What is the average life expectancy of a standard grade badger hair brush, assuming shaving daily with some 2 pass shaves on the weekend?
AWS, axe yourself...how long would it last on the animal??? A lifetime, and he was much rougher on it than you are!!!! Simply put, a good long time. I've got badger that I can't remember when they were purchased. And I did a 3 pass shave ever day. Now I've gotten older and wiser (????????) and do a 2 pass routine. Enjoy and not to worry!!!! Semper-fi. Mike
I'd argue contributing factors that would shorten the life of a brush as compared to being attached to a live badger. In the wild badgers live up to fifteen years. In your brush knot there are no new hairs grown. The type of glue used to secure the individual hairs may be of a type, but surely varies by manufacture. So also would vary the motion used by each shaver when making lather. Type of soap - creme, soft or hard soaps would put different stresses on the knot. Not having a clue as to what soap does to a hair shaft, I'm guessing continual use of a single brush either removes the natural oils, thus drying the hair causing breakage and split ends. Or if the soaps used are "super fatted"they may leave additional oils that could extend the unnatural lifespan of a detached hair shaft. Bottom line? Treat your brush well. Keep it clean and allow it to dry between uses to avoid fungal growth. Having several brushes allows rotation to avoid repeated stress injuries to a single one. Have you considered less expensive boar, or synthetic that don't suffer from natural issues?
Oh, the rest of your life give or take 20 years. Which is to say a very long time. It's a good investment. Not something that will wear out in a few years like car tires or a cell phone. You will have this brush for decades to come. Does that sound like a good deal?
If you go by what I overheard an Art of Shaving rep say, 3 to 5 years. Bunk. I have several vintage (40-50 years old) brushes with the original knot that I'm still using.
Just buy yourself a few dozen of them, then you'll never have to worry about wearing one out. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Stream of Conscience ramblings. I thought about going back and trying to organizing my thoughts into positive and negative effects on brushes. Just clicked the button instead. ...so I tied an onion to my belt.
I just bought my 2nd ever badger brush a couple of months ago after using my 1st one for 10 years. Truth be told my first one is still very usable, but got a little 'smooshy' over time and I wanted something a little denser and with some more snap. So, as long as you have a well-made brush and take care of it reasonably well, it'll last for "many" years.
As long as you don't abuse the brush, and if the glue in the knot doesn't deteriorate, a long long long time.
As others have said, if it's well-made and reasonably cared-for, then it'll last slightly less than forever. Forever, in this context, meaning at least your lifetime.
I've used the same badger brush for almost 20 years. It's a keeper and my current favorite. I did buy an Omega boar just to see the difference. The boar is stiffer and has had a lot of hair breakage, though I'm told it takes a bit of time for the boar brushes to get properly broke in. For the meantime I just bought a new badger via a post in the marketplace. Around $36US on sale. Figure that all of the above should last the rest of my life, but as I approach 50 that probably doesn't say much. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Back in 1935 Ripley's believe it or not was a column in the newspaper. At that time they noted there was a shaving brush in use for 47 years.
