Brush Shedding

I have started to notice that my Thater 4125/1 3-band Bulb has started to shed. It has never shed before and with the past couple of uses I have noticed about 3-4 hairs being shed. I'm not sure of the cause but I have noticed that sometimes after the brush has dried, when I move my hand over the tip of the brush a fine white like powder comes out of the brush into the air. Some times its more visible than others as well. I believe it to be soap residue that wasn't completely rinsed out. Which brings me to my main points of the post...

1. Is the soap/cream residue that wasnt completely rinsed out the culprit of the recent hair loss?

2. What is the proper way to rinse and wash your brush and how often should it be done.


Also, I know it might come up, I face lather but I do not mash the brush into my face or soap when building the lather. I use the paint stroke method instead of the circular motions.


Thanks in advance for your insight.

Hi Jerry, I don't know if what you describe is causing the shedding but I know that I destroyed a nice silvertip brush by putting boiling water in the bottom of my scuttle - too hot and bristles started flying out immediately. It didn't ever stop so i had to retire the brush which is too bad. It was an eShave and really soft, it worked up the creamiest lathers. I ordered a new one but it had a serious shedding problem too and I returned it for a refund. It wasn't meant to be. That and what the heck was I thinking? Not my smartest move. Lesson - brushes don't like it too hot.

I try to keep a close eye on bristle shedding because if they go down the drain it plugs things up and it takes some serious draino to get the drains running freely again. It occurred to me that if I the fibres shed off of my synthetic brushes and they get washed down the drain, draino won't dissolve basically plastic fibres and I would likely have to take the drain apart to deal with that.
Mark

If you're seeing white flakes come off your dry brush when you run your hand over it, that's a good sign it's time for a cleaning. I wouldn't be surprised if this is why you're seeing some shedding, too.

I whip up a lather with a little bit of mild dish detergent, then soak the brush with that for five minutes. Then I rinse and soak the brush in diluted white vinegar (maybe one-to-one ratio?) for a few more minutes before giving it one more good rinse. I suppose you could reverse these steps, too. But it should help remove that soap residue and get your brush back into good working order.

Otherwise, I believe soaking the brush in water that's too hot can also loosen the bristles, so that's something to watch out for.

I have a Thater 4125/2 Bulb 3 band and it shed 1 or 2 hairs the first use and hasn't shed a single hair since. It has 2 or 3 strays that stick up higher than the rest which I tried to pull out gently but they didn't come out. I would clean it like mentioned above and be sure not to use too hot of water. I use warm water to soak and then rinse with warm to clean it post shave and then a final rinse with cold water. I leave it setting for a day to dry and then rub my hand across the top a few times to smooth it out, and then wait one more day to use it.

Hi Jerry, I have a consistent daily routine for post shave cleaning:

Run warm, not hot water and rinse brush from side. Squeeze brush from base to get any residual soap out [I squeeze from base to avoid forcing soap further into the knot]. Rinse a bit from top. Cup hand and swirl brush, almost as if loading soap in water. Total rinsing time perhaps 30 seconds or so.

Final squeeze then towel strop. Dry on base. Very rarely use any given brush consecutive days to allow full dry.

This has been effective in brush maintenance and I have had no problems with shedding. I do think if soap accumulates heavily in the knot it could damage. Also, hot water. I never use water to soak or rinse that I couldn't put my hand under for 10 seconds or so without discomfort.

I have soaked one brush in a diluted vinegar mix to remove some residual soap at the base of the knot but this brush was some 10 years old and not sure if it even needed it but it did not do any harm and did remove the soap scum.

Very occasionally I have used a pet shampoo on brushes here and there which both cleans and conditions the hair. We use Earthbath for our pups and it works well on the brushes too [good for removing funk as well].

Sorry to hear of your issues but good luck and keep us posted. As others mentioned, I too have a Thater 4125/2 that I can't recall having lost any hair.

Pretty sure the white powder is from insufficient rinsing. I use a large coffee cup and after shaving and a initial rinse to get the majority of the lather out, I fill the cup with warm water and swirl my brush around inside the cup. I do this twice, with a gentle squeeze of the knot and a clean refill of the cup in between. I'm careful not to submerge the brush above where the knot meets the handle. Since I've started doing this, no more white powder.

It sounds like you may not be rinsing the brush well enough. To clean I soak in warm water and dish soap for a few minutes. My tap water is hard so I use distilled for this. Then a thorough rinse and dry. When I rinse out my brushes I make sure to get the water down into the center of the knot where soap could be trapped.

I have a protocol for cleaning natural and synthetic bristle brushes.
The only hairs I lose are from my own head.

I put the brush in my lathering bowl and let very warm but touchable tap water run on it at full force for about 30 seconds.
I then swirl the brush all around the bowl to clean the bowl.
All swirling is accompanied by occasional gentle pumping up and down.
I take out the brush and empty the bowl then refill it with the water.

I swirl and pump the brush in the sink under the fast running water and then put it in the bowl and swirl and pump some more.
Take it out. If the water in the bowl is completely clear I am done. If not I repeat again. That is usually enough but a badger may require a third dunk to clear the water.
I then gently squeeze the brush being careful not to twist the bristles, shake it until no more water is emitted and dry it with some figure eight rubbing on a terrycloth towel.
I always remove the soap scum from the handle with a thin microfibre cloth.
The brush is then hung upside down. In my house which has rather low humidity even the densest badger is dry by the next morning.

No powder. No dandruff. No loose hairs. All this in about 2 to 4 minutes depending upon the brush material and density.