I originally bought glycerin to use as a pre-shave/pre-pass application, and found that it was worthless and actually deleterious to my shaves. The glycerin sat, and sat...collecting dust. I decided to give it a try as a pre-soak for my brush and it ended up working great. What I do is add a few drops (less than teaspoon) of veg. glycerin to the hot water my brush soaks in before use. It helps to soften the brush hairs, enables them to hold even more water, and thickens the lather
Tell me Joe, of what kind of hair is your brush constructed? Is it a boar bristle? or pure (black? brown?) badger?
Hi "Whiz", I find this to work well with both boar-bristle brushes, and badger (of all types) I might add, another benefit (I found) in soaking brushes, was that it helped to soften my pure-badger brush and made it easier on the face. :sad027
Thanks for the tip. I've been using glycerin just as something to moisten the skin in the dry of winter, but now I have two uses for it!
Has anyone followed up on this one? Any recent results of soaking with glycerin? I may try it this morning and report back...
After two mornings in a row of soaking the brush in a water/glycerin mix prior to lathering, my reaction is, "Meh..." No marked improvement in brush softness or pliability, but the added glycerin did enhance the soap lather. Nothing I couldn't have achieved by adding a few drops directly to the mug while lathering.