Wilkinson Finest briste, worst brush ever ?

i picked up one of these today, for 4 and a half euros in a supermarket,
i tried to spread it a bit in my way home, it wouldnt, it has a hard plastic feel to it, the fun part came when i tried to use it with my tabac,

is was unable to produce lather of ANY kind, i had a fine white layer on my face and hand, but it wouldnt lather up, i gave up, washed the soap off, and put the brush away,

its a shame, but i wasnt expecting much more out of it,

I got one out of curiosity a few months ago. I wouldn't say it's excellent but I can get a passable lather with it. it is rather thin and weedy!

Certainly won't replace my badgers but it's found it's way into the travel kit with a Sanguine shavette as I wouldn't care if it wandered off somewhere!

Gareth

The Eterna brush one finds at Dollar stores it the worst ever. The glue on mine failed and every single bristle fell out at once.

scagooch said:

The Eterna brush one finds at Dollar stores it the worst ever. The glue on mine failed and every single bristle fell out at once.

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+1! I bought one at my local barber/beauty supply store. It was more or less an "experimental" purchase, as you can't honeslty expect much at that price ($1.99, I think?). Well, it was barely usable. Sheds like a Border Collie. I think you'd do better with a paint brush.

-Pete

Sorry to chime in so late on this one, guys...but my vote for the worst brush ever, (and I'm sure they're getting rare!) would be the absolutely crappy Burt's Bee's boar brush that was packaged with Burt's even worse dog-drool-like Bay Rum shaving soap in a funny little mug. I was a Burt's dealer some 8-9 years ago before his products replicated themselves all over the place and he sold out to Proctor and Gamble... I ordered a number of these, tossed the awful soap away, sent back the remaining stock, and thought I might as well try the mug and brush.

Good news! The mug holds water. The brush, after probably less than 10 uses over the intervening 7-8 years or so has less than half the bristles...and it is a poor performer both in the mug/bowl and on the face. Other than that, I'd say the porcelain handle is a good percussion instrument.

Anyone ever tried one of these beasts?

Mr. Gillette said:

Anyone ever tried one of these beasts?

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No but I will. My wife bought me the Burt's Bees set for my anniversary present. I assume it's the same brush. The brush does have a nice weight to it. I won't tell her that people around here seem to hate his shaving stuff with the white hot intensity of a thousand suns...

Since the Wilkinson is my second brush ever, I find it comfortable in use. My first ever was a Vergulde Hand kit brush, which fell apart in a couple of months. The Wilkinson still goes strong. I am looking for a badger brush though. All in all, it isn't the worst in the world

I use the wilkinson brushes in the shop all the time and occasionally at home.

I think they are quite a good brush for a low end cheapie. The bristles soften quite nicely after a short time and to be honest it makes lather as well as any other boar brush I have kicking around, whether you lather cream in a bowl or soap straight on your face. They are a bit scratchy but then it's pig hair. They don't seem to shed too badly either. Mine lost 2 or 3 hairs in the beginning and has managed to hold on to the rest for probably 100 shaves.

All in all I reckon it's a pretty good brush for a few quid and it's probably on par quality-wise with some of the more 'expensive' boar brushes.

just my 2c

Cheers

Mat

hey yah.

thought i'd throw in my 2c.

I use the wilkinson sword brush daily, its my only one. I find it very hardy and durable, not too bendy. Its starting to soften up after 1+ months of daily use, and become more absorptive.

It doesn't lose bristles much either, just the odd one - a couple a week, at most. Which is pretty good considering the abuse i give it.

My only quibble is the handle - why did they make it taper to an oval at its base? it feels funny in the hand - bad ergonomics.

The WORST brush, i must concur, is the Burts bee's boar with the wooden handle. my friend has one and he can't use it - it must have lost 2/3s of its bristle from occasional use. the soap he used it on looks felted, there's so much shed hair on it. GROSS and useless.

ta,

-L.