Favorite shaving brush: Badger, Boar, Horse Hair or synthetic?

David in Boston said:

I've got five horse Beehives from BullGoose and they are a RAD killer in the brush category for me.

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I'm glad to hear they are working so well for you... I would have never thought...

I haven't tried synthetic, so no idea on how I'd like that. I love my silvertip badger and the seriously cheap Semogue 1460 is actually a great brush. And just today I started liking the Vie-Long horse beehive more.

But as I look at (photos of) a couple brushes I just picked up on 'the bay' the only knots I've been considering are badger, so that guided my vote.

I've tried several but my top 3 are all Badgers. Simpsons Chubby 3 Super, Rudy Vey 32/55 2 Band Finest and a Semogue SOC in Cherry. My horses, boars and synthetics have taken a back seat to these three.

I voted badger but I enjoy boar just as well.

I love my Omega boar 10290 the most but it is followed closely by my Turkish #6 Horse.

mftoms59 said:

If you have the skill and patience that could work, don't forget to add some Mane Hair for the softness, the Tail is coarser and used for its Backbone.

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I wonder how hard it would be to make one? Granted, I don't have a lathe so I couldn't make a fancy ornate handle. But (in an overly simplistic sense) wouldn't it be just gluing the hair to a brush handle?

Smoothy said:

After testing quite a selection of brushes, I've settled on the Mühle Silver Tip Fibre for my face lathering needs.

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I have been face lathering pretty much exclusively for a year now and have settled on an 18mm silvertip as a great size for me. I have a Savile Row (transferred the knot to an Ever-Ready handle), two Golden Nib silvertip grade As (one in an Ever-Ready handle, one in a Semogue), and one very compact 18mm which Shavemac inserted into a Vulfix 2233 handle (one of my fave handles).

All that said, the Muehle STF sure is intriguing. I may have to get one to see what the excitement is all about.

Dave

churley79 said:

I wonder how hard it would be to make one? Granted, I don't have a lathe so I couldn't make a fancy ornate handle. But (in an overly simplistic sense) wouldn't it be just gluing the hair to a brush handle?

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I'm sure a little searching on the net will lead you to a site or video on making a Shaving Brush knot. I think the trick is making the knot dense enough to have good backbone, once assembled the horse Hair can be trimmed for symmetry of the Bulb or Fan shape. I'd say be prepared to assemble quite a few before having one that is made correctly, the first step is finding guidance for your endeavor.

I like the mixed breeds. Gimme a horse-badger or boar-badger knot anytime. Such categories are not included in the poll.