Wood Handles On Brushes And Water

[TheLegalRazor]

I've always liked the beauty of brushes with wood handles. I've never gotten one because of concerns about the durability of the handles due to their repeated and prolonged exposure to water when one shaves. The brush handles get much wetter than a razor's scales. I'd like to know the experience of members who have used wood handled brushes for long periods of time.

[chuckr9]

I have had to refinsh wood handled brushes after only a few uses. In fairness I do not try to protect the handles from water when soaking, or during clean-up afterwards. I think they look great, and are faily easy to refinish, so I keep them in my rotation.

[Omak]

Semogue believes in wood, so do I.

[BladeDE40]

It is definitely a valid concern particularly if the wood is not sealed properly. That being said, I've had two wood handled brushes (each for over three years)- a Tweezerman badger and a Semogue 1250, and I have never had a problem with them as they both look to be sealed well.

[Foyle]

I've had a couple of wood handled Semogues. None of them ever suffered any negative effects to the finish but I did not soak the handle of the brush. I think as long as the handle is sealed and finished properly, and you don't soak the handle, you shouldn't have any problems. If your handles are painted, like some Semgues, dropping the brush could chip the paint, but dropping a resin handled brush could chip the handle itself.

[sychodelix]

Seems like the quality of the finishing makes a big difference on how much water a wooden brush can handle. I have a cheap jaguar brush that even after only a few months, the bottom of the handle started chipping. Looks like it was merely painted over without being properly finished. The price is obviously relative to the quality.

[SliceOfLife]

Quality of finish matters.

My first wood custom from 2 years ago the finish wore and turned hazy in a handful of uses anywhere it contacted a bowl or soap dish. These days the finish is completely gone from the bottom (where it stands, so simply setting it down and picking it up off a possibly wet counter removed the finish). My eagle from MyCarver has seen more use than that brush at this point and still looks new.


That said, I haven't had any problems from the old brush with the finish worn, it just doesn't look as good.

[Rivguy]

I have had a number of wood handled brushes over the years with mixed results. Some have held up well and are still in use today. I had an Old Spice long handle brush that I wore out after several years use but the handle was still in excellent condition. Another almost identical brush with a Ford logo lost its finish very quickly. I do not soak the handles or allow them to contact the rim of the mug so I think that it all has to do with the quality of the finish. Like Chuck, I have refinished several of them. I finish them with a high quality marine grade finish.

Regards,

Doug

[malocchio]

Sealed brushes hold up well if you only soak your bristles/hairs ,and not the handle.This is true for plastic handles as well to some lesser extent.Sealed wooden handles are easily resealed,and you can actually keep a non sealed wooden handle from cracking by using encerite ,or a nice tung oil ,several coats with drying time between coats.The Vie-Long and Semogue wooden handles are nicely sealed,but some of the cheap turkish brushes are not.You can oil those or "shellac" them..

[sea]

I recently picked up a semogue wood handled brush. It seems to have been finished with tung oil or something similar. It seems pretty water resistant.

[Sfbagger]

No problem at all on any of my Semogues with wood handles. Both painted and natural are just fine- even the 1305 that I chipped!
My Omega 1005 lifted its finish inside a week. The vendor replaced it, and the same thing happened. Refinished 'em and gave 'em away.

[RABIDMONKEY]

new forrest 2202 badger ( wood ),vie long olivewood and semogues ( 1460 painted , soc wood unpainted ) professional barber wood and metal ) all no problem