What are characteristics for a face lathering brush?

[krayziehustler]

i find that i am getting more and more away from creating lather in a bowl and slowly preferring face lather. What should i look for in a brush for this purpose?

[Tarzan]

Nice question, I wanted to ask this, too.
Can someone make a chart that will be a sticky with characteristics for 4 categories: face lathering brushes, bowl lathering brushes, cream brushes and soap brushes?

Cheers

Panos

[krayziehustler]

Nice question, I wanted to ask this, too.
Can someone make a chart that will be a sticky with characteristics for 4 categories: face lathering brushes, bowl lathering brushes, cream brushes and soap brushes?

Cheers

Panos

Great recommendation

[boboakalfb]

I prefer smaller brushes for face lathering. Any brush can be used, but the smaller brushes don't sling as much lather everywhere.

[biomesh]

For me, small to medium knot (20-24 mm) and shorter lofts (50 mm and below). You can use brushes that don't fit into this range and they will still work, but most that work well fit into this range.

[doleeo]

Every brush will face lather, some just seem to do it better than others.

As for me, I prefer a very dense, short lofted brush. As for knot size I like my brushes a little bigger so the Chubby 2 fits the bill perfectly.

I've read the Rooney Syle 1 or 3 small is a great face lathering brush. Also I've read the BK4 does a great job as well.

As for Simpsons, well all their brushes are pretty dense so it just comes down to personal preference on those.

[krayziehustler]

Every brush will face lather, some just seem to do it better than others.

As for me, I prefer a very dense, short lofted brush. As for knot size I like my brushes a little bigger so the Chubby 2 fits the bill perfectly.

I've read the Rooney Syle 1 or 3 small is a great face lathering brush. Also I've read the BK4 does a great job as well.

As for Simpsons, well all their brushes are pretty dense so it just comes down to personal preference on those.

what about the rooney makes it good for lather, i want to know what MAKES a brush better suited for the task, cuz the Kent BK4 is on the floppy side though stiffer than vulfix, and the rooney is stiffer, so whats the deal?

[Suzuki]

For me, small to medium knot (20-24 mm) and shorter lofts (50 mm and below). You can use brushes that don't fit into this range and they will still work, but most that work well fit into this range.

Bingo - except I would say 20mm - 22mm is the optimal range for face lathering (and soaps in general).

My top recommendations are the Simpson Duke 2 in best and Rooney #1 small in super (although the #3 small is another good choice). They offer good price/performance and are terrific for soaps and face-lathering.

One final word of advice is to make sure the bristles aren't too skritcy, as this can cause some irritation - anything from a mid-grade hair on up should be fine.

[blade08]

Like others have said, a smaller brush works very well. My Mühle pure badger for example.

[ScottS]

For me, actually, all the same. Some stiffness, soft tips, not floppy. I'll use a brush like that for face, bowl, soap, cream, etc.

[yomuppet]

I also find the pure brushes a bit too scratchy for face lathering.

J

[Stauff]

A face lathering brush has PL8 on the handle. :rolleyes:

[Mike in Cincy]

I have the Rooney Size 1 in Silvertip. The size is right for face lathering, but I think I would prefer the bristles in Best/Super. I think there is a small Vulfix brush that would be great for face lathering as well. The 2197/2198. Both have small knots.

[mpakosta]

On a daily basis I used a Rooney beehive. Works great and builds lather quickly. When I travel however, I use a Vulfix travel brush that fits in a tube. It's floppy as can be but it can whip a lather from a soap puck just as easy as the Rooney.

[tvphotog]

Though I started out with 22mm diameter 50mm loft brushes for face lathering, I recently got a Chubby 2 in Best which has a 27mm knot. It's very dense and despite a 52mm loft, doesn't splay out on the face at all. It's very soft on the face and is my favorite face latherer.

[Mr. Igg]

I think the trend that's shaping up is that "size matters". Large brushes can work, but you might find yourself cleaning up lather from the far points of the bathroom. I'm not sure there's a real constraint beyond keeping size (loft) reasonable. I use both a Kent BK4 and a Rooney 3/1 for face lathering. Very different brushes (stiff vs. "not stiff"); but, both work fine. I don't have their lofts committed to memory, but neither is an exceptionally large brush. Suzuki's point about scritchiness is worth considering, too.

[mmccrary]

I have nothing to add other than my interest in the creation of some sort of matrix, as mentioned earlier, to assist in picking a better brush for each purpose.

And, thanks for the info.

[ScottS]

I think the trend that's shaping up is that "size matters". Large brushes can work, but you might find yourself cleaning up lather from the far points of the bathroom. I'm not sure there's a real constraint beyond keeping size (loft) reasonable. I use both a Kent BK4 and a Rooney 3/1 for face lathering. Very different brushes (stiff vs. "not stiff"); but, both work fine. I don't have their lofts committed to memory, but neither is an exceptionally large brush. Suzuki's point about scritchiness is worth considering, too.


You'll only be cleaning lather from far points for a half dozen shaves, and then you'll have it down and it will work perfectly every time. I think all but the floppiest of brushes will work very well for face lathering, and I'm sure you'll find dozens of people who think a floppy brush will work fine, too.

[krayziehustler]

I have nothing to add other than my interest in the creation of some sort of matrix, as mentioned earlier, to assist in picking a better brush for each purpose.

And, thanks for the info.

+1, if we had this people could look at that instead of asking questions