Review REVIEW: Frank Shaving develops an in-house synthetic fibre!!!

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Active Member from afar
2018 Sabbatical Fail
Joined
Aug 23, 2012
I ordered a couple more Frank Shaving brushes and received them the other day. Their Aliexpress store is my usual place for ordering. Ordering and delivery were easy and cost-effective.

This particular brush is unique in that the knot is made up of a new fibre that FS has developed in-house!

I originally enquired about another pur-tech brush but was advised by FS that they have developed a similar fibre so I got very curious about it.

It basically aims to replicate the Gen4 synthetic fibre, as used in the Muhle, EJ Silvertip Fibre ("STF") knots and the FS Pur-tech knots. Let’s call this one “FS fibre” for now.

Read on to know my experience with this new knot…

But first, here are some pics:

FS-fibre1.jpg

FS-fibre2.jpg

FS-fibre3.jpg

FS-fibre4.jpg


Shedding:

No shedding at all, as per the case with all synthetics I’ve ever used.

Softness:

The Muhle Silvertip Fibre V2 (STF) is basically a market leader in synthetic fibre IMO. It’s basically perfection!

Well, Frank Shaving nailed it with this new FS fibre!! It’s nearly the same as the Muhle STF in terms of the fibre itself! I’m surprised to experience just how much this feels like the STF.

It’s really soft at the tips to the point where you barely feel them. The brush overall has substance, but the tips are like air! The way the STF and FS fibre both whip lather in no time is also unique. I add water, swirl a little, and it’s already incorporated and formed a nice-looking lather!

Splay:

The FS fibre splays very nicely! Again, like the Muhle STF, it expands amazingly as the volume of lather grows inside it. In fact, the splay is not just “very nice”, it’s actually amazing! It’s very natural and I like it better than my Muhle STF and my FS pur-tech!

Backbone (and glue bump):

The ratio of backbone and density is just perfect! As mentioned above, the splay is very natural so I don’t need to push down hard to get it to splay. Even though it does have a glue bump of approx. 8-10mm, it doesn’t negatively impact the performance, whereas on all other synths I have, a glue bump of about 10mm does negatively impact the experience of the brush.

The combination of the fibre, the tips, the substance, density and backbone all combine to give me exactly what I would classify as perfection!

The 24mm knot with the 53mm loft is just awesome! The finish on the knot could be a little better when compared to Muhle and EJ STF brushes however, at $23 for the 24mm FS fibre compared to the $86 for the Muhle 23mm STF …it’s a no brainer for me!

It’s a big call, but this brush is now my #1 synthetic brush of all time (out of the 25 I have)!!

Drying time:

The brush dried out fully within a few hours, just like other synthetics on the market. No difference to be noted.

Handle:

The faux agate handle is lovely. It’s classy but I do wish it comes in other shapes as this handle shape is becoming common. No knocks against it though, it’s a really pleasing handle for sure!
 
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