Is there a break-in time for a synthetic brush?

I know this may seem like a ridiculous question, but do synthetic brushes have a break-in period? I have a new synthetic brush that seems to have the best of both worlds; it has the backbone of the boar hair brush I have, but it also has the softness of the badger hair brush I own. The problem I'm having with it is that it doesn't splay all that well. When I apply the lather to my face, the brush bends to its side rather than splaying. Is this normal, or is it just a matter of using it more until it splays like my boar hair and badger hair brushes?

 

No. My very fave brush is Plisson Synthetic. Same on day 200 as it was right from the package. Synthetics hold water differently than animal hair, its lack of splay changes some lather technique. Face lathers like a boss.

 

Thank for your reply, Chris. I tried a face lather with my synthetic brush today with very disappointing results. I ended up switching over to my badger hair brush to finish my shave. In previous use, I did a bowl lather with my synthetic brush. It still didn't splay as nicely as my boar and badger hair brushes, but I had better results when applying the lather to my face when I lathered it in a bowl first. Do you have any ideas why this was the case?

 

Too many variables to be sure. Here's what I do:

Place a tablespoon of water on your soap. Swirl with dry Synthetic until no water remains (proto-lather). Hold the brush horizontally and then add water to the knot near the glue. Invert brush and water will enter the proto lather. Go to town face lathering on wet face. Go back to soap for a swirl or two, or similarly adjust water as needed. This is a 60-90 second process.

 

Which brush do you have?
I don't yet own a synthetic,
but someone will show up with the same brush
and plenty of opinion!

 

Some people might even show up with technique...

Synthetic for life.

 

Thanks for this tip, Chris. I will try this with my next shave.

 

The brush I have came with my Absolutely Fabulous shaving soap (I love this soap!), so I assuming it's the same brand.

From the manufacturer's Etsy page:

"I had the brushes custom made for me using recyclable, SYNTHETIC badger hair. They're beautiful, functional and cruelty free. These brushes are durable and long lasting, recyclable, and because it isn't made of mammal fur, it doesn't have a cuticle to lift and harbor molds, bacteria, fungus or anything else. It's an affordable option that cost no animals their lives. They're not as hard as pork bristle and slightly more firm than badger hair. Everyone whose used them has expressed complete satisfaction. I'll round them up and ask them to speak for themselves!"

 

Sounds like you might have a decent brush on your hands. Once I got used to synthetics, I find them superior because they don't hold water and can basically be shaken dry.

 

Give it a try for a couple of days, it usually takes some experimentation with ratio to get the lather characteristics right. You'll waste soap at first, but use less overall.

 

This is good stuff, Chris. Thanks for your input here. It's much appreciated.

I hope you don't take this the wrong way. I'm not trying to get defensive or snarky with you here, but it's worth noting that my concern stems from the fact that I've done a face lather before—I actually prefer a bowl lather, but I thought I'd give face lathering a try—with both my boar hair and badger hair brushes (with the same soap I used with my new synthetic brush) and had better results, both in splaying and lather quality. That's why I thought there might be a break-in time with a synthetic brush. Thanks again for your input and advice here.

 

I apologize if my answer irritated you. The lack of splay probably facilitates face lathering, but requires more painting like strokes. The behavior of the brush as experienced by you seemed typical to me. I was trying to gear the answer towards how to succeed with a synthetic rather than taking on the splaying issue more directly. FWIW, I feel like widely splayed brush fibers of any type indicate too heavy of a hand when face lathering.

 

Your answer definitely did not irritate me. Quite the opposite, actually. (I always worry I come across as jerk when I respond to comments, especially if I ask another question or try to provide additional clarification.) I was worried mine irritated you. I appreciate your input here.

 

My Plisson truly face lathers shave sticks like a machine. I hope you get your new knot figured out. If anything, it could be your first option for travel, as no drying is needed.

 

I haven't had to travel with my wet shave gear yet, but this is something I've been concerned about when the time comes that I do have to travel with it. I've been thinking I would travel with one of my creams in a tube. It's a bit off topic, but I'm more concerned about how to travel with my brush.

 

You can't hijack your own thread.☺

I use a synthetic and a large RX bottle, holes drilled in cap.

 

Good point, lol.

RX bottle? What's that? Do you mean an empty pill bottle?

 

It might also be important to point out that there are quite a few different types of synthetic brushes with different fibres out there that behave very differently. This "bending instead of splaying" your describe here is something I observed with the Omega S-Brush, which I sold right away because of that behaviour. Same with the Vie-Long synthetic I borrowed for testing a while ago. (On a different note - that's why I don't like horsehair brushes either, because they behave pretty similar).

Most (if not all) of the Plisson-type synthetics on the other hand splay very easily and are much better suited for my style of face lathering. The downside here is that most of them have almost zero backbone. But many people like it that way. So if you want to experience the "opposite end" of the Synthetic spectrum and see if that works better for you, you could buy the very inexpensive and very popular Razorock Plissoft brush from Italianbarber, considered by many the best bang for the buck in the synthetic world at the moment. The new kid on the block here is the Maggard synthetic, if you think you like that handle style better.

The two kinds of synthetics that work best for me are the Whipped Dog and the Mühle Silvertip Fibre, with the WD being my favorite. Both have some backbone (the WD more than the Mühle) but still splay pretty well, though not as easily as the Plisson style brushes.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience and the info here, Marverel. I'm going to give my current synthetic brush some more time so I can try Chris' tips. But I've heard good things about the WD and the Maggard, and the Mühler Silvertip, so I'd like to give those a try, too.

 

I have 2 synthetics - the BodyShop model and a TGN synthetic. The Bodyshop brush doesn't splay at all and I seem to only be able to paint the lather while face lathering. I really don't like the brush that well, but it does live in my dopp kit for travel and does fine for that. It is soft, but rather stiff. The TGN knot, on the other hand, is a face lathering master. It splays nicely, is soft tipped, but has plenty of backbone to get the job done. I probably use the TGN brush more than all of my other brushes combined. I really like how it is easy to clean up and dry.