Cheap brushes and how they are made

Another backdated post – such is life.

One of the members over at my favorite wetshaving forum pointed us all to a little thing he wrote about cheap brushes and how they are NOT made by machine. The discussion it sparked is an interesting read as well.

It’s an interesting read – I did honestly assume that cheap and cheerful brushes were at least machine assembled, even if I did assume (correctly in that instance) that the hairs were graded by people. And while machine made brushes might hold true for the ones made with man made fibers*, it’s apparently not true when it comes to boar and badger brushes.

I guess that even in 2012 labour is cheap enough in China to not make it worthwhile inventing a knot-making machine…

*) Not to far fetched an idea; some of the really cheap brushes are made with nylon – all the softness and backbone of a painters brush…

Shave of the day 3rd October

Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Magic Soap, liquid Peppermint
Lather: Arko stick
Brush: Semogue TSN 2012 LE brush
Razors: Merkur 25C w/ a 7’O Clock (5) and Gillette 58 TV Special w/ a Lord Platinum (5)
Post-shave: Cold water rinse,  and Alum

Somewhat rushed shave, but still very nice.

The Zen of Shaving

Backdated post – Real Life interrupting my hobbies again.

Shaving time is – at least to me – a quiet, reflective moment. It’s me-time; the time when I can close the door and just enjoy myself without a worry in the world. It’s also a very manly time; if by manly you mean “waving a very sharp blade around millimeters from your jugular veins… heck, spin that right and it sounds like you’re cheating death every time you shave…

On a more serious tone, it is the time each morning I can ‘let go’ of everyday worries and simply enjoy the ‘now’ – a perfect moment caught between lather and blade as it were. It’s a moment that flushes the system, in a manner of speaking, and lets me put things in perspective. I think that traditional wetshaving have helped making me a better man, as well as a better looking man.

I’m far from the first to notice this off course; a quick search on google will reveal a few hundred thousand hits on the subject. But even so it’s something worth keeping in mind, especially when the cartridge-and-canned-goo brigade wonders why we prefers the old fashioned, traditional art of wetshaving.

Forget the ‘better shave’ spiel; they have heard it a million times before – every time one of the huge multinationals adds another blade they promise the consumers a better shave than ever before.

Forget the whole ‘saving money’ thing too; most of us succumbs to one or more ADs shortly after we pick up a decent brush and a safety razor.

You might want to quickly bypass the ‘better for the enviroment’ issue as well; yes, traditional shaving is greener and wastes less plastic, but most people honestly don’t care as much about the environment as they claim to do.

But do tell them about that perfect moment caught between lather and blade – those precious minutes every time you shave that lets your worries and concerns simply drain away. The little breathing space where it’s you, your razor and perfection.

Shave of the day 1st October

Pre-shave: Dr Bronners Magic Soap, liquid Peppermint
Lather: Mama Bear’s Awakening
Brush: Vie Long 14033 horse-badger brush
Razors: Merkur 25C w/ a 7’O Clock (4) and Gillette 58 TV Special w/ a Lord Platinum (4)
Post-shave: Cold water rinse,  and Krampert’s Finest Prototype Menthol

A DFS and a refreshing start on the new week.