Do you pair your soaps and brushes?

Although its is not essential I find that I pair up my soaps and brushes. When I decide to use a certain soap then their is a 90% chance I will reach for a certain brush. I always face lather

Proraso -Omega 10048

MWF - Kent BK8

Tabac, IK - Semogue 2015

Williams, DR Harris - Vulfix 2235

C&E - Vulfix Boar

Any Stick - Muhle Silvertip Fibre

I have other brushes and soaps and will switch up occasionally, but these have been my go to's.

Anyone else have this habit?

The only pairing I might consider would be a brush that's better with hard soaps or better with creams but I have never considered a specific brush to a specific soap/cream.

Not me...I just choose my brush and soap (or cream) willy nilly.

I haven't paid too much attention, but I think that the only pairing I do is using one of my Turkish horse hairs when I use the Arko stick - they just work better for face lathering.

The only ones I have really paired up is my horse or silvertip with sticks, horse or boar brushes with croaps. And the croaps thing is far from written in stone.

I'm guessing my Semogue 1305 will be a useful option for lathering sticks, too, once it's broken in.

Absolutely not. The morning shave routine first decides which razor to use, then the soap, and right now I'm taking the Italian soft soaps in rotation, and my brushes are used from the left to the right. Whatever comes up on that particular day is what's used.

(05-05-2012, 08:38 PM)bullgoose Wrote: Not me...I just choose my brush and soap (or cream) willy nilly.

Ditto.

My main soaps are two: Art of Shaving/Valobra Shave Stick and Cella.

I find that Cella and boar are a marriage made in heaven, so I always use a Semogue boar brush with Cella.

My other favorite soap is AoS/Valobra Shave Stick, which I prefer with Semogue badger, and as a result I always do it so.

- Murray

Not that I have a couple Semogue's I tend to grab those for soaps. Usually it's my Duke 3 for creams but that one tackles soaps just as well.

I have six brushes, I use a different one each day. I do not pair them with certain soaps. I do use my Omega Midget with creams mainly.

Gentlemen,
The only pairing I do is using my softer brushes with creams and the more coarse and dense with soaps. My boars always go with soaps.

I have super soft brushes that work great with hard soaps & I have very firm, short lofted brushes that work great with creams too. I guess what I'm saying is that I fall in the "Willy Nilly" camp with Phil & others (btw I haven't received my Camp Willy Nilly shirt yet ). I'm not a proponent of brush x is a cream brush while brush y is a soap brush.

Camp Willy Nilly, the camp with tons of activities to choose from & NO itinerary or schedule. We are not responsible for time lost to make decisions!

Thanks for the responses. I guess I am in the minority on this one. I will try and mix it up today.

(05-05-2012, 09:09 PM)Songwind Wrote: The only ones I have really paired up is my horse or silvertip with sticks, horse or boar brushes with croaps. And the croaps thing is far from written in stone.

I'm guessing my Semogue 1305 will be a useful option for lathering sticks, too, once it's broken in.

Eric, your 1305 will do a great job lathering soap sticks once it's broke in. I've been using my 1305 the past two weeks and have found the lather to be more dense and thick than when I have used my 1520. I facelather most of the time and really like, and probably favor the 1520 a little more but the 1305 has really surprised me the past two weeks. Yesterday it did a great job lathering the La Toja SS.

Clayton

My little piggies really don't care. They like all soaps and creams.

Not me, anything goes!
Regards
Jim

(05-06-2012, 04:49 AM)SharpSpine Wrote: I guess what I'm saying is that I fall in the "Willy Nilly" camp with Phil & others (btw I haven't received my Camp Willy Nilly shirt yet ).

That may have to be a future project.

I have one old #53 RubberSet SilverTip restore that has a bit smaller knot (22 mm) than my other brushes. Typically I use knots in the 24 mm range. I use this little one when I use Proraso/Omega soaps simply because it works well in these size containers. Beyond that it's just what I happen to be feeling for the day.

(05-06-2012, 04:49 AM)SharpSpine Wrote: I guess what I'm saying is that I fall in the "Willy Nilly" camp with Phil & others (btw I haven't received my Camp Willy Nilly shirt yet ).

I want a shirt too. My specific choices are sort of random, although I avoid immediate repeats. I tend to use Pure badger brushes on hard soaps, Bests on both soaps and creams, and Supers/Finests/Manchurians only on creams.

(05-05-2012, 08:38 PM)freddy Wrote: The only pairing I might consider would be a brush that's better with hard soaps or better with creams but I have never considered a specific brush to a specific soap/cream.

I'm this way too though recently I have been pairing my boar more with Italian soaps specifically.