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Why are synthetic brushes so different than badger brushes?

Are labs really unable to replicate hairs that are thicker at the base but narrow and soft at the top? Are labs really unable to produce hairs containing grooves that absorb water? The wonderful world of materials has given us nubuck, microfiber, and the Absorber chamois. Why can't a synthetic brush similar to or better than badger hair be produced?
 
Are labs really unable to replicate hairs that are thicker at the base but narrow and soft at the top? Are labs really unable to produce hairs containing grooves that absorb water? The wonderful world of materials has given us nubuck, microfiber, and the Absorber chamois. Why can't a synthetic brush similar to or better than badger hair be produced?

Nature has many secrets. Humans arn't as brilliant as you may think. Its also is a tradition associated with wet shaving and that attracts many badger brush users.
 
Synthetic brushes dont hold water because most of the brushes are made of some sort of plastic percipitate such as nylon. Boars also dont hold water as well. The hairs have a very different structure from one another and are completely different from synthetics.
 
Synthetic brushes dont hold water because most of the brushes are made of some sort of plastic percipitate such as nylon. Boars also dont hold water as well. The hairs have a very different structure from one another and are completely different from synthetics.

Yes, I know these things. At the same time, the same argument was once used with chamois (plural), and now The Absorber is softer and more absorbent than the real thing.

Microsuede/nubuck is made from nylon too, yet it is extremely soft. Microfiber is very soft and is very absorbant. I get the feeling that the materials industry simply isn't trying with brushes.
 
It would be interesting for a lab to try to truly replicate a badger hair, though...worth it? not sure...but it would be interesting
 
I don't know... why do they still sell goose down sleeping bags when there's sooo many synthetic fibers created pretty much for the purpose?

Ditto with leather motorcycle suits. They just perform better than the synthetics (cordura). Kangaroo leather is even better!

That synthetic brush using Toray fibers looks interesting. Although I can't find any confirmation on their website that any of their fibers were designed "specifically for wet shaving" as the ad states. I'm all for better living through technology... it just appears right now that nature is ahead in the ballgame. Of course her R&D and production departments run significantly slower... if you believe in that sort of thing :)
 
I would suspect that, since this is such a niche market, and the vast majority of people who shave (at least in the developed countries where the big money is to be made) just use canned goo. So there isn't likely to be a big payoff to develop an exceptional synthetic brush specifically designed to create a shaving lather.
 
I eco the Nature is still better than Artificial, but IMO the main reason for coming up with a good material is that there is not enough market for a radically different material creation. If you are going to invest on new shaving improvements, you invest on gels and goo, not in brushes.

Edit: yeah what Austin said.
 
I don't know... why do they still sell goose down sleeping bags when there's sooo many synthetic fibers created pretty much for the purpose?

Ditto with leather motorcycle suits. They just perform better than the synthetics (cordura). Kangaroo leather is even better!

... it just appears right now that nature is ahead in the ballgame.
Then again, BMW is charging a premium for their alcantara (synthetic suede that holds up better than suede, is soft as leather and doesn't stain).

In some realms the real thing is still superior to the synthetic thing. In other realms the reverse is true. It just seems that with synthetic brushes, they simply aren't even trying.
 
This is possible, but keep in mind that makeup brushes are both similar and big money. You'd think there'd be demand for premium, animal cruelty-free makeup brushes.

Make-up brushes cover a larger market for women. The brush does not have to absorb water. It only transfers powder.
 
Make-up brushes cover a larger market for women. The brush does not have to absorb water. It only transfers powder.
1. That's fine, for $0 extra give us something with a soft feel that doesn't absorb water.
2. For a bit of R&D money, place a grove in the individual bristles to absorb some water.
 
Talor makes a synthetic that holds water. I use it everyday and love it. I have never used a "real brush" so I can't compare it to a badger brush though.
 
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