Breaking in a boar?

Yesterday my first boar brush arrived in the mail. It is a Semogue 610. I've read that boar brushes take a month or so to break in, so I didn't know what to expect. In fact, I don't even know how one breaks in a brush.

This morning I used the brush on some Classic Shaving Brand wool fat soap. Previously, I found this soap to be worthless, I could not lather it no matter what I tried. I did some research and found out that this particular soap has a bad reputation with many folks experiencing the same issues as I.

So, I figured that I would break the brush in playing with this worthless (for me) soap, thereby making the soap useful for something.

Amazingly, with the boar brush I was able to create usable lather! Not great lather, but good enough for a comfortable shave.

I have a question...you see this new boar brush felt great on my face. What am I doing wrong that a brush which needs breaking in should feel great?
What can I expect from the brush in a month?

Thanks, Don

 

The bristle hairs will splay on the tips, giving your brush a wicked case of split ends - however it's good news for you as the boar will end up softening up quite well but retain most (if not all) of its backbone. Semogue in particular seem to end up breaking in very very well in a shorter time period than some others. Whipping up lather with either a soap you don't use, or something that's just very inexpensive is a great way to break it in, and get rid of any stink that may be on there.

 

It'll only get better.

 

I have a Semogue 1305. All I did was a lot of test lathers and got it broken in in a week or so. Not saying that it's the right way... my main mission was to get rid of the pig smell. I like boar more than badger because it's more sturdy and better at lathering to me. I also face lather nd the backbone of the brush is perfect for me. Enjoy your brush.

 

It's a simple process to break one in, Soak it well to soften the hair so it doesn't break and use it. ENJOY the new brush. As said above when you see the tips split your doing it correctly.

 

Yes the same as already mentioned, as for the wool fat soap, if you have hard water you may well have a problem getting a good lather, also dont use very hot water as that can destroy the lanolin in the soap, so use only warm water.
For me with a new boar I soak it lather a few times then let it dry out and repeat (it depends on the brush how many times)
Enjoy your brush

 

A brush that needs to broken in isn't necessarily unusable prior to breakin...

If you like it now, you'll love it when it has split and softened..

 

How do you break it in? Like Patrick said - Just use it!
When ever I get a new boar brush I use it every day for a full month. By the end of 30 days, the stink is usually gone and the brush is well on its way to being broken in.
Just so you know about the smell, my Semogue took about two weeks to get stink free, my Omega 98 took about three weeks, and with my Omega 49 I was still getting a faint piggy smell after five weeks. Each brush is different.

I've heard of folks who will substitute a brick for a puck of soap (seriously) to try and break in their boar brush, figuring the rough surface will get them there faster. Please, please, please do not do this.

 

Oh my goodness, never heard of this! Great advice, also a great way to have to buy a new brush.

 

I got my first brush from the World of Wolley maybe two months ago and started lathering up some homemade bay rum soap made by a local mom and pop. The soap I used wasn't as good as a lot of the favorites listed on the forum, but it wasn't bad. Totally usable. Anyway, now that I've been using the thing for a while now I can say that it is markedly softer than when I first started using it. It's hard to explain, but the root and "stem" of the hairs haven't changed so it's still "stiff," but the ends have fluffed out a lot so that it feels much softer to the face and has an easier time spreading out. I didn't do much to "prep" the brush when I got it. I basically let it soak in hot water for half an hour and then gave it a vigorous washing with baby shampoo. It did wonders for removing the chemical smell. You should notice a difference after you've been using it for a while, but if you wanted to force it into breaking in then you might get there by practicing making lather with it as if you were going to shave without actually putting it to skin. Anything to get the hairs agitated in soapy goodness should soften it.

 

Yep the tips of the boar hair in your brush have split.

 

Thanks for the tips. I picked up a boar to use as my first brush and it should be here today. Can't wait to try it out.