What's new
The Shaving Cadre

Welcome to The Shaving Cadre, a forum dedicated to gentlemanly discourse about wet shaving and other topics of common interests. Membership is always free so register today and join in the fun

Boar Help Please

dmshaver

dmshaver

0
Yes, I know I’m a bore, that’s beside the point!

I’m going to give boar brushes another chance. I had a Stirling boar, used it many times, had it broken in, & sold it. I’m partial to badger. I’ve sold off most of my synthetics, and now use my Paladins, M & F, & several silver tips.

But I’m looking to try something new, so thought I would give another try with a boar. I’m looking at Omega because of price point - if I don’t like it I’m not out much. I’ll consider other brands, but keep in mind I am thinking $10 – $20 price range. I don’t want a lot of backbone or scrub. I like soft tips. I face lather & I want a larger knot, at least 26mm.

For those of you that have had a boar brush, which ones have you liked & why?
 
I’ve only used an Omega Pro 49 when it comes to boars. It was good, though it took some time to break in. It’s got a decent amount of flop, but made some great lathers and felt fine on the face.

I’m in a similar boat though, except I dropped everything else when I got into synthetics.
 
I like Omegas for their backbone and scrub. They are usually dense too. I found the Pro 49 to be a bit softer starting out than the other I have. The Jade model from caunnaught is supposed to be really nice, smooth brush, but I don’t have one yet. I think the Semogues and Zenith start out a little more softer and broken in. But with all of that said, I haven’t bought an Omega in awhile. But can you really complain about a $10-20 brush?
 
Boars take a while to break in, but once they do, and the ends of the hairs split, they are some of the softest brushes ever. I still use my Semogue and my B&B essential from time to time.
 
Heritage Collection does an Omega knot and treats the tips so it not scritchy. It’s a bit pricier and for the time being he has been only selling them in his handles. On the up side the handles looks beautiful.
 
I literally just started breaking in my first boar brush. It's a VanderHagen brush that I got with a gift set a couple years ago, but never got around to using. I am currently doing the cold water in the refrigerator break in method.
 
Spider said:
I have never heard of that before. What is the refrigerator supposed to do?
Click to expand...

It's not one I researched heavily, but if I had to guess it is to keep the water cold that the boar brush is soaking in. Every 24 hours you take the brush out, shake the excess water out, pass it through a dry towel, and repeat two more times with it soaking in the refrigerator for 24 hours each time. Something about boar brushes breaking in differently than badgers. We'll see if it works. If it doesn't I won't be too disappointed.
 
Patelliott said:
It's not one I researched heavily, but if I had to guess it is to keep the water cold that the boar brush is soaking in. Every 24 hours you take the brush out, shake the excess water out, pass it through a dry towel, and repeat two more times with it soaking in the refrigerator for 24 hours each time. Something about boar brushes breaking in differently than badgers. We'll see if it works. If it doesn't I won't be too disappointed.
Click to expand...
Well, you need to let the boar dry out..... that's how you get the hairs to split. Continually keeping it wet won't do much. You need to wet it and let it dry, then repeat, several times. That's why the best course of aqction is to just use it daily to break it in.
 
I'm no brush expert. I have only tried 3 different boar brushed.

My Semougue owners club is my favorite. Been using it for just about every shave this year.
 
I only have one boar, its from Stirling. It has lots of backbone. When I got it, i did not know you needed to break them in, so i just used it. Thankfully I loved right from the start, so in my case ignorance is truely bliss. Hopefully you find one you like.
 
I have had a number of Semogues, and to a brush all started to lose hair or the knot began to loosen after 6-8 months. I have one Omega that is in my rotation for the last year and half. No problems.
 
Lbkindy said:
I have had a number of Semogues, and to a brush all started to lose hair or the knot began to loosen after 6-8 months. I have one Omega that is in my rotation for the last year and half. No problems.
Click to expand...
I got 2 semoques thru a BST that said 0 shedding. Both shed every shave for me. 1 left I'll probably gift to Bill
 
I have an Omega, Stirling, Semogue and Zenith. The only one that hasn’t shed is the Omega. But boar and badger do have different characteristics.

My Omega has more backbone and scritch than the others, but that’s what I like about boars. To break in, just use a spare mug and modern Williams. Lather it up and let it set while you shave, rinse and let dry. Repeat with every shave to get rid of any funk and break in. Boars can take a while to break in well.
 
ksblazer said:
I'm no brush expert. I have only tried 3 different boar brushed.

My Semougue owners club is my favorite. Been using it for just about every shave this year.
Click to expand...
Do you happen to know which SOC you have that's your favorite?
Lbkindy said:
I have had a number of Semogues, and to a brush all started to lose hair or the knot began to loosen after 6-8 months. I have one Omega that is in my rotation for the last year and half. No problems.
Click to expand...
Which Omega?
 
dmshaver said:
Do you happen to know which SOC you have that's your favorite?

Which Omega?
Click to expand...
I have 2 of them. A 2013 SE badger\ boar mix. At least I think it was the 2013. As well as the boar OC. To be honest I prefer the boar.

Loose a hair every now and then. But I wouldn't call either a shredder.
 
Another vote for the Omega 10049. Use them daily, or every other day, making sure the bristles dry out between uses. Like Spider said, they need to dry to split.
A close alternative is the Omega 10098, which has a slightly bigger knot and more loft.
 
I had a Semogue boar brush years ago that I gave up on. Impossible to break in!! I tried every trick on the 'net and after a YEAR or better I sold it to a friend for a song (for him). I now have a Zenith (RazoRock) bought two years ago that is in the same vein. I tried the cup/fridge/towel method for THREE WEEKS daily and you can still polish marble with it!! :mad: I never had these problems with my old Omega (long since sold). I broke out this Zenith again tonight on a whim and soaked/lathered/rinsed and repeated several times. It is now soaking on the counter 'til tomorrow. I am really going to give it one last try and if it fails............................move to Europe and become the World's fastest marble polisher!!! :(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top