Generally, badger hair in any form is more flexible than its alternatives and therefore produces particularly full and fine-pored foam. But here too, not all badger hair is the same, and those who want to delve particularly deeply into the subject can look at finely graded quality criteria. For initial orientation, however, it is sufficient to distinguish between three groups. The simplest category is the dark badger hair from the animal's undercoat, which is uniformly gray or black and does not come off by itself, but is cut off. In comparison, this firmer quality has the largest diameter, which brings a higher massage effect when preparing to shave **But those with sensitive skin are advised to use a shaving brush made of the finer badger pluck or even the premium quality, the so-called silver tip **Both are brushed out or just plucked out and are characterized by their stripes in three shades of color. The more clearly the pattern is visible and the lighter the tips contrast with the black band - the so-called mirror - the higher the quality. When the tips are almost gray-white, you are dealing with the exceptionally soft silvertip badger hair - it comes from the bushy belly and neck area of the animals, where they bear their typical stripes, and is of the best quality in the winter months, especially just before hibernation.

Good shaving brushes are still made by hand by brush and brush makers today. First, the already elaborately sorted and sorted hair by hand is measured with a precision scale. A single gram of good quality badger hair consists of 1,000 hairs - but one gram doesn't get you very far. The expert craftsman gathers many thousands of hairs into a bundle and first carefully combs it out to remove any cross hairs. Then the "push box" comes into play, which could well be called the heart of shaving brush manufacturing. This is a metal cylinder, which is inside the negative contour of the shaving brush and the inserted hair bundle in its typical shape. Upside down, it stands in the can and is gently poked until all the hairs dance in a row - well, a curved row. Tied tightly with a thread, the next step follows for the shaving brush in spe, in which the brush maker demonstrates his true skill. While plucking, the course of the hair drawing is brought on track by hand. The more evenly and parallel the mirror runs, the cleaner was worked. However, the tips of the hairs are never shortened in a handmade shaving brush, because they run finer towards the top, and only this feature enables them to produce the wonderfully soft foam that your facial skin deserves. Only on the shaft, the hairs are shortened after plucking, and then with the help of a water-resistant precious resin to the handle. In machine shaving brush production, on the other hand, the brushes are often cut into shape at the tip, which robs the badger hair of all its strengths and results in prickly products.