What is with wood handled brushes?

VR6ofpain · Aug 2, 2007

I had a Kent 'pure bristle' brush with a wood handle and it seemed the badly glazed wood handle started to take water damage after only 1 use. I used it 3 times then gave it to another member, since he did not have any brushes at all.

Today I get a Tweezerman pure badger brush and I also notice the suspect wood handle with a very thin coating of glaze. Is this the norm with affordable wood handled brushes? I love my aluminum handle badger brush that came with my $12.50 Protocol shave set. It is true badger hair (very soft), which happens to be a bit longer than these other brushes I have purchased (so the spread wider when using to lather), and it has a nice aluminum handle.

Maybe wood isn't the best choice with these brushes, or you can't get a high quality wood handled brush at a low price.

yomuppet · Aug 2, 2007

VR6ofpain said:
I had a Kent 'pure bristle' brush with a wood handle and it seemed the badly glazed wood handle started to take water damage after only 1 use. I used it 3 times then gave it to another member, since he did not have any brushes at all.

Today I get a Tweezerman pure badger brush and I also notice the suspect wood handle with a very thin coating of glaze. Is this the norm with affordable wood handled brushes? I love my aluminum handle badger brush that came with my $12.50 Protocol shave set. It is true badger hair (very soft), which happens to be a bit longer than these other brushes I have purchased (so the spread wider when using to lather), and it has a nice aluminum handle.

Maybe wood isn't the best choice with these brushes, or you can't get a high quality wood handled brush at a low price.

By affordable, do you mean the $10 or less shipped that the Tweezerman costs? If so, I think you're probably right, this may be the norm for brushes in this range.

I've worked with a few other wood handled brushes in the $50 range, and they've been top notch. But I think in many things, brushes in particular, it really depends on the vendor, and what sort of brush they are trying to create.

J

burstofspeed · Aug 2, 2007

Were you hanging your brush upside down to dry after every shave? I know thats suggested in order for the water to trickle downward and not rot the wood.

jfrancisco · Aug 3, 2007

I've not had any problems with my ShaveMac wood handled brush. It gets abused almost daily and is no worse for the wear. I think as far as wooden handles go, you get what you pay for.

boboakalfb · Aug 3, 2007

jfrancisco said:
I've not had any problems with my ShaveMac wood handled brush. It gets abused almost daily and is no worse for the wear. I think as far as wooden handles go, you get what you pay for.

I think you are right. In addition to Shavemac, Plisson has some nice wood handles. They definitely fall into the higher price category.

Stauff · Aug 3, 2007

boboakalfb said:
I think you are right. In addition to Shavemac, Plisson has some nice wood handles. They definitely fall into the higher price category.

Indeed. They have very cool real ebony handles. This wood is so dense it doesn't float on water. i think the wood is oiled to make it waterproof. Best to towel it dry though...

rtaylor61 · Aug 3, 2007

My dad taught me that "cheap and good" don't go together. This is just an example of getting what you paid for. I'm not knocking these brushes. I have a Tweezerman. It was my springboard to quality brushes. Other than paper clips and staples, it is hard to find quality cheap products. I would suggest that if you want to stay with the less expensive brushes with wooden handles, spend the time to apply additional lacquer or some other product for better results.

Randy

TimmyBoston · Aug 4, 2007

I simply adore my SMF I Brush by Shavemac with a BEAUTIFUL wood handle.

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What is with wood handled brushes?

VR6ofpain

yomuppet

burstofspeed

jfrancisco

boboakalfb

Stauff

rtaylor61

TimmyBoston

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