Shaving brush
A shaving brush is a thick, short-handled brush for making and applying shaving foam for wet shaving . The shaving soap or shaving cream is either whipped in a shaving bowl before application or foamed directly on the face. In order to produce a sufficiently moist foam, a shaving brush must be able to absorb a sufficient amount of water.
For the production of shaving brushes is usually badger used, wherein the fine silver top roof hair has the best quality. In addition, shaving brushes with pig bristles , horsehair or synthetic fibers are also commercially available. Nowadays, handles are mainly made of plastics , but also of wood or metal.
The price of a shaving brush depends on the type, quality and quantity of hair, the type of production and the handle material. For the quality of the foam produced with the brush, however, only the type, quality and quantity of hair are decisive.
history
Allan Peterkin, author of a book on the cultural history of the beard, dates the introduction of the shaving brush in Europe to the year 1748, but without citing sources. The English author John Thomas Smith, who wrote in his Ancient topography of London , published in 1815, that until 1756 it was common to use shaving soap by hand - and not with a shaving brush - provides an indication of the correctness of the location in the 18th century. to froth up. Smith's account is also supported by the fact that the French author Jean-Jacques Perret in his book La Pogonotomie, ou l'art d'apprendre à se raser soi-même , a guide to self-shaving from 1770, exclusively uses the Describes foaming by hand.
Although shaving brushes had become more popular in Europe by the beginning of the 19th century at the latest, frothing by hand was still widespread in England, at least until 1810. In the sixth edition of his treatise A treatise on razors , the British author Benjamin Kingsbury writes that it was the subject of controversy “whether the lather [...] with a brush [d. H. a shaving brush] or to be effected by the bustle of the hand alone ”.
From the advent of self-shaving in the 19th to the middle of the 20th century, lathering shaving soap or shaving cream with a shaving brush was an integral part of the male wet shave. However, with the development of spray cans for shaving foam (1949) and shaving gels (in the 1970s) and their widespread use, the use of shaving brushes in western cultures has declined.
Manufacturing
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The manufacture of a shaving brush begins with the precise weighing of the pre-sorted hair material on a fine scale . The inside diameter of the shaving brush handle determines how much hair is needed. The bundle of hair is then carefully combed out to remove transverse hair. Then the head of the shaving brush is shaped with the help of a "push sleeve". The inside of this metal cylinder is shaped in such a way that the bundle of hair placed upside down in the bump sleeve takes on the typical shape of a shaving brush. To do this, the butt sleeve is pushed open on the work surface until the desired contour is achieved, then the hair bundle is carefully tied off.
This is followed by “plucking” individual hairs for optical reasons, in which the brush binder carefully corrects the unevenness in the course of the surrounding dark hair markings. The aim is to create a brush head with an evenly parallel drawing in the outer hair.
In the last step, excess hair on the shaft of the hair bundle is cut off; the fine tips of the hair are not processed. Then the hair bundle is glued at the lower end with a waterproof putty. After the putty has hardened , the shaving brush head is finally inserted into the recess ( clip ) of the handle part.
Types and quality levels
Hair types
Badger hair
Badger hair shaving brushes are the most expensive, but also the most common. Today, the hair for badger hair brushes is obtained almost exclusively in China , where the badger is considered a pest. The highest quality level is the "Silvertip" (English also Super Badger ; German Silberspitz ), the hair of which is particularly soft, has a light tip and comes from the stomach and neck area of the badger. This is followed by the darker and less fine “Best Badger” and finally the “Pure Badger”, whose hair has the largest diameter and is accordingly less fine.
Bristles
Shaving brushes made from wild boar bristles are harder than badger hair brushes and massage the skin more strongly when the shaving foam is applied. Some users therefore recommend them especially for the use of shaving soaps. Bristle brushes hold less water than badger hair brushes, but they are cheaper.
Horsehair
Shaving brushes made from horse or horsehair are still most common today in countries in North Africa and the Middle East. Badger brushes are unaffordable to broad sections of the population in those areas because of their high price. Pig bristle brushes are not used because pig products are considered unclean in countries with a predominantly Islamic population. Horsehair is "coarse" because it has no tips and is much easier to work with than badger hair and other fine hair. Horsehair shaving brushes largely disappeared from the market in the United States after they were suspected of transmitting anthrax to humans in the first half of the 20th century .
Synthetic fibers
Today, shaving brushes made of synthetic fibers are preferred primarily by those users who reject animal products for ethical reasons. In terms of their appearance, they are often adapted to the appearance of traditional badger hair brushes, for example by coloring the fiber tips lighter. Shaving brushes made of synthetic fibers require less care than the sensitive products made of badger hair, but they also cannot hold as much water as these.
Handle materials
The handles of today's shaving brushes are mainly made of synthetic materials such as nylon or micarta . The advantages of these plastic handles are their resistance to water and breakage as well as their color fastness. Wooden handles, on the other hand, can develop cracks from water and should therefore be stored in a shaving brush holder (also: "drip stand") after use so that the hair can drain downwards. Metal handles are often offered in sets with matching razors. Metal handles require special care when using a shaving bowl made of a breakable material to froth the shaving soap or cream.
