# How do they get boar bristles?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-get-boar-bristles/266325
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [September 27, 2004, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-get-boar-bristles/266325 "2004-09-27T17:44:18Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2004, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-get-boar-bristles/266325/1 "2004-09-27T17:44:18Z")
How exactly are the boar bristles used for hairbrushes harvested? Are they clipped from living boars or does the animal have to be killed first? Are the boars in question also used for food? Leather? Lucky pig-foot charms?
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### Author:  [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)
#### Post date: [September 27, 2004, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-get-boar-bristles/266325/2 "2004-09-27T18:10:56Z")
I’ve always been curious about this, too…
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[some time later, an assemblage of factoids emerges]
[http://www.myvitanet.com/fucchiltoot.html](http://www.myvitanet.com/fucchiltoot.html)
> [@](#):
>
> Natural Bristle brushes actually come from a special breed of boar raised solely for its bristles. The bristles are carefully harvested using a process similar to the methods employed in shearing sheep. The boar are extremely well cared-for; their bristles are harvested repeatedly during their long lifetimes.
[http://www.german-hairbrushes.com/pure\_boar\_bristles.htm](http://www.german-hairbrushes.com/pure_boar_bristles.htm)
> [@](#):
>
> The Boar Bristles are the first cut of the Boar (highest quality), imported from China. (The Boars are raised on farms; China has the World Monopoly in Boar Bristles).
[http://www.taunton.com/finehomebuilding/pages/h00053.asp](http://www.taunton.com/finehomebuilding/pages/h00053.asp)
> [@](#):
>
> Most natural-bristle brushes carry the words “Chinese bristle” somewhere on the brush, which means the bristles come from Chinese boars. Natural bristles are either black or white, depending on the color of the animal they came from.
And finally, the most fascinating of all…
[http://ia.ita.doc.gov/frn/0007frn/00-725-1.txt](http://ia.ita.doc.gov/frn/0007frn/00-725-1.txt)
> [@](#):
>
> Issues and Decision Memo for the Administrative Review of
> Natural Bristle Paint Brushes and Brush Heads from the
> People’s Republic of China; February 1, 1998 through
> January 31, 1999
>
> Summary: We have analyzed the comments and rebuttals of interested parties in the 1998-1999 administrative review of the antidumping duty order on natural
> bristle paint brushes and brush heads (paintbrushes) from the People’s
> Republic of China (PRC)…
Huh. Tariff fights over paintbrushes. Who knew?
Cool stuff.
---
### Author:  [@cindymecindy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cindymecindy)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2015, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-get-boar-bristles/266325/3 "2015-08-16T20:25:24Z")
I need to give an educated answer to dispel the inaccuracies already written here. Boar bristles are obtained two ways: In Asia, you get twice as much money for holding a hog down and ripping out his hair in clumps while he screams. The hair is longer this way, and its barbaric. Otherwise, boars are raised to have their hair sheared off, but it’s not done with love and roses like one poster replied. They are held down and sheared with sharp shears that, when done too fast and too brutally, will literally shave off their ears and faces. I have seen undercover PETA video of big brutes laughing and shearing off the faces of lambs and boars. Their faces come off in one piece, including the eyes, and the poor animal slowly dies of shock and blood loss. Don’t ever kid yourself that anything involving MEN could ever be done with compassion and kid gloves. They don’t care and they take out their aggression on animals. Plus, just like at YOUR job, their managers are screaming at them to GO FASTER!!! So animals are certainly hurt.
Ducks have all their feathers ripped out in bloody clumps to create down pillows, and the ones not lucky enough to die of shock and blood loss, will live again to have it done another day. Rabbits are stretched and tied by their legs and again, their Cashmere fur is ripped out in clumps.
Leather purses, wallets, shoes and belts? Genuine cowhide? Nope. China is the world’s supplier of “Genuine cowhide” except they don’t have a cattle industry. They skin 6 million dogs and cats a year. Alive. They also drop dogs into huge massive boiling tanks like lobsters and boil them alive. prior to this they keep them on “Crush Cages”. Look it up…
China will do anything to anyone at anytime without so much as a guilt pang. They then falsely label their wares with tags that say “Genuine Cowhide” and it is bought by every country, even designer houses like Ralph Lauren and UGG boots and sold as Genuine Cowhide.
