Which Brush?

Do you have a preference for which brush you use for any particular shave soap or cream?

I have a love/hate relationship with Arko shave soap.  Generally I like it but once I use up what I have I don't know I will by buying any more as there are better shave soaps out there I like better.  One thing I discovered with Arko, but not with any other shave soaps thus far, is I get a better lather which holds up longer with a synthetic brush.  I have overloaded a badger brush to make sure I have enough soap, more and less water, but for some reason the lather will break down to basically nothing during a shave so I'm curious about your experiences.

Thanks in advance!

Non-responsive response:  I've never used Arko.  I *do* know that I get better performance with some soaps/creams if I use a different brush.  If I use shaving sticks, then a stiffer brush works best (my VieLong horse hair or my stiff Synthetic).  If I'm using softer creams (like Proraso from a tube), I get better luck with boar.  If I'm whipping up a hard soap in a Dirty Bird shaving dish, then boar is the way to go.  Badgers can work ok on both soft cream and hard puck, too, but they're a LOT more work to get the lather I like (fussy, I guess).  IMHO soaps and brushes are like razors and blades... once you find the right pair-up, they're good to go!

But what do *I* know... I'm still a newbie until the last guy forks over the goat.
  :-)
- Bax

Boar or badger.... Since I use a bowl, they all work together well.

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To be fair - I’ve found that any brush will load any soap. That said…
1. For easy to load creams, croaps, and soft-soaps: a medium density brush (Paladin, Saponificio Varesino)
2. For long-load soaps like Mike’s: generally a dense brush like a chubby-2
3. SV Triple-milled soaps: do well with medium-density brushes
4. Anytime I want to load suuuuuuper heavy and use up a soap: chubby-2

Related: if I haven’t shaved in 3-4 days, I’ll always use a scrubby-dense brush like a chubby-2 Manchurian. If I’m shaving every-day/ever-other-day I’ll use a cloud-soft brush like a Paladin, Saponificio Varesino, or Morris & Forndran.

Badger for creams in a lather bowl. Boars for hard soaps and croaps and face lathering.

Tedolph

Agree with All of the above, +

2bands for croaps
Synthetics for triple milled soaps
3 ring ST for creams

Boars for all of the above.


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Any brush, any soap, but I hate sloppy brushes and painting lather.

While I've never had a problem making lather with any brush, my first choice will always be a Boar. It's the combination of effortless lather making no matter the soap, and the face feel that I prefer, that has stood the test of time.

Took me a while to discover I prefer boars. Second choice is synthetics. Shorter loft and the most backbone is my preference.

(11-23-2021, 08:36 AM)Chappy Wrote: Do you have a preference for which brush you use for any particular shave soap or cream?

I have a love/hate relationship with Arko shave soap.  Generally I like it but once I use up what I have I don't know I will by buying any more as there are better shave soaps out there I like better.  One thing I discovered with Arko, but not with any other shave soaps thus far, is I get a better lather which holds up longer with a synthetic brush.  I have overloaded a badger brush to make sure I have enough soap, more and less water, but for some reason the lather will break down to basically nothing during a shave so I'm curious about your experiences.

Thanks in advance!

Arko with a T2 Trafalgar is really quite good.  Even better if you mash the Arko into a bowl.  No grating required.  Mash it between your hands end-to-end.  It's like putty.  
Really, I could get by with Arko - If I didn't have more soaps than I'll ever use.  I'd recommend you buy a 12 pack just because you can - it's like 15 dollars USD or less. 
It doesn't go bad.  I have some from 2012 that I'm using - chase it with some inexpensive drugstore splash and it's a budget-friendly, fun shave.  

Back to the question - synthetics generally lather 'better' - if 'better' means less time/effort and maybe - product.  
They don't absorb.  However, that is offset by the floppiness and flinging of lather around the bathroom that most synthetics I've found tend to do.
The lone exception are the Trafalgar brushes from Simpson's - but even those (for me) don't match a well crafted silvertip or two band with good flow through and about a 55-58 mm loft.  I find a good brush is a good brush - I can chew up MWF, Osma or Vintage Williams with the right 18mm silvertip as easily as with a 24mm two band or synthetic.