"[1] Quality of these brushes differed greatly, as materials used to fashion the handles varied from the common to the exotic.

In the 1800s, the folding-handle straight razor design made it practical for men to shave themselves rather than visit a barber.

[citation needed] Modern shave brushes are similar in appearance, composition and function to their centuries-old predecessors.

Lower-quality brushes are often machine made and the bristles may be trimmed, resulting in sharp, prickly tips.

Synthetic shave brushes, most often made using nylon bristles, are available in a range of prices and gradations in quality.

Unlike badger hair and synthetic fibers, boar bristles absorb water, so the brush should be soaked before use.

While some companies insist on using other gradations (for example, Vulfix's high-end brushes distinguish between "super" and "silvertip"), these three are commonly accepted among wet shavers[who?]

Pure badger hair is usually dark in color, but fluctuates from a light tan to a near-black or silvery sheen.

Most often, pure badger brush hairs are trimmed to shape, resulting in somewhat stiff, rough ends.

Due to its water retention capacity, a 'silvertip' brush can create well-formed shaving lather quickly and easily.

These brushes differ in appearance (the tip is whiter and extends further down the shaft; additionally, the hair under the tip is pure black as opposed to dark grey in color) and feel (the extra silvertip feels slightly firmer and less "prickly" on the face when lathering).

When dry, the shaving brush knots with gel tips are not fully recognizable: the presence of little hooks is not sufficient to provide the second, and also most distinct trait: the “slick”, soapy feeling.

There is no standard for this feature, so every person will have to feel it himself, especially when rubbing the wet shaving brush knot near the lips, where the skin is more sensitive.

Procter & Gamble stopped using badger hair in its Art of Shaving products following a PETA investigation of several badger-hair farms and brush-making factories in Shijiazhuang, China, and a video that showed a worker beating a badger with a chair leg before slaughtering it for its fur.

[13] Horse hair brushes are coming back, after a hiatus of nearly 100 years following an anthrax scare around World War I.

A fibrous bristle load holds significant amounts of water which mix with the soap lifted from a shaving mug or scuttle.