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Post by michael51874 on May 24, 2018 9:51:20 GMT -6
Someone PIFed me a Stirling synthetic shave brush and I have to say I'm amazed at its performance. My Vie-Long horse hair barber-style brushes, although they remain my go-to ones, just don't whip up a voluminous lather no matter what I do. But the Stirling synthetic gives me so much volume I find myself having to scale back the amount of water I normally use with the natural bristles because otherwise I get so much lather it's ridiculous. I noticed that the synthetic bristles soak up and hold water much more than the natural bristles including badger and boar.
I had heard that synthetics weren't as good as the natural hair brushes, but apparently, at least with Stirling, that doesn't seem to be true. What has been your experience with the Stirling brushes?
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ShadowsDad
Gem Star
None boring shaver!!
"It's not the bow, it's the Indian"
Posts: 4,534
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Post by ShadowsDad on May 24, 2018 10:55:45 GMT -6
No experience with Stirling. But I'm an equal opportunity enjoyer of pretty much all brushes, badger, horse, pig, and synthetic. All are different and all are good; one just needs to figure out how to use them. Some take more figuring than others.
If I was buying brushes today and knowing what I know now I doubt that I would buy anything other than synthetic. Of course if I was a noob not knowing what I know now I would do exactly as I did those years ago and eventually buy an assortment in my search for shave nirvana.
I've run across folks who (years ago) didn't like synthetics. I don't know if those folks have changed their tune today. And to support those folks, at one time not very long ago, synthetics were pretty bad. So to a certain extent they were correct. But the last synthetics I've purchased have all been uniformly excellent. That's not to say that ALL synthetics are since I simply don't know. Heck, at one time I wouldn't try a synthetic, I saw no need for them. But too many folks whose words meant something to me talked them up. My mind got changed. The "worst" synthetic I ever got in was a Plisson. I felt it and I laughed and it took close to forever for me to try it. I actually thought about getting rid of it unused. That would have been a huge mistake. I tried it and liked it, still do, despite how different it felt when dry. I think folks try to compare synthetic brushes to natural fiber and when it doesn't feel the same the syn' brush "loses" in the comparison. Too, the characteristic of a syn' brush to hold a large amount of water and then dump it at first chance isn't exactly endearing. I don't know if you figured it out... don't pre-wet the brush. They neither need it or respond to it. Instead wet the soap and put the brush to the soap dry. After some lather starts to impregnate the fibers the brush can be dipped and it will respond as any other brush does.
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Post by michael51874 on May 25, 2018 18:24:23 GMT -6
Yeah, a lot of people forget that there are companies and time periods where quality is higher or lower, so stuff gets a reputation that, while initially well-earned, doesn't necessarily remain so.
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Post by wchnu on May 25, 2018 23:08:08 GMT -6
Most synthetic brushes these days are pretty much the same. They work good. Not going to replace my boar or horse but I do use synthetic often. I do not have a Stirling.
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