Anyone have one of these brushes? I have heard that they are good for creams and soaps. Do they lose their backbone after break in making them not as good for soaps. I'm thinking about buying one. Thanks in advance.

I do not own an 830, but my 620 has taken forever to break in. I doubt you'll have to ever worry about backbone in a Semogue. I've never heard of one being floppy.
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Don't get caught up in the soap brush or cream brush, that brush will work fine for whatever you want to lather.

I like the two Semogue brushes I have.

The only reason I asked about the brush for soaps is the badger I have is a AOS brush and didn't work very well with soaps.

If it's anything like my 620, it will tear up hard soaps with ease. I like scrubby brushes but for me Semogue is too much of a good thing. IMHO (might be better if I'd invest the time to break it in, but in a year of using it once every couple of weeks, it's still not broken in)

I use a 2000 almost daily. It is bigger and has more loft than the 830. After about a year of use, it is well broken in and still whips up a nice mug of soap. The 830 is smaller with less loft and more backbone. It will definitely have plenty of chutzpah to rip through a puck of soap.

If you like the looks of it, the specs fit what you want, and you can get it for a good price, then go for it. It will take some time to break in, but if you spend the time it should be a good brush.

Like I said in my pm try the 1305 for the bowl....

Touching briefly on the soap or cream brush, there truly isn't such a thing; one's own skill, technique and preference determines if the brush will work period.

Which AOS brush do you have? I have an AOS brush in Fine Badger and it works very well with my TSD soaps. It did take several times to figure out how much water too leave on the brush, which as it turns out seems to be quite a lot of water. It seems to like to be left pretty wet and when it is, it cranks out some fantastic lather.

I have the 830, and I love it, and as said before it will lather creams and soaps alike, mine has yet to be fully broken in, but i'm told that it will only get better with time as the tips start to split and soften, hope this is true as I love using this brush...

The 830 is a great brush. Thhe main hair grades used by Semogue are Special, Premium, Best and Extra. The special grades are used in the LEs and SOC brushes. The 1305 and 830 use Premium although the 830 is stuffed with 20% more hair. The 620 uses the Extra grade and is more scritchy. Once the 830 is broken in.....it has very soft tips and plenty of backbone. I use mine for both soaps and creams. Highly recommended

The 830 is one my favorite SEMOGUE brushes...Soft tips (kind of silver tip like) but with plenty of backbone...Feels absolutely fantastic on the face and does very well with hard and soft soaps as well as creams. The brush gets better and better with every use.

Thanks for your help I ordered one. You guys are so helpful. Too many brushes to choose from. It's great having people to help.

I have a pure badger and for the life of me I couldn't get Cella to work at all, but Proraso with the same brush well... that's a different story it works very well with it. Either way I wanted to try some more soaps and wanted a brush with a little more backbone for them.

Have you received the 830 yet? If so I'd love to hear your thoughts on it as it is high on my want list a lot with a SOC.

Yes , I really love this brush! I has enough backbone to feel like your doing something with soft soaps. I PIF'ed my Cella, wished I hadn't done that before I got this brush. I wished I had tried Cella with this brush. It might have made a difference. I may try it again one day. I love the smell. BTW it is soft right out of the box! I had never face lathered before this brush, now that is all I do. Highly recommend this or the 1305 from what Johnny tells me. They have the same knot.

IIRC, the 830 knot is actually 10-20% more dense than the 1305.

Thanks for your thoughts. I'll have the 830 for sure. Just need to finish breaking in a few others first.

Boar brushes do take longer to break in, your patience will be rewarded with having a great brush. The dislike for a boar comes from not letting it come to it's full potential.
I agree that there is not one brush for creams and one for soaps. I use a rotation of both boars and badgers they lather either hard, soft, or creams.

Absolutely,the key with any boar is a good break in period.It took about a month for my 620 to get with the program,now soap,creams,face or bowl lathering my 620 does all,and does it well.

I feel like a lot of products in the shave world are only seen as good or great because they are so awesomely hyped up. Items like MWF, T&H, Floid, Acqua Di Parma, and GFT (all of which I haven't tried and tested) are examples. While they are fantastic products, I find it hard to justify these at their retail prices when products that are only different nearly in packaging are available so much cheaper. Sure you're paying for the efficacy it provides on a mental level and the exclusiveness, but after having dropped so much money on these products, I've taken a step back and started enjoying the craft of the more basic products with a minimalist viewpoint. I know this is a little extended to answer your question, but here's where I come back to semogues. I owned the 620, 830, and SOC and found them all to be better than most boars at best and really did think they were better than badgers at some point.. because everyone helped me believe that. Personally, i'd say you should go out and get yourself a silvertip. I think boars, regardless the brand, are too scritchy, don't hold water or heat well, and leave a lot to be desired.

I've owned some 30+ brushes, custom, big brand, and hand made, and decided to keep 4 of them; Simpson CH Best 2, KimSon, Thater Silvertip, and Simpson Wee Scot. And for the $20-40 you'll pay for a semogue, you can find a pretty respectable silvertip off of Ebay. Not name brand, but very very funtional.

To answer your question, however. I find Semogues, or boars in general, very effective for soaps. They retain great backbone. They are most functional in a cold soak, but are better enjoyed by myself in a warm soak. Next, they must soak for longer than a badger brush because the stiffer hairs are more prone to breakage in my experience.

Good luck in your search!

The great thing about traditional wet shaving are the choices of products you can use. You can build your den at your own budget level. The choices are your own. If you dislike boars and prefer badgers I think that it is great and will support your decision.

Personally for myself I would rather have a quality boar over a questionable quality badger. I own two badgers one LuJin, one Parker. The Parker has been in service for nearly two years now, the backbone is not as it once was, yes it soft almost too soft. I bought my first boar last August, an Omega "48". It is a great brush and I enjoy it more then my badger brushes.

I soak my brushes while showering, the badgers and boars soak the same amount The Omega "48" I would say holds more water then the badgers. The stiffer hairs at the tip are suppose to break over time to give them softness. I do not find that they need extra soaking time. Boars do take have longer break in period. Many give up on their boars for that reason.
I have found my boar easily lathers soaps or creams with no problems.

I do not buy a product because of hype, I research what I am going to buy. With information I make a I think is a good decision. I do not buy products because someone made me believe it was the product to have. There is merit is some high end products that warrant buying. MWF, you can a refill puck for under $20, it will last and last. I willing be adding more Semougue brushes to my den simply because they work for me.

I wish you best in your wet shaving journey and building a den to your budget level. Badgers work for you that is great. For myself I am finding boars work for me.