Brush Chronicle #13: Vulfix

[JaggerDragger]

mmmmm lather goodness cessnabird!

That 40s is huge! Are you going to chronicle that bad boy?

[dpmtherrien]

Folks, I have some bad news. Due to unforeseen circumstances it turns out that dpmtherrien will be unable to participate in the Vulfix Chronicle with me as we had originally planned. He will be missed. We'll keep the Chronicle running though and make a fresh post in the morning. It will be the 2233S versus AOS Lemon. There will be lather!

I do apologize to all for not being able to help out with this chronicle, but let me add that one of the first brushes I ever used was the 2234, and it remains a most often used part of my rotation. I think for the price any of the Vulfix brushes are well worth anyone having. I feel they will stand up to any of the brushes out there.

[cessnabird]

mmmmm lather goodness cessnabird!

That 40s is huge! Are you going to chronicle that bad boy?

I do plan on using the 40 in the next few days, I just have to decide which soap or cream I will be using. Keep an eye out.

[Foyle]

It's not secret that floppy brushes do well with creams and the 2233S is no exception. Less densely packed brushes enjoy some great qualities for lathering creams in a bowl. Today it's one of my favorites: C&E Nomad. I love the scent of this cream. Nomad was the first real shaving cream I ever used. My wife bought some for me for my birthday when I first began wet shaving so the scent is sort of sentimental to me.

One of the great things about little brushes like the 2233S is that they are very efficient at lathering creams. You don't need much product and since the lather isn't hogged by the knot, like it can be with denser brushes, you get a good lather very quickly. This is about a minute of slowly adding water and building the lather. It's ready to go.

Of course, the brush itself holds plenty. When I bowl lather with this brush I often don't have to gather more lather from the bowl itself during my three pass shave. Often the brush itself holds enough for all three passes.

Of course, this brush is pillow soft on your face when you bowl lather with it. It feels great to apply warm lather your face with a really soft brush like this.

[cessnabird]

Superb! That Nomad really came to life with that Vulfix, the lather looks almost good enough to eat. I agree with you about the flow thru and release of that brush, it really is efficient, especially with creams. Great pictures Foyle!

[Foyle]

Thanks cessnabird. I can't wait to see what you're going to do with that mammoth 40.

[rockviper]

Gents, nice write-ups and some excellent pics!

[djh]

Great stuff, chaps. Thank you!

[cessnabird]

Gentlemen, my second contribution to the Vulfix chronicles is the Vulfix 40S, aka "the animal"!
This brush was my second Vulfix and it is obviously very large. It offers the renowned soft tips that Vulfix brushes are known for, with a knot of super badger that blooms so much that it almost dwarfed the Chubby 3 two band I previously owned. Backbone is not it's strong point as we have come to recognize with these English beauties. I will say that at least for me, it does not perform nearly as well with hard soaps as my Vulfix 2233S. There is just so much give and bloom to the knot that I find it difficult to get a good soap lather going, but as always, ymmv. It's primary duty and shining point really is whipping up luxury shaving creams. It does so with the will of a wild beast and releases the lather easily although it is almost the size of my face. Here are the specs of my 40S. It sports a 30.3mm knot with a 60.05mm loft. This was the first time I have lathered Trumpers violet cream, so it came out a little more airy and bubbly than I prefer. However, it was without a doubt a luxurious lather.

The 40S and it's little brother the 2233S.




A size comparison with the 37c slant


A quick soak in the G-5

[cessnabird]

I did manage to lather it in the G-5, although a larger scuttle such as the DB 1.5 is a much more appropriate fit for this brush.


A little sweet talking encourages these Super bristles to give up huge globs of warm bliss.


Did I mention this silvertip knot has some impressive water retention?

[cessnabird]

Finally, a measurement that has to be posted to believe, the bloom... Wow! Just over 100mm from tip to tip!

[Foyle]

Today we'll lather the new Simpson's Luxury Shave Cream. This cream is really concentrated and dense. I makes one of the densest lathers I've seen from any cream or soap. Using the 2233S I got some of the thickest lather I've ever made with this cream, far more dense than I'd gotten with any of my other brushes. I took these photos at the end of last week. I've since traded this cream away as, sadly, it doesn't agree with my skin.

First, a little cream on the tips of the brush. I don't know what happened to this pic but the lighting turned out terribly.

I've tried face lathering this cream and have not had the best results. It seems face lathering tempted me to over hydrate this cream ruining it's cushion. Bowl lathering seems to have provided the best results.

As you can see the 2233S has no trouble making lots of luxurious lather with this cream. This is no surprise as shorter floppier brushes like this excel in this realm.

Just look at how dense this stuff is, even when a healthy quantity is scooped out by the brush there is still a ton of rich lather left in the bowl. The 2233 comes through again!

[TheLegalRazor]

Great thread gentlemen. I appreciate the effort that goes into a thread like this.

I had a Vulfix 2236, but found it too floppy. I downsized to the 2235 and it's a great brush. It's still floppy, but due to the shorter loft, it's not as floppy as the 2236. It is a lather machine with creams and it's on my weekly rotation along with a Vulfix 41 and several Simpsons.

My Vulfix 41 is another great brush and a monster at making lather. It's large, but I found it to be less floppy than the 2236. I attribute this to the 41 having a slightly larger knot diameter than the 2236.

I'm considering the Vulfix 40, although it seems to have essentially the same knot as the 41, but with a larger handle.

My Vulfix 2236 and 41 make better lather from cream than my Simpson Chubby 2 and 3. I'm not complaining about the Chubby or comparing it unfavorably to the Vulfix, because the Chubby is a totally different concept and experience. However, the Chubby is so densely packed that for me it is not among the best lather makers from creams.

[jkh]

Outstanding! I love the monster Vulfix 40. Someday I really want to try one out.

I did manage to lather it in the G-5, although a larger scuttle such as the DB 1.5 is a much more appropriate fit for this brush.


A little sweet talking encourages these Super bristles to give up huge globs of warm bliss.


Did I mention this silvertip knot has some impressive water retention?

[cessnabird]

Crazy thick lather with the Simpsons cream and Vulfix, just great!

Stay tuned as I will post a new review with my 2233 tomorrow...

[JaggerDragger]

Great reviews guys thanks!

[cessnabird]

Gentlemen, I apologize for not posting today as planned, I have had a very busy week. I will be sure and post in the next few days.

[Foyle]

We've already seen earlier that the 2233S can make great lather from a triple milled soap. It took on AOS Lemon and came out the victor. Today we'll see how this brush does on Mitchell's Wool Fat.


It is often claimed that only a really dense brush with lots of backbone can adequately load and lather a really hard soap like MWF. Soap loading isn't about digging soap off the puck, it's about dissolving soap and picking it up in the brush. Any decent brush will do this just fine.

I took a dryish brush to the soap and added a little water as I went until I had the brush well loaded. This is about 40 seconds of loading. That's one well loaded brush!

After a working up the lather this is the result. It's a nice, dense, creamy lather.

And this is the lather after the squeeze test. This isn't a light, airy, foamy lather without substance; this is a substantial, cushiony lather. This lather has chutzpah!

This floppy little brush can handle anything you throw at it. Check out all that luscious lather.

[cessnabird]

[djh]

That is serious lather Chad. Well done!