The Shaving Brush
For more than two hundred years, badger hair has been used for the making of first class shaving brushes. In earlier days, a badger shaving brush was an item for the rich and powerful, but today every man can acquire a badger shaving brush at a reasonable price.
Badger hair is different from many other types of fur. Just like human hair, badger hair naturally absorbs water and it is this attribute that makes the badger the ultimate choice for shaving brushes.
Through the lathering process, hot water, shaving cream or shaving soapand air are “whipped” together to form a hot and rich lather that cleans the skin and prepares the skin for shaving. Hot water is the key to a good shave, so the more water a shaving brush can hold, the better the lather and shave. The fine tips in the brush create a smooth and creamy lather and the softness of the badger hair cleans the skin carefully.
Shaving brushes in genuine badger are graded on an internationally agreed scale:
Silvertip badger
This is the highest quality of badger hair. This graded and sorted badger hair is the softest, rarest och most expensive of the badger hairs. A brush in Silvertip is made by hand and will never be trimmed to its final shape. Therefore, every Silvertip brush will have its own unique (but minimal) variation in shape and color. The Silvertip hair is harvested from the neck area of the badger. You will recognize a Silvertip on the dark line located just below the mid section of the brush. Both under and over the dark line, you will notice that the color of the hair is white, silver white, or creamy white.
Super Badger
This is badger hair of very good quality from the back of the badger’s body. Super badger hair is longer and softer than Best badger hair (see below). Because Super badger hair is finer (thinner) than Best badger, it takes more hairs to fill a brush. Just like the Silvertip, a Super badger brush is made by hand. A brush in Super badger will have a light tip, which turns into a lasting darker color just below the mid section of the brush.
Best Badger
Best badger hair is good quality hair that is normally sold at a reasonable price level for beginners. The hair is harvested from the side and the legs of the badger, so the quality is somewhat coarser and darker than the better classes of hair. The color can vary from gray to brown, and sometimes even black. A Best badger brush is assembled by machine. This type of brush should not be estimated based on the way it’s manufactured or its price level; it will give you a very good lather and only an experience wet shaver would notice the difference between a Best badger and its better quality siblings.
Pure Badger
Pure badger is the most accessible and therefore the most common badger hair. Because the hair is coarser, fewer hairs are needed to fill a brush, which makes the brush considerably cheaper than a Silvertip or a Super badger. A Pure badger brush is assembled by machine, and trimmed to its final shape. Despite the difference in quality in comparison to other badger hair brushes, Pure badger is a significantly better alternative than a shaving brush in bristle or artificial hair.
What is the price of a shaving brush?
The price of a shaving brush depends mainly on the quality and the amount of badger hair that is used for the brush. The softest, whitest and most flexible hair, Silvertip, is harvested from the badger’s neck. It is fine (thin) which means that it takes more hairs to fill a brush, and for this reason a Silvertip costs a little bit more. A Silvertip is normally sold for around Euro 60 – Euro 300.
The darker, coarser and stiffer hair in the lower quality brushes comes from the sides and the legs of the badger. There is a lot of this kind of hair on a badger, and it also takes fewer of these hairs to fill a brush, that is why this brush is cheaper. A shaving brush in Best badger or Pure badger costs around Euro 30 – Euro 60 depending on the design and finish.
How is a shaving brush made?
Badger hair is an expensive material and the quality requirements are high when the hair is selected. The hair is washed and sterilized before being certified. Badger hair is a byproduct when producing Chinese food; no badger will get terminated for the sole sake of becoming a shaving brush.
Every brush, depending on quality, contains somewhere between 12,000 and 20,000 hairs, the number precisely adjusted to fit into the ring that holds the base of the hairs together with glue. The assembling process requires skill and most work is done by hand with traditional tools.
How to look after your shaving brush
A shaving brush in badger hair is a natural product that with tender care should last at least 10 – 15 years. A new brush often “shed” a small amount of hair the first weeks, which are the shorter hairs that don’t quite reach down to the base of glue at the base of the brush. This is natural and should not be a cause for concern.
Wet your brush carefully in hot water before use, then dip in your choice of shaving product. Lather up carefully, either in a bowl or directly on the face. Use light, circular movements without too much pressure. Hard pressure will make the hairs sprawl and will destroy your brush in short time.
After shaving, rinse the brush carefully, preferably in running water. Shake off excess water and hang the brush in a shaving brush stand, with the hairs down. This way, water and soap residue will drip of the hairs and your shaving brush will dry faster. A wet shaving brush, standing with the hairs up, runs the risk of never drying entirely, and the constant moist may in the worst case scenario dissolve the glue at the base of the brush, thus destroying your brush forever.
Natural hair left wet a long time may develop mildew (mold). Therefore, avoid confining your shaving brush to small and closed areas with no circulation of air. When storing your shaving brush in a cabinet, make sure there is enough space and circulation of air for the brush to dry. When travelling with the shaving brush in a tube or a toilet bag, let the brush air and dry at the first moment possible. If your shaving brush suffers from mildew or soap residue at the base of the brush, let your brush soak in a dissolving and sterilizing liquid, purchased at the nearest pharmacy.
Why do we recommend using a shaving brush?
- A shaving brush made of badger hair absorbs hot water better than any other brush material. Hot water is the key to a great shave and the more water a shaving brush can hold and transfer to your face, the better the foam and the shave.
- A good shaving brush used with a good quality shaving cream or soap creates hot, rich and creamy foam that is impossible to achieve in a can.
- When using a shaving brush, the skin gets cleansed and exfoliated, as opposed to when applying the foam with the dabbing motion of your fingers. Therefore, the risk for “in growing” hairs and shaving spots decreases dramatically.
- A shaving brush helps to soften and lift each whisker and prepare the beard for the razor blade.
- Using a good quality shaving brush will take your shaving experience to unexpected highs. Don’t forget about yourself in the stress of everyday life!