New Shavemac 2-band...is this normal?

[Rengrave]

I just received my Shavemac custom 2-band, and have found that I can barely face lather with it, it is so scritchy, like sandpaper. I took a closer look at the brush, and have found scattered throughout what looks like dark brown cut off hairs mixed in with the tapered white coloured tips. The white tips are of course extremely soft, and come to an ultra fine point, but these dark hairs mixed in, are thick, and end abruptly, like they've been cut off instead of tapering.

Are these dark hairs supposed to be there? I'm sure it's these which are causing the extreme discomfort when I face lather. There are scores of them, I would say probably at least 100+. Some of them even stick out past the white tips of the other hairs.

[Sqratch]

I do not own a 2 band shavemac and I'm not sure if those black hairs are normal, however most of the reviews of the two band on this site do say they are scritchy. I'm sure they wil soften up a little in time. I own a shavemac 3 band and it's like a cloud no black hairs to speak of.

[Scritchnscrub]

Shavemac 2-bands are as scritchy as they get in my experience. And they do tend to have these dark hairs mixed in. But maybe you could post an aerial view of the knot so we can see if it looks normal?


I just received my Shavemac custom 2-band, and have found that I can barely face lather with it, it is so scritchy, like sandpaper. I took a closer look at the brush, and have found scattered throughout what looks like dark brown cut off hairs mixed in with the tapered white coloured tips. The white tips are of course extremely soft, and come to an ultra fine point, but these dark hairs mixed in, are thick, and end abruptly, like they've been cut off instead of tapering.

Are these dark hairs supposed to be there? I'm sure it's these which are causing the extreme discomfort when I face lather. There are scores of them, I would say probably at least 100+. Some of them even stick out past the white tips of the other hairs.

[Icebear]

Maybe some other members can chime in with a D01 2 band, I only have the regular D01 (3-band) and it's pretty soft. Clipped tips as you describe will for sure cause some scratchiness. If none from our forum has some experience, I'd contact Bernd (Mr. Shavemac) directly to get an explanation if this is supposed to be like this. Anyway not as expected for custom brush like this, I guess. Did you specificly ask about softness of the brush when you ordered? Do you have any statement in this regard?

[Rengrave]

Shavemac 2-bands are as scritchy as they get in my experience. And they do tend to have these dark hairs mixed in. But maybe you could post an aerial view of the knot so we can see if it looks normal?

I'll see what I can do, though I don't have a macro lens at the moment.


Maybe some other members can chime in with a D01 2 band, I only have the regular D01 (3-band) and it's pretty soft. Clipped tips as you describe will for sure cause some scratchiness. If none from our forum has some experience, I'd contact Bernd (Mr. Shavemac) directly to get an explanation if this is supposed to be like this. Anyway not as expected for custom brush like this, I guess. Did you specificly ask about softness of the brush when you ordered? Do you have any statement in this regard?

I didn't ask Bernd about how soft the brush would be, but I had read plenty of people here on B&B who had said that the tips were super soft, just with tonnes of backbone, which is what I was after, maybe some scrubbiness because I like to feel my face lathering. I just didn't expect to be scrubbing with sand paper :001_tt2: If this is considered normal, no big deal, I will try and break the brush in more, and failing that I can always try and trim some of the offending clipped tip bristles so that they aren't as long as the rest of them

[Scritchnscrub]

I didn't ask Bernd about how soft the brush would be, but I had read plenty of people here on B&B who had said that the tips were super soft, just with tonnes of backbone, which is what I was after, maybe some scrubbiness because I like to feel my face lathering. I just didn't expect to be scrubbing with sand paper :001_tt2:

I have to tell you, I've read those comments too and could never figure them out. Sometimes I think people get mixed up between the D01 3-band and 2-band. Anyone I've actually had personal PM's with on this subject all agree it's at least a somewhat scratchy hair.

Either that or the hair's changed over the years - it may once have had soft tips.

[Rengrave]

I'll just continue to use the brush, hopefully it will soften up a bit more. There aren't any visible signs of irritation or anything, so it's not what I would consider an actual problem, just not ideal.

[Gam]

I just got mine yesterday and tried it out this morning.It is scritchy which was why I ordered a D01 2 band with 50mm loft.I wouldn't say it's like sandpaper but I can understand someone not liking this type of brush.I love mine but it's not for anyone looking for a softer brush.

