Synthetic vs. Animal Haired Shaving Brushes

We have outlined a few reasons that explain our choice for making synthetic fiber brushes as opposed to animal hair brushes.

Cruelty To Animals

  • Animals (typically badgers) targeted for their hair, are caught in painful traps for days before they are finally captured, and then are crushed together into small cages, while they wait for their fur to be sheared off.

Easier To Maintain

  • Given their porosity, animal hair brushes are much harder to dry and clean. This makes the synthetic options much better travelling companions.
  • More importantly however, if not dried and cleaned properly, animal hair brushes will develop mildew which can lead to severe respiratory problems, more so given that the brush is finally used in proximity to your inhalation passages.

Better Lathering Capability

  • Modern synthetic shaving fibers are micro textured to allow for better pick-up and retention of product comparable to the porous animal haired brushes.

  • Synthetic fibers are much more springier than animal hair and hence the constant ricochet of the hairs allows for much more activity per stroke. The springiness also increases the ability to shake off water after the brush is used.

  • Modern synthetic fibers are much softer than both the lower and higher grades of animal hair used and hence are not irritating to the skin after a few strokes. 

Aesthetics

  • Apart from the health hazards described above, if an animal hair brush is not dried and cleaned perfectly, the residual soap and will eventually form a thick coating at the base of the bristles that will destroy the shape, the look and the performance of the brush.
  • Since synthetic fibers are man made, they do not differ from one another and all the brushes of a similar model can be expected to feel exactly the same.