick?

For me, these are very difficult manipulations during shaving. I'm a fan of boar brushes. And during shaving, I do not use any sprayers with chemicals for better foaming. Just type soap or cream and whisk in a bowl.

Good luck to everyone.

 

[T Bone]

And during shaving, I do not use any sprayers with chemicals for better foaming.

Dihydrogen monoxide = H2O

 

[APBinNCA]

For me, these are very difficult manipulations during shaving. I'm a fan of boar brushes. And during shaving, I do not use any sprayers with chemicals for better foaming. Just type soap or cream and whisk in a bowl.

Good luck to everyone.

Although the explanation has been given, I want to thank you for venturing into the weeds as we might say. I know where you are from and assume that English isn't your first language and also know that non standard use of any language is the one thing that will trip anybody up. I hope that you don't feel too bad about this little easter egg I inserted, as we might say! Thanks for stopping by.

 

[Galibier_Numero_Un]

@APBinNCA, I have a sense that I'll be spending considerable time in this thread. Of particular currency, is this concept of where on the "apparently appropriate lather density spectrum" I'll land holds quite a bit of interest.

Some may have seen a few of your posts which walked me back down off the ledge, as I found my lather taking huge steps backward while trying to adjust back and forth between a Henson and Gamechanger. I'll save others the details, other than to say that in adapting to the Henson, I found myself making progressively thinner, runnier lather.

I've been watching this fairly closely, and while I haven't fully solved the Henson puzzle, the basic principles of starting with "too much" soap and not enough water hold true as good working principles.

Keeping to 4 key variables (permutations of 2 brushes and 2 soaps) may be too much, and I may well park either my Cella Red, or Haslingers Schafmilch, to reduce it to two. I don't see myself going overboard with soap variations in any case, and prefer to get intimately familiar with the functionality of a soap - as long as it doesn't smell like a certain one from Turkey ;-)

Finally! To my point.

The past week or so, I've been noticing large differences between how my Mühle STF (25mm) holds water, and how my AP Shave Co Synbad (24mm) does. This is when wetting traditionally, by running water over the brush and giving it a few"calibrated" shakes.

I've been noticing that I build considerably different lather with the two apparently similar knots.

I'm inspired (driven?) to better calibrate my initial brush moistening based on your observations.

We'll leave my A1 lust for another day.

... Thom