Some of you have already dismissed me, as soon as you heard the word PETA. PETA gets the job done with their undercover videos. If you don’t like it, it’s because you’d rather pretend theres not a problem.
For your information, I’m not a vegetarian. I eat meat because I believe we are all programmed to eat meat. But with a world full of billions of people, MEN end up abusing animals on factory farms. I instead pay out the arse for humanely certified meat, and I eat way less than I used to before I too was enlightened. And I don’t buy ANY other animal products such as leather, boar bristles, down or Cashmere.
Feel free to do searches and look up anything I’ve said. it’s all true. Eat meat if you must, but pay extra so that animals don’t suffer. Unless you’re from China, of course.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2015, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-get-boar-bristles/266325/4 "2015-08-16T20:50:56Z")
As far as I’m concerned, PETA is a discredited source for information. If they posted a video telling me cows have four legs, I wouldn’t believe it until I’d checked an actual cow.
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### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2015, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-get-boar-bristles/266325/5 "2015-08-16T20:53:40Z")
> [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](#):
>
> > [@](#):
> >
> > …China has the World Monopoly in Boar Bristles
That means they’re radioactive, or loaded with cadmium, or both.
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2015, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-get-boar-bristles/266325/6 "2015-08-16T20:55:55Z")
> [@cindymecindy](#):
>
> Feel free to do searches and look up anything I’ve said.
Should you ever return feel free to do the searches yourself and link to your sources.
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### Author:  [@motu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/motu)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2015, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-get-boar-bristles/266325/7 "2015-08-16T21:04:26Z")
All shaving bristles come from China, I have seen people talk about Euro sourced bristles but no proof. Like most of China’s industries, they are unregulated with little to no standards. Badgers, boars, hogs, horses, raccoon dogs, dogs and who knows what else are harvested for brushes. Harvesting, (there is no shaving), is not done humanely, but time is money.
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### Author:  [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2015, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-get-boar-bristles/266325/8 "2015-08-16T21:19:49Z")
> [@cindymecindy](#):
>
> Don’t ever kid yourself that anything involving MEN could ever be done with compassion and kid gloves. They don’t care and they take out their aggression on animals. .
Oh, of course. All MEN are sadistic monsters. Thanks for the information. :dubious:
–Mark
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### Author:  [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2015, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-get-boar-bristles/266325/9 "2015-08-16T21:27:44Z")
Speaking from experience, I cannot imagine not killing a duck before plucking it. Hard enough to pluck those suckers when they’re dead. Down is a byproduct of the butchering process.
The idea of bristle farming is charmingly idyllic. Of course these boars are gently trimmed by WOMEN, wearing pink gloves.
So long, I have to go tend to my dental floss ranch now.
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### Author:  [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2015, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-get-boar-bristles/266325/10 "2015-08-16T21:45:00Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#):
>
> So long, I have to go tend to my dental floss ranch now.
Make sure you’ve got your zircon-encrusted tweezers with you…
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### Author:  [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2015, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-get-boar-bristles/266325/11 "2015-08-16T22:05:45Z")
Thanks for stopping by. I’ve wondered about pig bristles for the past eleven years.
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### Author:  [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2015, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-get-boar-bristles/266325/12 "2015-08-17T03:34:16Z")
Cindy,
I’m a man. Are you aware of any cruelty enhanced meat I can purchase?
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2015, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-get-boar-bristles/266325/13 "2015-08-17T03:48:12Z")
> [@DinoR](#):
>
> Cindy,
> I’m a man. Are you aware of any cruelty enhanced meat I can purchase?
I’ve been looking for foie gras made from geese that have been force fed meat from clubbed seals and baby whales caught in fishing nets.
---
### Author:  [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2015, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-get-boar-bristles/266325/14 "2015-08-17T04:22:55Z")
> [@markn\_1](#):
>
> Oh, of course. All MEN are sadistic monsters. Thanks for the information. :dubious:
Nonsense—the overwhelming majority of us are kiddy diddlers. Get your facts straight. We’re fighting ig’nance here.
---
### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [August 17, 2015, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-get-boar-bristles/266325/15 "2015-08-17T06:00:06Z")
If a boar’s bristles were to be harvested in a manner consistent with sheep shearing, would they grow back? Even so, would it even be fiscally sound to keep feeding a boar to obtain periodic harvests of bristles? How fast do boar bristles grow? And how much do they cost on the open market?
