- Nov 22, 2016
- #1
805steve
Backstory: Went on vacation, realized I forgot my brush, found an Art of Shaving store and bought their budget badger hair brush. As soon as it hit water it stunk up the place. It's been a week of use and it still stinks. I rinse it clean everyday and air dry it upside down on a hanger. It still stinks. It's had Cremo Cream citrus on it, Proraso green, Proraso sensitive skin (not sure I like this shave cream) and had PAA's K on it. It still stinks.
Anyone eve had a brush like this? Suggestions for a cure? Many thanks in advance.
Steve
- Nov 23, 2016
- #2
R
rokar
i use this method on a new brush after a few cleans seems to work for me. http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/115800-How-to-Clean-a-Shaving-Brush
- Nov 23, 2016
- #3
SirChangalot
Use oxiclean
- Nov 23, 2016
- #4
tetraodon
i took my new brush, lathered up my favorite soap, and let it sit over night, then rinse off.
- Nov 23, 2016
- #5
BSAGuy
+1 for this.
SirChangalot said:
Use oxiclean
- Nov 23, 2016
- #6
bakerbarber
Time and sacrificial lather. Dry in between.
- Nov 23, 2016
- Thread starter
- #7
805steve
I'll use my PAA K soup, super strong Anise (Good and Plenty) smell. If that doesn't kill it I'll call in the reserves. Thanks.
- Nov 23, 2016
- #8
riverstyxxx
Use this guide:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/139297-How-To-Break-In-A-Brush-amp-Get-The-Funk-Out
- Nov 23, 2016
- #9
MntnMan62
I've had good success with Dawn dishwashing liquid. Not too much. Let the brush sit for an hour or two and rinse completely. I have an AOS brush and it too stunk when I first bought it. One treatment with Dawn and no more stink. Good luck.
- Nov 23, 2016
- #10
BigJ
riverstyxxx said:
Use this guide:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/139297-How-To-Break-In-A-Brush-amp-Get-The-Funk-Out
+1.
- Nov 23, 2016
- #11
emwolf
the worst funk I've experienced was with horse hair. Lots of rinses, lathers, etc. About two weeks in the scent was okay. Now, a year later, it's a fantastic brush.
- Nov 23, 2016
- #12
dfoulk
The suggestions above will help but do know that if you do nothing else except use it for your daily shaves the scent will likely disappear completely within a month. Maybe less depending on the strength of it. Higher quality brushes don't usually hang onto the scent very long. The Rooney brush I bought had virtually no scent at all even from the very first shave. The Shavemac and Paladin had a scent that stuck around for maybe a week or so with just normal shave lathers and no disk soap or Oxyclean. The Whipped Dog brush was the worst with this as it took a solid month or longer along with the disk soap and Oxyclean. It was a great value to the scent was the trade off with that brush.
Some of the higher priced AOS knots are said to be Shavemac knots (or at least they were at one point) so maybe you got one of those depending on which brush you bought and what you paid for it.
The dish soap and Oxiclean speed the process because they help to remove the natural animal oils that are on the brush hair. These oils are especially hard to remove from the inner part of the knot which is why it takes so many lathers to get rid of the scent. The oils are why your brush smells like a wet dog when it gets wet. Once these oils are removed completely your brush will not smell this way anymore.
- Nov 23, 2016
- #13
frianm
I use Oxiclean and then a sweet smelling shampoo. It takes about a week of constant use - BUT it is usually worth it.
- Nov 23, 2016
- Thread starter
- #14
805steve
After work this morning I rushed home, lather up the AOS (least expensive model they sell) with my PAA K soup nice and good, stuck the whole she-bang into my lather bowl with water and let it rest for 8 hours. After waking up I rinsed and sniffed. Now it's time to repeat the process and follow instructions, like use dish soap first, then lather, then let it set up, then rinse. Sometimes after long nightshift I'm lucking to find that I made my way home.
Steve
- Nov 24, 2016
- #15
adamchur
I'm currently breaking in a cheap Chinese badger knot that I bought to put on a Chinese Aluminium travel handle as a DIY project
It's lathering ok, but it's pretty stinky
Arko and Derby soaps help to tone down the smell and it fades with each use
The disturbing thing is that I quite like the wet dog smell mixed with the scent of the soap - I think that maybe I was a dog in a past life
- Nov 24, 2016
- #16
sandstone
I had the same problem with a boar brush. It took two shampoo treatments, two cycles with dishwashing liquid and about four lathers to get all the funk out. Good luck with yours and let us know how it works out.
- Nov 24, 2016
- #17
windinthewillows
I was training a horse one day. We came back exausted and the horse was sweaty, I was sweaty and the ranch dog was sweaty. This 50 something horsey girl; prussian spurs, black riding boots, cellulite straining against black stretch riding breeches and pink tshirt with airbrushed DRESSAGE horse of noble profile and waving mane had so much cheap perfume on the dog ran under a trailer and my exausted horse found enough wind to rear.
Smell can be relative; go to a tack store or even beauty suppliers and ask for MANE AND TAIL. It's a horse shampoo that strips out stink faster than a horsey girl telling retired cowboys they don't ride properly.
yeehaw.
- Nov 24, 2016
- #18
John Rose
windinthewillows said:
I was training a horse one day.
[snip]
yeehaw.
That is one of the most remarkably odd-yet-still-on-topic replies I've seen in ages.
- Nov 24, 2016
- #19
ClubmanRob
Find a good 2 in 1 shampoo/conditioner combo. (I usually use Head and Shoulders Old Spice 2-in-1 nowadays, but previously I would use Pinaud Country Club Shampoo). Load brush with it (I'm talking overkill, like enough shampoo to wash Elvis's hair) and work it on your hand or bowl for several minutes. Rinse and repeat a few times.
Then, load it up one last time and let it sit overnight (or two nights preferably) hanging downward on a stand or a string tied around the handle and suspended from something. This is the most important step because you want the shampoo to absorb the funk; you then want gravity to let the stuff drain toward the tip away from the root where the scent tends to be the strongest.) With very few exceptions I have always defunkified a brush this way and the hair is softer to boot.
If it still stinks after that, take a Zippo to it and be done with it.
- Nov 27, 2016
- #20
Skeezixx
Replace the knot with a synthetic. They are unscented.
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