Question About Badger Hair Property

[Scissors]

I remember reading somewhere that badger hair (perhaps only silvertip grade?) has the unusual property of being as absorbent as a sponge of the same volume.

Does anyone have a source for this factoid? Is it even true? Inquiring minds wanna know—and so do I.

[Flyfisherman]

Scissors...I've been an avid fly fisherman and fly tyer for 45+ years. Here's what I can tell you about badger hair: Badgers have, what we in the fly tying community refer to as, solid hair vs. species such as deer, elk, moose, antelope and caribou which have, predominantly, hollow hairs. Structurally, solid hairs are not actually solid but rather, under the pressure of tying thread, they behave as though they were. Such hairs are incompressible and do not flare or deform as they are wrapped with thread. The surface of the fibers tends to be rather smooth, almost slippery, and when gathered in a bundle, these hairs will slide and roll against one another. My conclusion would be that badger hair hydrophilic properties are not such that it absorbs water, per se, although there is some penetration in the animal when alive because of the permeability properties of the skin which allow for follicle opening and, thus, some water retention. Absent of the skin, I believe that in a shaving brush it is the architectural structure of the instrument that accounts for water retention. Hope this makes sense...rgds...

[Emmett]

Off the top of my head, it probably has to do with surface chemistry properties between badger hair and water, and also some physical mechanisms such as capillary action. I've not seen a source for the claim you're asking about, though an experiment would be fairly easy to conduct.

[Scissors]

Thanks for the replies!

[Siv]

Here's a electron microscope picture of a human hair - it shows scales which may help in water retention. I wonder is anyone has put a badger hair into such a machine...

[Flyfisherman]

That's dandruff...Just kidding...Interesting structure.

[Scissors]

Here's a electron microscope picture of a human hair - it shows scales which may help in water retention. I wonder is anyone has put a badger hair into such a machine...

Zoicks!!!!