Why soak the brush?

[rand77]

I soak my brush in hot water mainly to get the brush as hot as possible so the lather stays warm.

+1.

 

[takeshi]

Why soak the brush?

I just swish my badger brush in the water as the sink is filling up. This probably takes about 30 seconds. Then I face lather. I do not SOAK my brush. I have never understood what benefit there is supposed to be to soaking a shaving brush for longer.

If you haven't tried it then trying is the best way to answer your question. Clearly not all see a benefit and not all do not see a benefit -- otherwise either everyone would soak or no one would soak (i.e. YMMV). You need to rely on first hand experience to determine if there is one for you regardless of how many opinions you read.

I find that my badger seems to work better when soaked versus dipped. Again, YMMV.

 

[BlackBard]

If you haven't tried it then trying is the best way to answer your question. Clearly not all see a benefit and not all do not see a benefit -- otherwise either everyone would soak or no one would soak (i.e. YMMV). You need to rely on first hand experience to determine if there is one for you regardless of how many opinions you read.

I find that my badger seems to work better when soaked versus dipped. Again, YMMV.

You made a good point. I decided to soak my brush in hot water while I showered. I proceeded to face lather and shave just as I have in the past. I could not discern any difference except now I had an additional bowl to dry and put away.

I still doubt that my brush was any warmer, more water saturated or softer after soaking than it is after 30 seconds of swishing in warm water as my sink fills. Maybe one of our more scientifically oriented members can run some tests, e.g. weighing the brush after using both methods or measuring the amount of moisture in individual strands in the brush to determine objectively whether longer soaking results in any differences. For me, I'll just continue in my old, tried and true, ways.

 

[xraygun]

If everyone did that, we'd only have about 5 threads here at B&B.

And two of them would be about MWF.

 

[bhorsoft]

It depends for me. If I'm using a harder soap I'll soak the brush in my scuttle while I'm showering. If I'm using a cream I'll do the soak while the sink is filling. I notice a bit more water in the brush after the scuttle soak which is useful for the soaps, but not really needed for the creams. Other than that, no difference.