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### Author:  [@kksunil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kksunil)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2017, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-get-boar-bristles/266325/16 "2017-10-09T14:12:28Z")
Thanks Cindy for the clarification and truth. Compassion and empathy has no place in commercialization. If at all, it is again for commercial interest to tap the white spaces. Greed & Taste knows no compassion and how ironic is the word ‘humane…’
> [@cindymecindy](#):
>
> I need to give an educated answer to dispel the inaccuracies already written here. Boar bristles are obtained two ways: In Asia, you get twice as much money for holding a hog down and ripping out his hair in clumps while he screams. The hair is longer this way, and its barbaric. Otherwise, boars are raised to have their hair sheared off, but it’s not done with love and roses like one poster replied. They are held down and sheared with sharp shears that, when done too fast and too brutally, will literally shave off their ears and faces. I have seen undercover PETA video of big brutes laughing and shearing off the faces of lambs and boars. Their faces come off in one piece, including the eyes, and the poor animal slowly dies of shock and blood loss. Don’t ever kid yourself that anything involving MEN could ever be done with compassion and kid gloves. They don’t care and they take out their aggression on animals. Plus, just like at YOUR job, their managers are screaming at them to GO FASTER!!! So animals are certainly hurt.
>
> Ducks have all their feathers ripped out in bloody clumps to create down pillows, and the ones not lucky enough to die of shock and blood loss, will live again to have it done another day. Rabbits are stretched and tied by their legs and again, their Cashmere fur is ripped out in clumps.
>
> Leather purses, wallets, shoes and belts? Genuine cowhide? Nope. China is the world’s supplier of “Genuine cowhide” except they don’t have a cattle industry. They skin 6 million dogs and cats a year. Alive. They also drop dogs into huge massive boiling tanks like lobsters and boil them alive. prior to this they keep them on “Crush Cages”. Look it up…
>
> China will do anything to anyone at anytime without so much as a guilt pang. They then falsely label their wares with tags that say “Genuine Cowhide” and it is bought by every country, even designer houses like Ralph Lauren and UGG boots and sold as Genuine Cowhide.
>
> Some of you have already dismissed me, as soon as you heard the word PETA. PETA gets the job done with their undercover videos. If you don’t like it, it’s because you’d rather pretend theres not a problem.
>
> For your information, I’m not a vegetarian. I eat meat because I believe we are all programmed to eat meat. But with a world full of billions of people, MEN end up abusing animals on factory farms. I instead pay out the arse for humanely certified meat, and I eat way less than I used to before I too was enlightened. And I don’t buy ANY other animal products such as leather, boar bristles, down or Cashmere.
>
> Feel free to do searches and look up anything I’ve said. it’s all true. Eat meat if you must, but pay extra so that animals don’t suffer. Unless you’re from China, of course.
---
### Author:  [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2017, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-get-boar-bristles/266325/17 "2017-10-09T14:41:24Z")
> [@kksunil](#):
>
> If at all, it is again for commercial interest to tap the white spaces.
I have this on a bumper sticker.
---
### Author:  [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2017, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-get-boar-bristles/266325/18 "2017-10-09T15:18:20Z")
Not the same, but I was interested to find out that fur felt hats are made with rabbit pelts. It’s possible you could make them without skinning the rabbit first, but that’s not how it is (or was historically) done. Keeping the skin on when they run it through the shaving machine is how they get just the right fur – not the hard bristly long fur and not the short down fur, but only the fur in the middle, which is best for felting.
I’m pretty sure it’s the same with beaver hats, too, but I didn’t see that video.
---
### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2017, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-get-boar-bristles/266325/19 "2017-10-09T15:25:20Z")
Not that there will be any response, but…
> [@](#):
>
> Quoth **cindymecindy** :
>
> Don’t ever kid yourself that anything involving MEN could ever be done with compassion and kid gloves.
You do know where kid gloves come from, don’t you?
---
### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2017, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-they-get-boar-bristles/266325/20 "2017-10-09T15:35:16Z")
> [@cindymecindy](#):
>
> Rabbits are stretched and tied by their legs and again, their Cashmere fur is ripped out in clumps.
Cashmere doesn’t come from rabbits.
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