Help! My badger fears the water!

[vputz]

Okay, this is a little weird.

I've been using a Vulfix 2235, great brush, really slurped up the water. But as I've used it more and more, it seemed to be holding less and less... to the point where today, after filling up my bowl and putting the razor in, it had that silvery look of "things which are under water but not really wet"--and sure enough, pulling it out showed hardly a drop sticking to the bristles. Holding it under running water didn't help either; it just ran off. I eventually got lather to stick (because lather tends to stick), but the brush just isn't loading water any more. I have a hydrophobic badger.

I've used normal products (Taylor's Rose, Proraso, Nancy Boy) so it's not like I've been, I don't know, coating it with teflon or something. Our house water is pretty hard--maybe something's coating the bristles?

Anyway, I'm not too happy about it. Any suggestions on how to get my badger to stop worrying and love the water?

[Dispatch]

maybe give it a lil shampoo would help. but thats what i gathered from reading others posts and not like it could hurt. it is badger HAIR after all :)

[NMMB]

maybe give it a lil shampoo would help. but thats what i gathered from reading others posts and not like it could hurt. it is badger HAIR after all :)

Good point... I actually make a point of giving my brush a weekly shampoo and conditioning... and about once a month I give it a soak in a mild borax solution... so far this works very well for me.

[With The Grain]

.....

[Justso]

shampooing your badger brush should do wonders for this..actually what you are removing is the mineral build up of hard water in the hair, along with the cream and soaps that adhere to it..

[AJS]

Seeing as the general consensus seems to be shampoo and conditioner, may I recommend the Nancy Boy products? They do an excellent job of reconditioning tired bristles, you can really see the difference. Nancy Boy laundry detergent contains Borax and this makes for an excellent once a month cleaning solution.

[vputz]

Hmm; as it happened I did get some of their laundry detergent, so I may try that and give it a go tonight.

Good suggestions--thanks.

[Leisureguy]

Please let us know what happens.

[ada8356]

Seeing as the general consensus seems to be shampoo and conditioner, may I recommend the Nancy Boy products? They do an excellent job of reconditioning tired bristles, you can really see the difference. Nancy Boy laundry detergent contains Borax and this makes for an excellent once a month cleaning solution.

How is their laundry detergent? I've been interested in trying it.

[AJS]

I bought it specifically for cleaning my brushes because I knew that it contained borax, I hadn't long had my first tub of Nancy Boy shave cream and I was so impressed with it I had no reservations about using their products with my brushes. I assume you were asking about the laundry detergent as an actual detergent not just a brush cleaner, and once again Nancy Boy are head and shoulders above the competition.

[Justso]

In light of this thread, I felt it time to "recondition & clean" one of my brushes. I took my 23mm Shavemac that I've had for about 6 years (yes, it's been cleaned before :tongue: ) and used one of my daily shampoo & conditioners to it with warm water.

My go-to shampoo is what I get at my salon, Matrix Biolage Normalizing Shampoo and Matrix Deep Revitalizing Conditioner. I submerged the brush in warm water and noticed again that the water seemed to bead off, rather than soak into, the brush. So I dropped a penny size drop of shampoo in the brush and started working it into the brush. After about 3 minutes of washing, I rinsed it out. Then after the first washing, I repeated the process again. Again, I rinsed with the warm water. I shook out the brush, then applied just a smidgeon of conditioner to the badger hair and began working it into the brush while splashing it into the warm water of the faucet as necessary to coat all the bristles.

After the process was complete, I rinsed & shook out the brush and the first thing I noticed was it when into full blossom instantaneously. Each hair was so soft & pliable and perfectly soaked with water. (Let me also drop a little plug here for Bernd's old-style badger hair in his brushes. I wish we had the option to go back to this quality of hair. Not saying his new badger hair is bad, not at all, but it's just different. Nice & floppy)

The brush is totally dry now and the badger hair is as soft as silk. I should do this more often. Literally, it feels like a knot full of silk.

Shampoo your badgers gents! They'll thank you :badger:

[DoubleE]

Emily from Em's Place recommends the following for cleaning brushes and it does the best job of any method I've tried. I believe she said on of her brush makers recommended it.

Mix a light solution of Dawn dishwashing liquid and water and soak brush in it for awhile to remove scum.

Mix a solution of 9 parts water, 1 part vinegar, and add a dash of glycerine. Soak your brush in this solution for awhile as well. (The glycerine can be purchased at any drug store)

I usually soak my brush for around 5 minutes in the Dawn solution swirling it ever so often and around 10 minutes in the water/vinegar solution.

Brush comes out wonderfully soft and holds gallons of water. This has worked much better than shampoo or Borax in my opinion.

[Leisureguy]

Excellent tip from Em's Place, Jerry. I've incorporated it into my beginner's guide to wet shaving (http://leisureguy.wordpress.com/2006/07/10/a-guide-to-the-gourmet-shaving-experience/), and added Em's Place to the shaving blog links. Many thanks for mentioning it. I think some new brushes might need a similar treatment: when I got my Vulfix 2235, it seemed to be somewhat waterproof, possibly from something added during the manufacturing process. That's worn off with use, but I probably could have washed it right off the bat to good effect.

