When Passion Leads to Mastery: An Interview with Master Brushmaker Paul Trotter

Visit Trotter Handicrafts

Wet shaving is more than a set of tools; it’s a culture, a community, and a form of self-expression. Many of us feel compelled to contribute to it, yet doing great work demands more than passion—it requires sustained commitment, time, intellect, artistry, and skill. Paul Trotter embodies that standard. A digital designer by day and an amateur luthier by avocation, he fused his love of wet shaving with his woodworking background to become one of the most recognized and respected brushmakers in the wet-shaving community. His distinctive designs and colorways are widely sought after and have become staples for practitioners and collectors alike. I recently caught up with Paul to hear more about his journey—here’s Paul. You’ve described yourself as largely self-taught. In a Latherhog interview, you mentioned a Jet mini-lathe your father gifted you that sat in the garage for a year before you began tinkering. How did your relationship with the lathe evolve—what did you learn about how it works, and what breakthroughs changed your technique over time? Without revealing trade secrets, what hard-won lessons or “unlocked” insights would you feel comfortable sharing?

My Father taught me how to use a lathe and tools at a fairly young age. He was a high school shop teacher and has always been a highly skilled Fine Woodworker. I remember making some small bowls on his lathe but never fully got into the hobby at a young age. Fast forward to Christmas of 2018, my Father surprised me with a small Jet mini lathe as a Christmas gift. I remember thinking, man that was generous but what am I going to do with this thing? It sat unused in my garage for about a year before I had the idea to bridge my wetshaving hobby with making brushes on the lathe.

My first handles were all hardwoods that I could source from my local wood dealer. Mostly Maple, Oak, Rosewood and Walnut. They were not great, but I started making them every day and I slowly got better. I was hanging out on a couple of the wetshaving forums and posting my SOTD photos with my wood brushes. Some people on the forums started asking if I would make them brushes, and things took off from there.

I think one of the initial challenges I had with the wood handles was how to finish them and make them as waterproof/resistant as possible. Afterall, it’s a wood product that constantly gets exposed to water and soap. I remember doing a lot of research on the topic and trying various wood sealing products. It took me a while, but I feel I have a solid product and technique for it now.

The next challenge in the brush making journey was how to properly pour and finish out resin. Resin is clearly a different beast compared to making wood handles. There are a lot of variables and steps in the process. Getting cool pours and a glassy finish was certainly something I had to work hard for. Again, it took time and a lot of trial and error, but it was fun to learn the process and a good challenge for me.

For the most part I keep my detailed finishing techniques info to myself, but I will say there are a lot of little steps and considerations for pouring resin, sanding and polishing that all make a big difference on the final product. I also use the highest quality products and tools I can. Oh, and a big dust collector that sounds like a jet engine. You gotta have one of those.

Your handle designs have clearly matured over time. What were the key milestones that shaped that evolution—user feedback, your own use, deeper understanding of materials, refinements in technique, or changes in cost structures?

Yes, they certainly have matured and evolved. My skills/understanding with the cutting tools and finishing improved over the years and this has led to more detailed handle shape designs. Of course, along the way I listened to user feedback and that helped too. I’m not sure if there were any specific milestones, but rather small subtle changes and improvements to my work process and designs over the years.

From a maker who also shaves: what defines a well-designed handle? How do you think about ergonomics, weight and balance, wet grip, finish, and set depth/loft relative to knot performance?

All those things you mention figure into the equation. There is a lot of personal preference in this hobby surrounding our gear and brushes are certainly no exception. I personally feel that a slightly larger brush is more comfortable to use. And I will say, it’s not exactly easy designing a handle shape that visually looks cool, feels super comfortable/grippy in the hand and a design you can call your own! Knot loft is something that is not only specific to the knot, but also to how the brush performs. I have tested my knots at different lofts and taken in a lot of Customer feedback on the subject.

You currently offer nine core silhouettes. Where do you draw inspiration for those forms? Do certain shapes lend themselves to different use-cases (face vs. bowl lathering, hand sizes, grip styles), or is the choice primarily aesthetic?

Good question. With the Portal shape, inspiration came from my interest in Astronomy, UFO’s, Space Exploration, Interdimensional theory … and probably the movie Donnie Darko.

With the Kanon shape, I wanted to make something big, bold and polarizing. Perhaps something you could break a bathroom window and escape with if your house was on fire while you were shaving.

Portal

The Classic and Origins shapes are designs that progressively evolved from my original resin turnings.

Classic

Origins

The Venus shape draws inspiration from the vintage Kent V7 handle but is bigger and has a few of my own twists on it.

Venus

The lower section of the Archer shape was loosely inspired by the vintage Ever Ready 100T handle, but I added my Classic shape top ferrule.

Archer

The newest handle I offer is the Barber shape. It’s a longer, skinnier handle. Excellent for bowl lathering and a nod to the old brushes used in Barbershops.

Barber

Which design is your best seller, and why do you think it resonates? Do you have a personal favorite—what makes it special to you?

The Origins shape has been the best seller in 2025. It’s very comfortable in the hand and looks cool with nearly any pour I offer. For a personal favorite, I have always loved the original Kanon design with a T1 Knot.

Kanon

Early in my journey I gravitated to multi-color pours, but your solid colors showed me how striking a single hue can be—I now own three. What did you learn about color over time, and how do you achieve the depth and variation in your solid-core pours?

