I have gradually become a big fan of boar brushes. I still have and use a few nice badger and from time I give them a cleaning with vinegar/water mix, dish washing soap and them conditioner. When the hairs start to look and feel waxy and they look to repel water, I'll give them a quick cleaning. But with my boars I find it a bit harder to tell when they need to be cleaned. And I am not sure if the same regimen I use on the badgers works well for the boar. So, what says my boar brethren?? How do you care for your bore brushes?
I give the pig a good soak and rinse out each shave. Every so often I leave the thing sit in a mild solution of some of that cleaning stuff from the health food store which is great for the laundry and keeping piggy nice n' soft...
Call me negligent but I never do anything to my boars or badgers. Seems to me the shaving soap automatically cleans the brush during use. I just give them a good rinse, shake out as much water as I can, then let 'em dry.
i do nodda for the lowly boar brushes. they deserve to be doused in old spice on a regular basis then rinsed completely and dried near an open window. i like the scritchiness of them and merely soak them for a few minutes before being used. if i want soft i go to a badger
I use the water and white vinegar solution around about every two weeks or so. We have really hard water and soap scum stays unless I use vinegar. I can freshly polish my shiny Edwyn Jagger razor, load it up, shave with it once and rinse it thoroughly in hot or cold water, set it aside and it looks like I lightly sprayed it with white paint from three feet away!!!! Imagine what my bristles look like after a week or tow. So regular cleaning is a must for me. Go easy with the vinegar if that's your choice, it's a fairly strong acid and could damage the bristles over time if you solution is great. Maybe about 1:9 or 1:12 should be fine, then a thorough water rinse. If anyone has other ideas or think my solution to be too acidic, I'd be open to hear all thoughts on this as well. Learning is a good thing!
Hmmmm... I give all my brushes a good rinse, shake and air-dry after each use. After just a few weeks there is a decent film and soap build-up around the collar so I would expect the same build-up in the breach and on the hairs. My badgers lather much better after a vinegar and water treatment so I guess I'll try the same on the boars.
I treat mine like the pig that it came from. Keep it fed with lather, wallow it around in the dirty shave water, shake it off and put it back in the sty till next time. No problems to report.
If for no other reason than just to spend more time with your gear, I think they will be fine for a long time just used often. The only exception I can think of is if you are using really hard groundwater, other than that, the buildup should be pretty minor on the important bits of the brush.
I use my boar(s) as part of my rotation. That way they always have a chance to dry before I use them again. Rotation is 7/8 brushes. I also rotate my soap every day so the brush is technically washed with a different soap each time I use it. After I use a brush I wash it out throughly with warm water. Soak it in clean water for a couple of mins; shake it out and wipe it off on the towel. Hang upside down to dry. So far no problems.
I've been using boar brushes for almost 20 years and this is what has worked for me that whole time. I might wash it with some shampoo when I first get it, but then again I might not. I've never had a problem with any of them, other than wearing a few out in that time.
