Thread: How does your brush smell?

I have a Vulfix 376 and it did smell a bit for about the first 3 shaves and then it went away. The other suggestions on how to remove the smell will do the trick.

My Simpsons Special only gave off the absolute slightest hint of the vermin from which it came, but only the very first time I used it. Even then, I pretty much had to bury my nose in it to catch the vapors. Now it just picks up the scent of whatever cream or soap I'm using and goes back to smelling like nothing once I rinse it out.

Thanks for all the tips. I gave the brush a good shampooing, and it really seemed to take the edge off the smell.

I just got a cheaper "perfecto" pure badger and had no idea what what going on! I got it wet, then pressed out the water and the contents were brown! I then lathered with it and got brown lather... IT FREAKIN SMELLS!
I thought my soap got moldy or something haha. My last brush was a synthetic... its been a good 5 lathers and my brush is still horrible.
Going to have to use some shampoo!

Hi nothenon and welcome!

I'm sorry no one warned you about the smell of some new boar/badger brushes. The reason it really doesn't come up that often is, well, it goes away eventually and then the brush (if good quality and taken care of) will give you years and years and years of odorless lathering. How bad it smells at first depends on a couple of things... you have to remember, these brushes are being made from real, sometimes wild, animal hair. How clean the animal was upon collecting the hair is of course the first factor. Then how the factory treats the hair prior to setting into the knot - the vast majority of this hair is coming out of China and of course the higher quality hair going to higher paying clients will get more treatment prior to being shipped to the brush factory... the cheaper knots may not get any treatment at all! Then at the actual brush factory of course the more prestigious/more expensive companies will treat the knots further prior to setting into their brushes before shipping out to stores/end customers. I've heard the Boraxo detergent tip repeatedly before, but haven't tried it myself... after all, this brush is then going to be used on my face and do I really want high strength laundry detergent directly on something that is then going onto my face without going through a couple of cycles in the laundry/washing machine first? So the tip I followed and that has worked great for me with each new animal hair brush was this: First wash the brush thoroughly with copious amounts of warm/hot water and whatever shampoo you have on hand... no need to buy anything extra or expensive. After a couple washes it should smell a lot less, plus you should have gotten rid of any loose hairs from the knot. Now take your strongest scented shave soap and load up your brush, then lather it up good in your bowl or a coffee cup if you don't have one or even your cupped hand. There's tutorials and threads on this website on creating a good lather and you're gonna soon find out it really is an art and some people get very passionate about their technique! This is great practice for your future shaves as well, but in this instance you're actually not gonna use it for that. After you've created a good, thick (almost the consistency of sour cream) lather, load up your brush hair completely with it on all sides, then leave it, standing up, in your sink or on your counter overnight... for at least 24hrs. After that, wash it off and presto! Now you can use the brush to make some lather for your face and it shouldn't smell at all! I've used this trick on 2 smelly badger brushes and one VERY smelly boar brush and it worked miracles on all 3, getting completely rid of the animal scent. Good luck and Great Shaves!

I,m pretty sure he's not looking anymore last post was in 2008 but someone else might get the tip. Tc

I shot some advice into cyber air.
Where it lands I know not where.
I hope the stink leaves this poor smuck,
So he can smell that beautiful puck.

© 10Pups 2/7/2016

Took weeks to get the stank out of my M&F Badger Brush, had read about the stink, but until it is experienced, words cannot convey the choking gag that rises from one's gullet as the brush passes near the nose - just vile!

And great NecroPost!!!

okay, so shampoo it up, and leave it stuffed with lather for a good while... sounds good.
I used to paint warhammer models, and the one thing I learned about brushes was to never store them wet in any way but on their side, or bristles facing down... it makes the hairs fall out and get messed up if they are stores bristles up.
Does the same go for a shave brush? I would imagine but perhaps they are more resilient.

The hair on most shaving shaving brushes is set into a "knot" with a waterproof epoxy. Temporary soaking won't harm it at all. The boar "hairs" are actually a type of bristle and are hollow inside. They will absorb water and swell - this is actually why some people prefer boar to badger or horse hair, but the negative flip-side is that if the brush is left soaked it can actually swell the knot and crack your brush. The other reason it is wise to dry your brushes after use is that they are made up of natural hair, which is made up of proteins and if it is left moist in a warm environment for prolonged periods of time it can and will start to grow mold or bacteria which will eat at and ruin the hair, as well as make the brush smell, and could possibly make you sick (unless you're growing penicillin, in which case it could actually kill bacteria on your face or an Ergot fungus, in which case it could give you hallucinations like LSD, which some people seem to enjoy, but I wouldn't recommend). Finally, leaving the brush wet could damage the material of your handle.
Leaving the brush loaded with lather for one night is actually pretty safe because the soap has a hydrostatic pull - it wants to pull moisture to itself stronger than the boar bristles want to absorb it, so it will actually pull moisture out of your hair and brush. This is why soaps can dry out your skin and sensitive people need to use a moisturizing aftershave balm afterwards. The alkaloid nature of the soap won't let bacteria, mold, or fungi grow as they all like a slightly acidic pH.