[msandoval858]

Last night I took the time to try some of the suggestions above. My AOS Pure Badger I got a few years ago when I first started wet shaving has been sitting on the stand untouched for awhile because I couldn't get it to hold water anymore.

I left it to dry overnight and checked it this morning, looks and feels like a new brush! Too bad I woke up to late to shave. Guess I know what I'm doing when I get home tonight :thumbup:

[htownmmm]

Great tips, gents!

Maybe we (mod) can make a sticky out of this or place it in the review sections of brishes?


Marty

[vputz]

As a followup--

I did do a "quick scrub" with the NB laundry detergent (and as for the detergent's effect on clothes: honestly I don't notice much difference from our previous whatever-it-was... but then I'm a bit oblivious there anyway. It does not particularly make them smell like the detergent, which is too bad).

An improvement, certainly, but it reached "duck's back" dryness again pretty soon after. I didn't do a particularly thorough job, though, so I'll try it again before doing the Em's Place reconditioning method...

[Suzuki]

I tried it and found I needed a good scrubbing (x2) before I got the type of results mentioned.

I found that putting some shampoo in the breech and then worked the brush in my hand as if I was working up a lather for shaving.

Do you think our brushes would appreciate a bit of hair tonic as well :lol:

[DoubleE]

Excellent tip from Em's Place, Jerry. I've incorporated it into my beginner's guide to wet shaving (http://leisureguy.wordpress.com/2006/07/10/a-guide-to-the-gourmet-shaving-experience/), and added Em's Place to the shaving blog links. Many thanks for mentioning it. I think some new brushes might need a similar treatment: when I got my Vulfix 2235, it seemed to be somewhat waterproof, possibly from something added during the manufacturing process. That's worn off with use, but I probably could have washed it right off the bat to good effect.

Nice beginner's guide Leisureguy. To be clear, Emily gave me the formula for the mixture. The comments were mine, not hers. I don't want to put words in her mouth.

[Leisureguy]

I'll fix that at once. --- Fixed. Take a look at the new phrasing. I think it makes clear that Emily gave the formula but is not the person making the comments.

[DoubleE]

I'll fix that at once. --- Fixed. Take a look at the new phrasing. I think it makes clear that Emily gave the formula but is not the person making the comments.

Works for me.....thanks!

[tomveil]

Hi vputz,

How long were you using the vulfix brush before you had to wash it?

Would it be better to periodically was my brush?
Thanks,


Tom

[Tinzien]

I'm not sure what is in the brush cleaner packets sold by classicshaving.com but I picked up a few during a recent order and gave it a go this past Sunday. My brush sat and swirled around for an hour then came out holding half the glass of water in the mug! :)

[mparker762]

Is this a cream sort of ritual, or maybe Rooneys are immune to soap scum? I had to shampoo my Dovo brush a few times when I first started wetshaving, but since I've switched to the Rooney brush and Harris soap I've never had to shampoo it, it's been good for 5 or 6 months now.

[TraderJoe]

Emily from Em's Place recommends the following for cleaning brushes and it does the best job of any method I've tried. I believe she said on of her brush makers recommended it.

Mix a light solution of Dawn dishwashing liquid and water and soak brush in it for awhile to remove scum.

Mix a solution of 9 parts water, 1 part vinegar, and add a dash of glycerine. Soak your brush in this solution for awhile as well. (The glycerine can be purchased at any drug store)

I usually soak my brush for around 5 minutes in the Dawn solution swirling it ever so often and around 10 minutes in the water/vinegar solution.

Brush comes out wonderfully soft and holds gallons of water. This has worked much better than shampoo or Borax in my opinion.

I soaked all my brushes in a water/vinegar mixture the other day. Wow, what a difference...it has breathed new life into my brushes. They are holding more water than ever before.

[guenron]

I soaked all my brushes in a water/vinegar mixture the other day. Wow, what a difference...it has breathed new life into my brushes. They are holding more water than ever before.
Joe,
Here I thought you were going to say that you liked the vinegar so much that you added olive oil and some spices! :drool: It's amazing how even the very dilute vinegar cleans off hardwater residue, renewing the hair bundle.

[TraderJoe]

:lol: thanks for the laugh Ron

[GeeQue]

After some time of use, my badger accumulates oils which are contained in most shaving soaps and creams.
I have found that a brisk and thorough cleaning with dishwashing liquid cuts through all of the accumulation and brings it back to the original state.

[Tinzien]

Any truth to the rumor that owners of top end, expensive badger brushes have to use balsalmic vigegar lest their brush's epicurian pallet protest? :lol: :blink:

[guenron]

Any truth to the rumor that owners of top end, expensive badger brushes have to use balsalmic vigegar lest their brush's epicurian pallet protest? :lol: :blink:
Only with Extra Virgin first pressing olive oil.:thumbup1:

[russellnyc]

I know we've already moved on to the humor section of our show, but if I may, I'd like to pipe in to say that I washed my Vulfix with classic brand cleaner last night and it performed much better today than it ever has. I admit to having followed the directions that came with the brush that no additional cleaning was necessary. WRONG! It holds more water now than it did when it was new...