Special forms
A specialty among the shaving brushes are those specimens that were designed for use when traveling. The focus here is on protecting the sensitive badger hair during transport. One of the designs of travel shaving brushes on the market today consists of a cylindrical cover made of plastic that holds and protects the brush head during transport (see figure opposite). For use, the brush head is taken out of this cover and screwed onto it. Because the cover is open at the bottom, the hair can dry out after use.
use
Before lathering, the shaving brush is dipped in warm water until the hair is completely soaked. Excess water is then removed from the brush head with a sweeping motion.
Then the damp shaving brush is rubbed on a bar of soap or the tip is dipped into the shaving cream jar. Shaving cream from tubes is applied either directly from the tube or with a finger onto the shaving brush.
In a third step, the soap or cream is then whipped in a shaving bowl. For this purpose, circular movements are carried out with the brush until the shaving foam has achieved a consistency that is as creamy as possible. In general, when creating shaving foam, both the amount of water and the stirring time influence the consistency of the foam: the more water is used, the thinner the foam becomes, and the longer it is stirred, the firmer the consistency of the shaving foam becomes.
Before application, the face should be moistened so that the shaving foam adheres. When lathering the face, move the brush over the skin in gentle circular movements. Care should be taken not to exert too much pressure on the brush in order not to damage the hair. When lathering the upper lip, it can also help to pinch the hairs on the brush with your fingers to force them into a flatter shape.
As an alternative to whipping in a shaving bowl, the shaving soap or cream can also be foamed directly on the face or in the palm of the hand.
maintenance
In order to guarantee a long service life, shaving brushes must be given special care. After use, they should be rinsed with warm water. This prevents soap residue from building up in the brush hair and damaging the hair structure. Soap remaining in the brush hair can cause the sensitive hair to become brittle and break after just a few days.
After rinsing the shaving brush, the remaining water is thrown out. It is then stored either hanging or standing in a well-ventilated place. There are different concepts for standing or hanging storage. While the longstanding school opinion assumed that shaving brushes should only be stored hanging, recent experiments have shown that a shaving brush stored upright dries faster.
Since the hair of shaving brushes is usually natural products, they must never be treated with harsh cleaners. Instead, after prolonged use, the brush should be treated either in lukewarm water with the addition of a mild shampoo or with a commercially available shaving brush cleaner.
Web links
- Shaving brush in the German Digital Library (numerous images)
Individual evidence
- ^ Allan D. Peterkin: One thousand beards: a cultural history of facial hair. Vancouver 2001, p. 65.
- ↑ The entertaining and venerable Mr. Thomas Batrich, barber, of Drury-lane, informs me, that before the year 1756, it was a general custom to lather with the hand; but that the French barbers, much about that time, brought in the brush. In: John Thomas Smith: Ancient topography of London: containing not only views of buildings… but some account of places and customs either unknown, or overlooked by the London historians. [no location] 1815, p. 38.
- ↑ Jean-Jacques Perret: La Pogonotomie, ou l'art d'apprendre à se raser soi-même . Yverdon 1770, p. 60.
- ↑ A subject of much greater controversy is whether the lather itself should be raised with a brush, or be produced by the action of the hand only. In: Benjamin Kingsbury: A treatise on razors . 6th edition. London 1810, p. 42, here cited in the German translation Benjamin Kinsbury, Sr. Kön. Maj. Of Great Britain's Body-Barber's, Treatise on Barber's Knives . Leipzig 1800, p. 78.
- ↑ This is how your original shavemac shaving brush is made . on the website of shavemac, last accessed on April 23, 2014.
- ↑ On the Internet there is a lot of information about the manufacture of shaving brushes, for example: This is how your original shavemac shaving brush is made . on the shavemac website, last accessed on April 23, 2014, The shaving brush and its manufacture . as a PDF from the Swiss company PEKA Brushes Factory, last accessed on April 23, 2014, as well as UOMO shaving brush from da Vinci (shows the production in the video) on YouTube , last accessed on April 23, 2014.
- ↑ a b On this and the following: Brush and Bristle Basics Without the Sales Pitch . via: Classic Shaving, last accessed April 21, 2014.
- ↑ a b c Do you ever use boar or synthetic shaving brushes? . In: Shaving 101, last accessed April 21, 2014.
- ↑ Exemplary: Anthrax from shaving brushes. In: American Journal of Public Health (New York, NY: 1912). Volume 15, Number 5, May 1925, p. 440. PMID 18011522 , PMC 1320546 (free full text).
- ↑ There are numerous written instructions and videos on the Internet on how to use a shaving brush. As an example: Mix the shaving foam - water makes the difference . via Razor Online, last accessed on April 23, 2014, as well as lathering shaving soap in the bowl . via Mr. Nassrasur on YouTube, last accessed April 23, 2014.
- ↑ On this aspect cf. Mix the shaving foam - water makes the difference . via Razor Online, last accessed April 23, 2014.
- ↑ a b c d shaving brush care . via rasur-online.de, last accessed on April 28, 2014.
- ↑ Shaving Brushes - Types, Treatment, and Care . Rinse, Dry, and Storage Section, via NassRasur.com, last accessed April 28, 2014.
