I have had this brush for a few years. I have even used it "as is" a few times. I continue to debate whether or not to restore it. I would surely not want to ruin it. This brush, a Schick Tracer cartridge razor, and an Old Spice Mug are the only shave items that I have from my Dad. I think it is a Rubberset Brush. The writing on the bottom is mostly worn off. I can barely make out: "STERILIZED" "SET IN RUBBER" and I think "MADE IN USA" Any one know what this is? I am interested in your thoughts. Thanks.
I recommend you contact JR Reyes, a member here who restores old brushes. He is an amazing person whom I guarantee you can trust with something so valuable. He does great work restoring brushes to their former glory.
I have no idea about the brush, but I would not restore it. Keep it the way he used it. I have a few things from my mom and dad and once in a while I take them out and just look at them. I am 75 years old and still choke up when I look at there things. Sent from my QTAQZ3 using Tapatalk
Guess it depends on what you want. Me personally, restoring it with a new knot isn't hard to do and would be my choice. Besides, it would be nice to use a brush belonging to my Dad. Kind of a way to connect with him.
This^ Can be done relatively safe and easy. I get the idea of leaving it as it but I also like the idea or restoring it and getting to use it every day with a new knot. Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk
Tough decision. I get it if you want to keep it as your father left it. On the other hand, restoring it will bring it back to a condition when your father bought it.
If I were to restore it, I would clean it up, give it a slight polish, not bore it out, but leave it it's original diameter. I would restore it with a nice boar bristle as it was when your father used it. I understand those that don't change, but restored you could use it and enjoy it as your father did when it wasn't quite so tired. Just my thoughts.
I have a similar brush, a Made Rite 203. The top part has the same exact style, but the bottom of mine has grooves. Thinking it will take a 21mm boar knot and the hole has a diameter of 23mm as mine is.
I have the same handle, but reknotted it. I don't think your Dad's brush is usable in its current state, but can live on for another lifetime and then some. If you like, you can send it to me, I will put another knot in it for you. I will pay for the knot and return shipping, just to see this brush returned to service in your hand.
I can see both sides of this. None of my Dad's shave gear from his younger days made it to the present. I looked. I was lucky enough to find a Rubberset 303 from approximately 1955. I haven't done anything to it except give it a good cleaning. It's lost about 5 bristles since I started using it. My advice is go with your gut. Either way it's a nice keepsake. If you don't reknot, use it just for special occasions. Just my .02.
First of all, thank you all for your input. I appreciate it very much. And especially thank you stingraysrock, for your very generous offer. Just shows you how great and supportive the people on this forum really are. Truly amazing. At this time, I think I will use it a few times, just to remember Dad. He died in 2005, and I didn't discover this brush until a few years ago. I did use it when I first found it, and a few rare times since then. It was at my Mom's house, and when I used it I would leave it there. She told me to take it recently, and of course, I brought it home with me. After I use it a few times, I'm guessing that I will probably want to re-knot it. And when I get to that decision, I will want to do it myself. I think that right now I agree with Enrico: So again, thanks for your comments! I will most likely be posting on this brush again, as I use it and certainly if I attempt a re-knot or restore. Stay tuned.
UPDATE: So, I have used this brush 2x in the last few days, both times with Williams Mug Shave soap. The Brush works fine. It lathered up the Williams to a rich creamy concoction. Very easy to face lather and get a thick protective coating. Last time, I didn't even use any preshave, this time, I smoothed some C.O. Bigelow on my face primarily for the menthol, eucalyptus effect. I took this pic after applying the 1st coat of lather to my face. You can see how much is still left for the second/third pass. The brush is stiff, and has some prickle to it. More than any of my other brushes. Makes me wonder how prickly it was when it was new. It is surely well broken in by now. I imagine it was bought back in a time, when a shave was considered a chore, with expedience and efficiency- overriding comfort & luxury in the process. Nonetheless, I got a great shave. 3 pass BBS with my Remei (Gillette Tech clone) I wonder whether most American shavers from the 40's & 50's had even heard of a badger shave brush. I am not aware of any "vintage brushes" that were badger, but my experience is limited. It would be interesting to see early examples of the ubiquitous badger brush.
Did a little research, and found claims that most badger hair was sourced from china. Maybe, that lowered demand for badger brushes in America - maybe not. Found this article. Maybe this had some influence on the use of "foreign hair" in the U.S. marketplace. https://www.livescience.com/58667-shaving-brushes-anthrax.html Just thought this was interesting info to add to the dialogue. Cheers!
Yup, lots and lots of them. I have and use about two dozen shaving brushes that are each at least sixty years old and about twenty of them are pure badger. Here are some of them, Top shelf 2nd from left is an old nylon and 4th and 3rd from right are new Semogues but the rest are badger. Bottom shelf 1st from left is an old Boar and 3rd from left another Nylon. Last four on right are also new. All of the old brushes were made before 1957 so at least 60 years old.
jar, that is awesome. Thanks for posting the picture. I guess my next question is "where do you find those 50 year old original badger brushes?"
LOL Lots of them were just babies when I bought them, most of the others were once my dad or granddads. But eBay is filled with examples as long as you first do your homework and learn what is a good buy and what is not. Most of the great US brushmakers gave up on shaving brushes around 1957. But the brushes they were making were and are as fine as anything being made today. Certain makers just as today were known for exceptional brushes, Rubberset, MadeRite, EverReady, Peerless, Opal, Century, Strongset, Erskine, Baton, Simms. Most made a broad range of brushes including Nylon, Boar and Badger. One of these brushes is a 60+ year old Peerless Pure Badger and the other three are modern Silver Tip Badger from Thater, Zenith and Kent Learn some of the terminology. I never remember seeing Badger grades until the new generation of brushes; but there was various qualities. Usually "Pure Badger" or "Imported Badger" meant the brush was all badger but there were also composite brushes (often labeled Cased Badger) that use an outer ring of Badger with most of the rest being boar or nylon. "Pure or Imported Bristles" means boar. NoNami brushes (No Name) are usually just like today, a crap shoot. Some names were "Store Brands" ; Rexall used Rex, Stag and likely other names for the brushes they sold and no idea where they were sourced. Even a really, really, really nice used vintage brush will still sell today at about the price of a mid range synthetic so if you learn what to look for and keep your eyes open you can find true treasures.
