Best Brush for Soap Under $60.00

I am looking for suggestions for the best brush to use for soap that costs less than $60.00. I currently have a Vulfix Superbadger brush that I find a bit floppy. I am looking for a brush that is firm yet soft and that will produce a copious amount of lather.

 

How about one of Rodd's knotty badger brushes? My current favorite brush, a re knotted Erskine, uses the same knot as Rodd's and really whips the soap up. My C&E BBB doesn't make as much lather. I see the TSD store has one on sale for $55.00.

 

I hear you on budget limits. I don't know if you wanted to include shipping in your $60 limit, but if you can stretch another $15-20 including shipping, the standard answer is a Rooney 3/1 in Super hair. It's the standard answer because it really is a perfect match to your specs: firm but soft, works wonderfully with soaps (and creams), and costs well under the $100 mark. I used mine this morning, and it held enough lather for 6 passes of Tabac lather. Vintageblades sells them, as do others.

 

With the current exchange rate you could also get a Kent BK4 for about your limit shipped.

I'm waiting for the Kimson horn TSD edition for my next brush or a good deal on a Shavemac, that Kent deal may be hard to pass up though.

 

Thank you for the suggestions. I have heard nothing but good things about the Rooney Brush. That's probably why I never see a gently used one on the forum...nobody wants to give it up.

The Knotty Badger Brush in TSD shop also looks pretty nice. Has anyone else had experience with this brush?

 

What a great suggestion!!! I just priced one (well, technically, it would be "another one"...) the other day and you're spot on: about $60-65 total. Whether it's firm enough is a personal preference, but man, oh, man do I love mine. It might be my favorite brush now, surplanting the Rooney.

 

hmmm...that sounds great. Do I order from the Kent website?

 

I'm sure Mr. Igg will chime in. The Kent site has them at 50 pounds + shipping. I saw a few on the UK eBay site last week but I can't find them now.

50 pounds = $72.71

http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert.cgi

 

I have a QED 24mm in best badger. It is a soap killer. Not to scratchy and not floppy at all. They are $59 before shipping and you can get smaller knot sizes for a little less. You have to email Charles on them for some reason they aren't on his website. I have had one for about 6 months and it gets used nearly every day. They also work very well with creams. I did a review of one in the brush review section. There is a small pic of one there.

 

£34.78 excl. VAT = $50.57 + shipping

http://www.gentlemans-shop.com/acatalog/kent-shaving-brush.html

Looks like they are out of stock though. :mad:

 

How easy it is to overlook the great deals in the classifieds here sometimes.

http://www.theshaveden.com/forum/showthread.php?p=157707#post157707

I cannot find any more Kent BK4's at the prices I saw just last week?

 

Thanks MT, Mr. Igg and Lamont for the great information and links. What did we do before the Internet?

 

+1 to that. I would really be hurtin if there was no internet. I don't have any B&M stores in this area. Closest place is Denver which is 7 hours away.

 

Where do you shop in Denver? I'm about 1/2hr south of downtown and I'm not aware of anywhere with good shave goods shopping.

 

Drat. That was my source. But, two bits of good news:

The Gentleman's Shop does have the BLK 4, same brush with black handle, in stock at $50 + shipping. (I know, because that's where I was drooling over it...) Just hit Chris's (MT's) link and surf shaving accessories, then drill down to find the BLK 4.

Also, Auravita has the BK 4 for £39 before VAT is deducted = approx $50 before shipping. Basically the same price as The Gentlemans Shop. I bought my BK 4 from Auravita, and other than taking a few days to process my order, I have no complaints.

Now, just to be clear, this is a different brush from the Rooney. The Rooney is firm; no one I've read disputes that. The Kent is flexible. Most people stress it's not "floppy", but it will splay out against your face if you press in. I just don't want to mislead on that point. But it is a great brush that works very, very well with soaps, even though it's not considered a prototypical "soap" brush (dense, firm, shorter loft). In fact, I used mine 2 days ago and got 6 passes of lather from my Mitchell's (Kent) Wool Fat. I wouldn't part with my BK 4, and am seriously considering a second in black just so I can have two to spell each other off for complete drying.

 

That's a great recommendation, too, from all I've read. If any brush keeps me from the BLK next, it'll be this, or it's silvertip sibling. Charles is a fantastic supplier, too.

 

The Vulfix 403 Mayfair in best badger has been a reliable and efficient hard soap brush for me and it usually sells for about $40.00.

 

Thanks. For Christmas I received a Shavemac custom 23mm in Silvertip. I must say I still prefer the QED 24 bbb. The shavemac is nice and soft but the QED is so dense and has a strong backbone.

 

That's good to know, because my #3 candidate was the 23mm Shavemac! So, I think I can rest easily that it'll stay #3 for the moment.