Horse Hair - Where Does It Fall Among Boar, Synthetic and the Four Badger Grades

I only remember horse hair being used in furniture and boy, was it tough. I suppose that was horse tail hair, but wow.

Now I see it offered as a shaving brush alternative.

I have many badger brushes of varying grades, and am thinking about boar, synthetic and now, horse hair.

I don't have a really tough beard or especially sensitive skin.

I'd welcome suggestions on where to explore next.

Cheers, and thanks in advance.

Malcolm from Montreal

Check this out: http://www.bruceonshaving.com/2010/10/04/why-horse-hair-shaving-brushes-are-not-more-common/

I have been using one of the inexpensive Turkish brushes from www.bestshave.net for about a month and I love it. Great for face lathering -- I'm thinking of getting a better horse hair brush, but the one I have is just great for now.

Rjack said:

I have been using one of the inexpensive Turkish brushes from www.bestshave.net for about a month and I love it. Great for face lathering -- I'm thinking of getting a better horse hair brush, but the one I have is just great for now.

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+1. Handle sucks but for under $3 it's an amazing lathering machine and has the right backbone and scrub to go with it. I'm waiting on a Vie-long to get a taste at better quality horse hair.

and actually, it's the brush I reach for for face-lathering. I think it does a better job than the badger (van der hagen) or the boar (Omega) that I have. Seems to have the best characteristics of both.

I have the Turkish horse hair brushes, both a Nr. 6 and a Nr. 7. They are surprisingly good for a total cost of $5.00 US for both, plus shipping. They seemed a bit scritchy when new, but now, after breaking in and split ends developing, not so much. Now they seem just a tad scritchy when dry, but when wet with lather, very smooth. I prefer the Nr. 7 because I like the shape of the plastic handle better, and with a 20mm vs. 25 mm knot, it seems softer overall, but still with enough backbone for soaps. Also, the Nr. 6 brush with wood handle has an uneven knot density, and poorer quality control overall.

A TGN 20mm pure badger is the only badger I've used enough to form a judgement on, and it may seem a tad softer than the horse hairs, but it has about the same scritchiness. The badger brush seems to retain lather, whereas the horse brushes give it up and are capable of making just as creamy a lather. The horse hair brushes do duty most of the time.

Many people have commented that a horse hair brush is a good compromise between a badger brush and a boar.

I have a 23mm synthetic knot from TGN in my father's Surrey(VDH) handle. I use it mostly for travel and it is the softest brush I've tried. It compares very well to some of the "synthetic badgers" and silvertips from Omega and Muhle.

There is a newer version of the Turkish horse hair brush Nr. 6 out now, with a slightly different wood handle shape, and supposedly better quality control. I may try one in the coming months.

I have those 2 brushes that you've mentioned (Rjack) and I tried my Omega Might Midget that has a boar/badger mix, I think that if you like the characteristics of all of those brushes you would love the Mighty Midget. I know I've strayed but we are talking about different brush alternatives.

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Out of the 4 choices, badger, boar, synthetic, and horsehair, horsehair stinks the worst. The horse hair is sort of the middle ground between badger and boar. I will not discuss about synthetic because I have never used one, but I would assume a high quality synthetic acts like a badger.

When considering lather, the horsehair is in the middle. Horsehair will generate faster and hold more lather than the boar, but less than the badger. This is even more obvious if you were to compare the horsehair with the silvertip badger. It is important to note that the horsehair will probably have more lather than the silvertip because the ones available for purchase right now have very large loft sizes. If you compare the brushes at the same loft, then the horsehair is in the middle.

If skin irritation is your concern, the horsehair is sort of closer to the boar. Its not as soft as the silvertip, but its definitely better than the pure badger. When I use my horsehair vs my boar, I don't notice a difference in my skin.

For you, I would probably say stick with the tried and true badgers and boars. It seems to me that you do not necessarily have a need for a horsehair brush. To me, the horsehair brush is more of a curiosity. I use it specifically because I need to shave my legs. The badger is good at the job, but I have to put in the extra effort because I would need around 3x the lather. The boar does not generate enough lather and I have to reload the brush many times. When I use the horsehair for my face, it does the job, but I would prefer my badger. If I had to use the horsehair, I wouldn't complain.

Use the horsehair if you are on a budget constraint. It works well, its not luxurious like the silvertip, but it works well compared to the boar. If you have sensitive skin or a tough beard, you might want to look at the silver tip for sensitive sin, and the boar brush for the thick tough beard.

I hope this helps you Malcom.

Get the Turkish #6 at bestshave.net. Only a few bucks, and while your there, you can get some cheap blades and Arko

Bellac,

When you say the horsehair stinks the most, can I assume you mean smell vs performance?

I wish to thank you all for your input and experience.

I think I'll get an inexpensive one and break it in to use for camping and travel where I won't have to worry about packing it wet or losing it.

Cheers all!

Yes I mean its scent is the strongest. I feel it is stronger than the boar.

I was anticipating some odor from the Turkish horse hair brushes, but by the second shave it was gone.

I was prepared to have the bathroom smell like a stable for a few weeks.

Now after a month or two, the horse hair brush just smells like shaving cream.

Well, that's encouraging! LOL

Rjack said:

I was anticipating some odor from the Turkish horse hair brushes, but by the second shave it was gone.

I was prepared to have the bathroom smell like a stable for a few weeks.

Now after a month or two, the horse hair brush just smells like shaving cream.

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Bellac said:

Yes I mean its scent is the strongest. I feel it is stronger than the boar.

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I've worked with horses under the hot, hot sun and .......... yup! Pretty powerful.

Fortunately, I've never had to work with boars, and badgers are bad-tempered little beasts - scare the bejeebers outta me.

I have all of the Turkish horse hair brushes from BestShave, and they work pretty well for the money. However, there are much higher quality horse hair brushes out there, and the one I would recommend the most can be seen here http://www.bullgooseshaving.net/vi13hohabr.html . That Vie-Long brush is leaps and bounds over the Turkish horse hairs, as well as any boar bristle brush I have ever used. It is on sale right now which makes it a steal at $32 for the quality you get in return.

The horse hair brushes are a little like boar brushes in that they do take a little breaking in, just not near as much as boar.

I have the Vie-Long 13800, a short lofted brush compared to the 13061 that Tolly linked. It has the same 50/50 mane/tail mix and bleached/dyed hair.

The performance is great. It makes lather like no one's business. It's firm, but the tips are quite soft. It feels a bit scrubby rather than scratchy, whereas my short-loft silvertip feels more like being gently pressed against with something soft but fairly solid. Most of the action goes on in the tips. If I press it too hard against my face so it splays out like a badger brush, I end up with brush burn.

I've ordered an inexpensive Turkish version for now.
Knowing me. I'll be goin' for that Spanish job real soon.

Thks, folks.

I have a Vie Long as well, very happy with it. Maybe just a little bit of smell, but after soaking in vinegar + water and some lathers with proraso and that was taken care of. Certainly not a week long process.

Just ordered a #6 and #7 from Bestshave.net, I'm curious to see how they are when they get here. How bad can they be for a $5 investment?

Here's a thread that might help; http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...e-Long-El-Caballo-Español-(The-Spanish-horse)