I've come to prefer synthetic brushes

It will be great to hear what folks have to say.

I've come to prefer synthetic brushes. Once I understood that the lathering process is different than natural hair or bristle, the benefits really started showing themselves.

Here are some things I really like:

• Synthetics don't absorb water, thus the lather is more consistent between passes.
  I don't feel like I need to handle them with kid gloves.
  They are soooooo soft
  They dry quickly
  

How about you? What do you like best? why?

It will be great to hear what folks have to say.

I've come to prefer synthetic brushes. Once I understood that the lathering process is different than natural hair or bristle, the benefits really started showing themselves.

Here are some things I really like:

• Synthetics don't absorb water, thus the lather is more consistent between passes.
  I don't feel like I need to handle them with kid gloves.
  They are soooooo soft
  They dry quickly
  

How about you? What do you like best? why?

When I first started wet shaving I had a pure badge brush that I used exclusively before I found shave forums and really started to get into the hobby. From there I switched over exclusively to synthetic brushes for the next 3 years up until this past Christmas for most of the reasons you stated above. Easy to care for, can lather up any soap with minimal effort and they are super soft. Recently I have gone back to badger brushes for a couple of reasons. 1. For some reason the natural hair looks just a little nicer to me then the synthetic but that is a very minor reason. 2. The natural hair retains heat a lot better than synthetic and provides and overall warmer shave for me. 3. I don’t like a scritchy brush but I have come to realize that synthetics were too soft and I was missing that bit of scrub that results in exfoliation which is supposed to be one of the main reasons to lather with a brush. So currently I’m a big advocate for natural hair badger which is a big 180 from where I was just a couple of months ago.


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I pretty much stick to 3 band silver tip badger but that is more my preference. I really do like the couple synthetics I have although I don't really use them. If I can ever get into a good routine of daily shaving, I think a synthetic would be most appropriate for my skin. As you say, no kid gloves as you might do with an expensive badger brush is a benefit. I did sell my most expensive and beautiful badger brush because I was afraid of dropping it and breaking it. No worries when using the old floppy Plisson.

I tried to like synthetics.

Nope. Not me.

Too soft or too springy. Never really the right balance.

They all lack something. Character? Personality? Uniqueness?

They're cookie cutter. Yeah the loft or size of the knot or, hahaha - colors... They're still pretty much boring to me.

It is nice how they dry fast. I don't travel overnight and I'm not in a hurry after I shave for that to actually matter. Got another brush or two anyway.

They just aren't my thing. I tried.

More power to you though if they tickle your pickle.

I hear what your saying! Seems to me a fiber made specifically for lathering shave soaps is bound to work better than hair designed to keep a badger warm. I appreciate the plethora of high performing synthetics currently available and recognize their efficiency but darned if I can give up rotating badgers and boars.

I can't fault synthetics. They all work very well for me. But, I still can't get over the feel of a really good badger hair brush. I have a couple of vintage handles I re-knotted myself that are truly special. But, I have a couple of Thater brushes I bought used and I find myself using them the most. Still I change up the routine and use the synthetic brushes. And, they do work very well. But ohhhh those special Badgers! Much like Pillows. Everyone interested in the search can find a special one! One may think of a shaving brush as simply a tool and another may enjoy the experience and the differences of each one? No brush needed after all---- really. For many years I mostly used my hand, a cartridge razor and bar-- saddle soap? Bought it at the local saddle/clothing/horse equipment shop. Figured it worked so well on lather why not on my skin! And, it worked very, very well indeed!

I’ll admit that I have limited experience with natural bristle/hair, but enough that I understand the difference in behavior and feel. My badger brushes have a great feel to them, and I also appreciate the lone boar that I have at the moment.

That being said, here are the benefits of synthetic brushes in my experience:
• Inexpensive. (Although there are some relatively pricey synthetics on the market — nothing like high-end badgers, though.)
• No funk in the beginning, less maintenance in the long run.
• No soaking needed before a shave.
• Difficult to find a synthetic with “scritch”; not the same kind of inconsistency between batches that exists with animal hair.
• Create more lather with less product. (Not that I don’t have enough soaps to go through…)
• More predictable when loading and lathering. (This surely comes down to experience, or lack of it.)
• Fast-drying; good for multi-day use or traveling situations.

Another plus is that no animals are harmed in the making. Not trying to make any holier-than-thou statements, as I use (probably more than) my share of animal products. But I’m certain that the treatment of the animals that make up our brushes is quite atrocious.

One of the downsides of synthetics is that you can’t leave as much water in the knot as you can with natural hair knots. However, this can be remedied by starting the loading with a damp brush, and then incrementally adding more water to the mix when building the lather.

I use natural bristle and hair brushes from time to time, as they are nice to experience. I also agree that natural bristle and hair brushes tend to look nicer than synthetics. But probably over nine times out of ten, I’ll use a synthetic. They’ve come a long way, and I hope development continues.

I ordered my first synthetic brush and I am awaiting it to arrive in the mail. I have only tried best badger and boar so far. Of the two, I prefer the badger.

It is difficult to deny the advantages of synthetics. I own three, an Omega which is as stiff as a telephone pole and consequently doesn't see any use, a Plisson L'Occitane and a Maggard knot set into a Whipped Dog handle. The one I like better is the Plisson, even though I find it lacks a bit in backbone. I don't, however, reach for them often. Just when I'm in a hurry or on travel, because otherwise, I much prefer the feel of natural hair, be it badger or boar.

There are some great comments here. A lot of the folks posting feel the way about brushes that I feel about straight razors. There are also comments that show differences in what we want/need from the products we use. Example: several folks commented about holding heat. I'm warm natured and live in an area that doesn't get cold so that isn't as important for me.

There are also aspects where the advantage of a synthetic is a double edged sword. Most of my synthetics are Maggard's brand. The positive is the cost, thus I don't feel the need to handle them as carefully. The other side, which someone pointed out, is that they don't have that special quality. The custom brush makers will all put a synthetic knot in their product, though I will be the first to admit that a synthetic doesn't have the panache of a really nice badger.