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Lathering With A…Paintbrush?

Listen to this article

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opwpuK1DVXM
Sometimes improvising can provide some interesting insights.  I saw the video above a while back.  And a Reddit discussion around the same time talked about using a makeup brush.  That didn’t work too well for me (in fact it was an utter failure)–maybe it’s a specialized brush.

A Nylon "Face Pufy" (Next To Merkur Futur For Scale)

I have also used one of those nylon “puffy” lather/exfoliate things with acceptable results (though I haven’t seen the facial versions in stores for a while).  Of course there will be varying degrees of success with any of these alternatives.  What DIY shaving brush alternatives have you tried?

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3 thoughts on “Lathering With A…Paintbrush?”

  1. Ted Pettinicchi (TAP119 on B & B)

    I agree about the production quality but as a professional consumer of research, I have issues with his choice of brushes. Obviously, those “pure bristle” brushes from China are boar. Not terrible; many wet shavers prefer boar (I don’t). He’s right about the brushes not being broken in because boar bristles need that.
    However, if one intends to use a paintbrush in a trial as an alternative lathering brush, one should use a decent brush. The brushes he used in the video were cheap, disposables which have poor quality, very short bristles to begin with. We all know they hold very little paint and are very “scrubby” to use when painting.
    In my opinion, this trial should have been done with a quality natural bristle brush, preferably a round, Chinese badger brush. Experimental results can’t be reliable if differences in research and control groups aren’t eliminated. First, he should have lathered with his regular shaving brush; boar, badger, synthetic, horse, porcupine, whatever. Then, after re-washing his face, he should have used a paintbrush made of like material with the same soap and recorded the results. Simply doing these steps would have made his paintbrush trial results far more generalizable.
    With all the above said, that video did indicate that paintbrushes as alternative lathering tools do have some potential. You know, I think I have a round Chinese badger brush around here somewhere……

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