I dont see any dark hairs extending over the white tips of my brush,but I have a fan shape so maybe that's why.

[PozzSka]

I had one (subsequently sold it), but it took quite a while of frequent use before it settled into a very scrubby without being scritchy brush. Just one day, after fighting with it for weeks, it was like BOOM...lather monster and scrubby without being uncomfortable.

[cvac]

I asked about D01 2-band on here many times. A large percentage of people on here told me it was quite scritchy, which is why I will probably never try one. I may try the 3-band D01 at some point though.

If you want a soft tipped 2-band brush, there are other brands you can look at.

[Icebear]

...and failing that I can always try and trim some of the offending clipped tip bristles so that they aren't as long as the rest of them

That was also something that came to my mind but this would be a last resort option. If you don't like it at all, you still consider selling it relatively new but then you'll never know if it's a great performer once it's broken in.

[Rengrave]

That was also something that came to my mind but this would be a last resort option. If you don't like it at all, you still consider selling it relatively new but then you'll never know if it's a great performer once it's broken in.

I don't think I'll be selling it. I really like the brush, regardless of it being scritchy. Besides, it has my initials engraved on the bottom :stuart:

[Mike H]

I have a Shavemac 977 18mm with D01 2 band, and it has soft tips and lots of backbone. Definitively not scratchy. I purchased it used so maybe the first owner broke it in for me. It is one of my favorite brushes.

[nEver-Ready]

I have two D01 2 bands, one is a flat-top. They are as the densest, scritchiest/scrubbiest 2 bands I've used with the exception of my Rooney Finest 1/1.

[Snuff-Belgium]

The DO1 2 band I have (22mm) has a lot of backbone, soft tips but you really feel it on the face after a good lathering, scrubby it is. It will get softer but not very much. The D01 3 band is way softer IMO. I don't think trimming is a good idea. If you really like face lathering use the brush every other day with a other softer one the other days. It will grow on you ;-)

I started out with a shavemac 167, then a 3 band and then a 2 band. At first I was not sure about the 2 band, now I wouldn't wanna be without one.

[Rudy Vey]

I own a D01 flattop two band, it took me about 7 weeks to get used to it. But I think it had mainly to do with the shape of the knot - one must understand, even in a small size like 19, 20 mm, there is a lot of hair in your face. The hair is not scritchy, at least in my opinion. Simpsons Super has a bit more scritch. It is much softer than Rooney Finest - could not stand my Rooney finest, soft when dry, but horrible when wet - but, YEMV.

Forgot to add that all my brushes (TGN, Simpson, Rooney, Thaeter, Shavemac, New Forest and Semogue) show black tipped hair, these are hairs that are upside down in the knot. I think this is quite normal, however, I do not think that 100+ is normal!
Contact Bernd and asked him about this.

[texaninkc]

the black hairs on the shavemac D01's are normal. I'm not going to count how many there are in my two brushes, but there are plenty in there. I'll echo Rudy's comments about D01 brushes. When I had Rudy put a shavemac knot in my marble handle, I asked for a flat-top knot. He strongly encouraged me to give the brush some time to break in. In the few months I've had it, I've put it through about 40 lathers and I've noticed a difference compared to when I first started. I didn't think it was that scritchy that it was unusable when I first got it, so how much it "softens" up will be all relative. For me, it's softened up enough where I love it. My flat-top is my favorite brush. Scrubbier brushes are my 1/1 finest and my Semogue 2011 LE badger.

I do also think that shape of knot matters, as the extreme flat-tops have more brush on your face than other shapes of knots. I have a 3-band D01 in a fan (same size knot and slightly longer loft) that I think is a lot softer in comparison. A true comparison would be if I had a 3-band flat-top knot. It's on the wish list.

Here are some pics of my knots attempting to show the black hairs. Should be about what you'll find.top is the 3-band in fan. bottom is 2-band in flat. 237678
237679

[edgerunner]

I don't have D01 2-band but from what I've read I imagine it scrubby like my Semogue LE Finest 2 but not scritchy. Here's my D01 3-band flat top 22/48. It's soft but also has some nice scrub. There's a lot of hair in it which you feel in contact with your skin.

http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/9242/shavemacd01flat.jpg