The History Of Badger Hair in Shaving Brushes
The History Of Badger Hair in Shaving Brushes
The modern shaving brush can trace its roots back to 1750s France, where the badger hair shaving brush was invented. Despite the centuries passing, the badger hair shaving brush has changed little from those early days. Many shavers view the handle as the prime worth of the brush, which can be made from plastic, ivory, gold and rare woods. However, it is the quality of the badger hair bristles in the brush that determine how well it will perform.
Badger hair is imported mostly from China
China is the source of the vast majority of badger hair used in shaving brushes.
It has been claimed that the badger was hunted primarily for its meat, the hair was a by-product of an animal which was an important source of food. I'm not sure about this claim, China has a terrible record for human rights, do they treat their animals any better?
The Move Towards Synthetic Shaving Brushes
These days there is an increasing number of wet shavers who are against the use of badger hair in shaving brushes and in November 2019 we took the decision to stop stocking and selling real badger hair shaving brushes after footage emerged of the conditions badgers were being kept in.
We are proud to only sell synthetic fibre shaving brushes. These shaving brushes perform to the same standard as the top quality badger hair brushes, but without any of the drawbacks. They dry almost instantly, they don't shed hairs or fan out and they're animal friendly.
Synthetic hair brushes now dominate the travel shaving brush market due to synthetic hair drying almost immediately after use.
We stock quality synthetic shaving brushes from brands including Executive Shaving, MÜHLE, Rex Supply Co & more.
