So... this amazing eBay purchase that had no measurements but seems to be a 22mm knot has just been lathered twice (with full 3 passes) - first with PAA Malbogue and then RR's Tuscan Oud. Yes, it was purchased as a bit of a joke but I wanted to see what horsehair is like without much of an investment. Here are my findings so far.
1) It came with no nasty smell which made me think it's been washed in DDT. I rinsed it very well after the initial soak and quickly shampooed it with Malizia gel. It shed.
2) The first lather with Malbogue was easy and I made more than I needed. I was pushing hard to test it. The knot is rather floppy so it's a bowl job followed by mostly face painting but if that's what you like to do... this was fine! There was no scritch problem - and I've had awful cheap boars that were very scritchy so I do know the feeling. It obviously did shed and the soap needed a good wash to get the many hairs out after the load. It stored a good amount of lather and rinses easily. The shape of the knot does deform in the water because it's soft and not massively tightly packed but a few flicks and it returns to a proper shape. It took the scent of the soap nicely and didn't stink badly of horse when wet.
3) The second lather was with the strongly scented and slightly more difficult to lather RR. It worked just as well as with the PAA and made a lot of good lather. Still shed but a lot less on the puck from the load and on the face. I was surprised and had expected it to continue to heavily shed.
4) I dried it properly. It's retained the scent of both soaps in a nice way and the photo above is after the two vigorous loads in a row.
Was it brilliant? No. The Semogue 830, Wolfpac Finest Badger and K Shave Worx synthetic are demonstrably better brushes, especially in terms of face lather. But it is very cheap so that makes sense.
Is it passable? Surprisingly, yes, if the shedding continues to slow down and stop. Also you probably need to enjoy painting lather on to the face. In the bowl it was great for making lather - just as quick as my Semogue. I'd take this camping, for example.
Build quality. The resin in the handle is beautiful which I don't think my photo shows... but the turning and polishing is C- grade at best. I have no confidence that the knot will function for a long time but if the shedding stops that might change.
Am I going to use it for a while? Nah, I'm still playing with my K Shave Worx. But I will crack it open now and then to see how the knot is holding up.
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