Anyone have an idea of the best place to buy synthetic knots these days? Also, entertaining opinions about which synthetic knots may be better than others. Thanks!
Super happy with this knot from Maggards. https://jrshaving.blogspot.com/2024/06/jayaruh-451-synthetic.html?m=1
Thanks Paul. At 22 mm, it is perfect for my travel kit. Easy to whip up enough lather for 3 passes and rinses out/dries easy as well.
That's something I've never done.....use a shave soap/brush while traveling. There's always a first time . Y'know, when I first saw what a Jayaruh brush was, I thought it was the name of an international brush company, not Jim's own screenname(chuck yuk yuk).
At this point, synthetic knots are actually fairly decent. 'Better' is subjective. If backbone is important to you, someone else's 'best synthetic' might be a floppy mess for you. I think Shavemac's D01 is the best badger knot on the market. The fact that few people use them, just means my taste in knots doesn't align with most people's. (Massive backbone). AP Shave Co does carry the same fibre that Simpson's developed for their synthetic brushes. It's not turned into knots by the folks at Simpson's, instead it's made into knots by the Chinese. Same fibres, different names for it. That would be where I started, and expand from there. Synthetic knots are cheap enough to buy several different ones to test.
I have one synthetic knot with massive backbone, if I’m remembering correctly, it was a Frank Shaving Extra Stuffed or Extra Density or something like that knot that I put into a vintage handle that I cleaned up. I could send a picture if it would help you find one. I really prefer softer knots so I never ordered another.
