Hello out there, I'm new here and have a question for those who might know a thing or two about brush shedding. I recently purchased a Simpson's Wee Scot from my favorite seller and unfortunately had to return the little guy. Not because I didn't like the performance, but because it lost quite a bit of hair....actually a LOT of hair....6-10 hairs per shave after the first two or three shaves. The last shave lost 18! hairs! I'm very gentle with my stuff and treat it with respect. So assume good care practices. The owner of the online store was so kind to offer a full refund for the brush and encouraged me to replace it with a new brush of my choosing - in case I was gun-shy about getting another WS (very kind of him!) I loved how well the brush lathered and the small size and relatively constrained bloom compared to the massive bloom of my Omega pure badger brush. The only problem was the shedding...and I did fancy a bigger handle as the WS could be a tad hard to grip sometimes, but the loft was perfect in performance and feel for me (I face lather mostly) So I've been looking at reviews here and elsewhere trying to figure out if I should go with another WS, the (what looks to be a slightly bigger version of the WS) Simpsons Berkley 46 Best, or perhaps an Omega #599 (which was my original contender to the WS.) Has anyone here ever had any trouble of this nature with Simpson's brushes? Particularly the smaller ones as they would be most like the one I returned. I've had my Omega 6217 for over two years now and I doubt I've lost 10 hairs in all that time. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
There's really only 3 things that cause shedding: 1. Pressure 2. Poor Epoxy *In Simpson's case, the knots are hand tied and epoxied in* 3. Prolonged exposure to moisture Since the Wee Scott is so small, maybe you were splaying it more than you realized, or it wasn't drying everyday and stayed moist. Or you could have had that one bad Monday/Friday brush, who knows, but I wouldn't let it scare you away. I have 2 Simfix brushes, my Vulfix 2197P hasn't lost more than 2 hairs in about 7-8 months, and my new Simpson D2 has only lost 1.... If you really must go small, I would say get a D1 or a Case...
3-4 years ago this was an issue with Simpsons ( Pre-Vulfix ) that was posted on another forum. I don't know how these guys used the brush and moreover how you use yours. Do you apply light rotary swirls or do you beat the sh*t out of your brush? The latter I can see why yours would shed significantly. Otherwise, it's a defective brush. Speaking from experience, my Wee Scot never shed or any brushes ( boar and horse include ) 6-10 bristles per shave. If any maybe 2-3 during break-in process but that's it. Since your new also keep in mind take everyone's reviews ( mine included ) at arms length. Differing beard types, skin sensitivity expectations, lathering skills ( believe it or not ), lather style ( bowl/mug latherer, face latherer, paint latherer ) can vary significantly from one shaver to another. Furthermore, with brushes generally being "natural" not even 2 models under same brand will perform the same. Different craftsman, different batch of knots, different day...Varying loft settings, brush density. Essentially what I'm saying to you my friend is you can read exhaustively and still be confused in process. Don't worry you are not alone. Best of luck my friend.
Thanks guys. Well, I don't mash the brush down hard, I usually use a mixture of rotary swirls and back and forth motions. I usually move the brush fairly quickly but I'm not doing anything any different than I've done with my Omega 6217 pure badger and Omega Pro boar hair brushes. I give a light soak in warm water while showering. The water line in the cup covers only about 1/3 of the loft, and I usually just do this with the boar brush anyway. I'm not soaking the whole brush either way. When done shaving, I gently massage out the extra cream while rinsing thoroughly, give 3-5 reasonable shakes to get most of the water out, then dab it gently on a towel until only slightly damp to the touch and place it upright out in the open air, never in a cabinet or closet. Does my method sound OK? I think I'm doing things pretty much how Giovanni told me over the phone when I made my first order from R&B a couple of years ago. I've adopted soaking tip from some videos aimed at boar users for tricky soaps like Williams. Perhaps it is just a Monday/Friday brush as Sodapop suggests. @ SiR-ed8 Howdy, I'm John the painter from R&B. I was feeling more musical when I registered here and went with a musical name...I play bass and guitar as well as paint. Anyway, thanks for your thoughts!
