Why I love my synthetic brushes.

It seems lately a lot of synthetic talk has been popping up and I would like to share my opinion on it as I love my synthetic brushes. So much so that I am considering selling ALL of my other brushes.

The Good:

• No animal smell when the brush is new.
• No break in time before you see the full performance of the brush.
• No shedding (or very very little)
• No soaking needed like natural hair brushes
• Fast drying time. Rinse, a couple of shakes and flicks and its 99% dry.
• Very consistent lathers. The brush always behaves the same.
• Lasts longer than natural hair. Fibers don't absorb soap/lather/water like natural hair so they don't get brittle over time.
• Doesn't need to be shampooed or cleaned often as the fibers don't absorb.
• Even the most expensive synthetic is nowhere near the price of the expensive badgers.
• Not made with animal products if that is something you care about.

The Bad:

• Less heat retention (If that is something you look for although many do not mind that difference. For example scuttle shavers, cold water shavers, shaving in the summer etc.)
• Less water holding ability. Since the fibers don't absorb water the brush doesn't hold as much water as a badger. If you try and keep is soaked and then lather, it will all fall out. generally you start with a dryer brush and add water as you go. Slightly different technique than natural brushes so you need to learn that.
• It's "different". Just like badger, boar, and horse feel different. A synthetic is different too but for some reason gets a bad rap because it is a synthetic.
• It's not as old school. (technology is a great thing though!)

Just like with natural hair brushes there are floppy synthetics and stiff synthetics. Small knots, large knots. High loft, low loft. Different handles. Different hair colors. I think anyone could find a synthetic with the properties they like. There are not as many choices yet so maybe some haven't found that ideal one yet. I am curious how others feel about it. For me the good is definitely better than the bad.

I like 'em, too. They're certainly soft enough, and they produce great lather. But it comes down to springiness and how it goes about spreading that lather. I like a brush to accommodate my shaving habits, not the other way around.

What are your favorite synthetics? I haven't tried the Mühle, but really like the Plisson. Earlier synthetics weren't as good, in my opinion.

Thank you.

Food for thought.

Mickey

rsp1202 said:

I like 'em, too. They're certainly soft enough, and they produce great lather. But it comes down to springiness and how it goes about spreading that lather. I like a brush to accommodate my shaving habits, not the other way around.

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I agree that the main difference is what people refer to as springiness. Really that main difference comes down to this. With a badger brush when you work the lather on your face and stop and start the brush will keep that spread out shape with a breach in the middle. You can lather with varying pressure and the brush will stay splayed out for you and soft. With a synthetic brush when you remove the brush from your face the fibers go back more to normal. When you start again you have to re-splay the brush. It takes a second but it is a different sensation. While lathering on your face with varying pressure the brush will open and close more than a badger leading to that springiness feeling or feeling of more backbone. Some synthetic brushes do this much more that other brushes but that is one difference of synthetics. I have found if you really load up your synthetic brush so it is full of thick lather it will stay splayed much easier because it is so full of lather that the fibers can't go back and stay spread out.

Quigg said:

What are your favorite synthetics? I haven't tried the Mühle, but really like the Plisson. Earlier synthetics weren't as good, in my opinion.

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I have the Plisson Sythetic, Grooming Co, and Edwin Jagger XL. I had the Omega Hi-brush too. They are all very different which I why I think people can find one of them which they like. The Plisson is super soft and splays by far the easiest. The Edwin Jagger is a super dense brush which dense backbone which does a pretty good job of feeling like a badger. The grooming co is a nice small feeling scrubby brush. The Omega was a high loft brush that was super soft. Took the most effort to splay but was still nice.

I have 1 synthetic that I use for a travel brush. They dry quicker than my boar/horse/badger brushes.

I have several boar brushes and none of them ever had any animal smell when new.

I was floored with the one I got. Softer to start with which was great! Got a good lather but have to agree more water needed to be used through the lather. Other than that its a great brush. Mine was with an order of grim blades soap so whoever supplies them is where mine came from.

The EJ XL has the same fibers as the 2.0 Muhles, is that correct?

MuffinMan said:

The EJ XL has the same fibers as the 2.0 Muhles, is that correct?

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The Muhle and Edwin Jagger Synthetic brushes have the same knot, different handles. Some people swear the Edwin Jagger is more dense but I got it because the handle is way nicer.

I am a fan of the newest gen synthetics. They won't replace my badgers and boars, but they definitely have A place in the rotation. I solved the "not traditional" issue by setting a couple of knots in cool vintage handles, and the resultant brushes are a nice blend of vintage character and modern performance. I agree that synthetics in general are different, but once you get the difference in technique down, they are great performers. I've been using the Virginia Sheng Pur Tech knots which I like a lot. They are a great value if you don't mind the wait on shipping from China; I recommend them.

Have fun.

After using synthetics, the lather seems to go on flat with boar and badger on the second pass. I don't get this with the newer synthetics.