{"id":17725,"date":"2021-06-10T09:11:52","date_gmt":"2021-06-10T12:11:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spiffo.com\/?p=17725"},"modified":"2021-06-10T09:46:30","modified_gmt":"2021-06-10T12:46:30","slug":"is-special-care-required-for-wood-handled-shaving-brushes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spiffo.com\/blog\/is-special-care-required-for-wood-handled-shaving-brushes\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Special Care Required For Wood Handled Shaving Brushes?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
There is no discounting the beauty and the feel of wood. There is just something about it that makes it so appealing. In fact, the long-standing popularity of wood handled shaving brushes have made them a wetshaving tradition!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, when it comes to care and maintenance there are a few extra considerations to keep in mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First and foremost, raw wood by its very nature is hygroscopic, meaning that it will absorb water both from immersion and\/or the atmosphere. With prolonged exposure this can cause a variety of issues like discolouration, swelling, cracking, deterioration, rot, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, with an extensive finishing technique along with proper care and maintenance these concerns can be minimized, possibly even avoided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We take our finishing technique, one that we have developed over the years, quite seriously. Once the wood handle has been turned to shape and sanded we apply approximately 8 coats of finish, depending on the wood species. We begin with at least two coats of tung\/teak oil, similar to what is used on the wood of sailboats. This permeates the wood for deep protection. We then follow this with four to six coats of a surface polyurethane finish. These finishes are dried between each coat for a minimum of twenty-four hours, creating a durable covering. Although this finishing process takes a couple of weeks to complete we feel that the result is worth the effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the user’s end we suggest that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While there can’t be any guarantee that this will totally eliminate this natural tendency of wood it will certainly minimize it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One thing of note is that wooden handle shaving brushes have been around for well over a hundred years and a lot of them are still in use today!<\/p>\n\n\n\n