Brushes Getting Out of Hand

No way will I ever be able to sell my few remaining PUR-tech, classic-style synthetic shaving brushes at a profit, in this world full of giant $10 "Plissofts," like the one pictured below on the far right. (I couldn't even get that good a deal to begin with.) So, with an arbitrary clearance reduction, I guess I can finally afford to try one myself. It's clearly more firm, with thicker fibers than the newer synthetics, but just as fine at the tips. Perhaps it can help me avoid rubbing lather in with my fingers. At least interesting enough to justify expanding my lineup, second from right in the picture below:

~$80 in brushes (and I'm not proud)

Meanwhile, a reddit tip xeems to have decisively saved the Bestshave No. 6 (third brush). Soaking for three days in plain water unlocked the hair near the knot somehow, which was apparently the stink's refuge before fouling my lather. After one more wash with dish soap, followed by letting shaving soap dry in the knot, the rubber tires were undetectable. This soaking procedure is said to help against "lather eating," also. I see the wood handle was waterlogged near the knot, too, so I guess I might have tried something a little different there. Indeed, I'm pretty sure the consensus I read (red flag, right there) is that the knot itself must NEVER be waterlogged, lest the glue holes be expanded like a pothole.

So of course, I gave the Omega 10049 (leftmost) and Ever-Ready 250D (center) the same treatment. The former is new, the latter old, but never broken in -- I guess it doesn't really belong in the picture, except I find it beautiful; and who knows? Like the PUR-tech, it might hold the key to lather penetration. It started looking usable when I treated all the boars to the chemical approach recently. My grandfather's brush stub, used mainly on his moustache, is at least as stiff.

I didn't think the Semogue 620 had much fight left in it, such a poofy thing. I wasn't thinking about lather eating, though, and I guess it will be good to have one subject for comparison.