I feel there is a lot of simplistic beauty in a solid color pour. To me, they display a bit classier and more elegant. That said, many Customers want wild swirling multi-colored pours. I see a place for both styles and variety is a good thing. My solid color depth is achieved largely on the unique and high-quality pigments I use in the resin and high polish finish.

For your multi-color pours, where do ideas originate? How do you manage contrast, translucency, and flow to avoid muddiness and keep results repeatable?

The multi-color pours ideas often happen rather spontaneously and without much formal planning. I will often look at all the pigments and dyes side-by-side and try to envision how they will contrast/complement each other. That will then often lead to a theme or inspiration in my mind. Sometimes they just don’t work out, but a lot of times they do and become part of my permanent colorway rotation. I keep notes on the colorway mix recipes so I can reproduce them as needed. However, each multi color resin pour is unique in the exothermic reaction, so you will never see 2 exactly alike.

In addition to the roughly 65 colorways on your site (about 22 multicolor and 43 solid), you also release ad-hoc designs like Royal Emerald Crush, Sno Rhino, Curly Maple + the Pines, and Nocturnal Sky. How do these concepts come together—bespoke commissions, spontaneous studio explorations, or both? Can customers request a reproduction of a past one-off?

They come together by trying something new that I haven’t attempted. I like to try to push myself out of my comfort zone. That seems to help develop my skills more than anything. As you mentioned, there are a lot of permanent colorways offerings. Many of these are pours I’ve been doing for years (Oscuro, Space, Fawn, Gothic, Sea Foam Storm, Patina, etc).

I get asked the question a lot about “customs”. I did offer customs when I first started out, but I quickly learned this wasn’t an efficient way for me to work. I don’t currently offer them, but I do have a very extensive list of build options on the “Order” page of my website. My waitlist is an easy process. Basically, a customer just needs to shoot me a message and let me know what Color, Shape, Knot and Coin they want (from my typical catalog of work). I don’t take any money upfront and can usually have the brush finished and ready to ship in a couple weeks.

Your ready-made brushes seem to appear on the site as inventory allows. Do you follow a regular drop schedule, or do you prefer releasing work when it’s ready? How should customers watch for new drops—newsletter, Instagram, or a waitlist?

There is not a formal drop schedule. If I do a larger drop of brushes, I will announce it well ahead of time on Instagram and Facebook. But often I will randomly add brushes to my website as I finish them. So check my Website/Instagram/Facebook pages often! Folks are also welcome to get on my waitlist when it is open. Info for that is on the “Order” page of me website. I also send brushes to my retailer The Shave Supply on a regular basis. They have a retail storefront location in Thousand Oaks California in addition to their website TheShaveSupply.com

Your site notes the Trotter T1 Manchurian Badger as your best-selling knot. What can you share about its sourcing and specifications (density, loft targets, glue bump, backbone, tip feel), and what quality-control steps matter most to you?

I started the search for my Badger knot back in 2021. I remember trying as many high-quality knots and suppliers as I could and even letting friends in the hobby test them as well so I could get some solid feedback beyond what just my opinion. I kept coming back to one knot that I felt had the perfect balance of attributes and ultimately decided to go with what I coined the “Trotter T1”.  It is my best-selling knot and has remained a Customer favorite year after year. I order them in batches and am currently on batch #14 (as of Sept. 2025). I have them handmade/handtied made to my exact specifications for shape, size, density, treatment, etc. Consistency matters to me and one thing I appreciate about the T1 is it has been fairly consistent throughout the 14 batches I’ve received over the years. That said, some batch variation on hair is normal and can be expected to some degree. I remember one batch early on that had overly gelled tips, but we course corrected and haven’t had an issue since. With the T1, Customers can expect a very soft 2-band badger knot, good backbone, doesn’t hog lather and just performs great day to day.

What does your personal shave routine look like? Which razors do you reach for most, and what do you value in a soap and aftershave? How does that day-to-day experience inform your handle and color decisions?

I’ve been a wetshaver since 2013 and my personal routine is: Shower, 10 minute warm water soak for the badger knot, a great artisan soap like Ariana & Evans or Barrister & Mann and a machined stainless or titanium DE razor.

Razors I reach for the most are: Atelier Durdan, Timeless, Greencult, Charcoal Goods, and Blutt.

I feel a great product design is something that excites the owner to keep reaching for it. I try to apply that simple philosophy to the brushes I make.

You’ve said brushmaking is a part-time passion and that your full-time role keeps you busy. What is your primary profession, and are there skills from that work—or from your experience as an amateur guitar luthier—that transfer directly into brushmaking?

For the last 22 years I have worked as a Contractor for a London-based Operator in the Energy sector. My role and area of expertise is CAD Administration/Design, Digital Twin and 3D Laser Scanning. It’s a very full-time gig, so for now Brush making is a side-business when I have the time. During the work week, I typically get an hour or 2 in the shop each evening. On the weekends I get more time and can really get some brushes made. At some point down the line, I may choose to go full-time with brushmaking.

What can we expect in the near term from Trotter Handicrafts—new materials, limited runs, collaborations, additional silhouettes, or refinements to existing designs? Any long term plans for the business?

I think you can expect to see more mixed material brushes (wood, metal, resin). I do them from time to time but need to make it a point to offer those on a regular basis.

I have a new shape design called “Hydria” that I have been trying to finalize. I’ve made a few for friends but need to lock down the final version. I also have a shape called “Imperial” that I’ve been messing around with for a couple of years. I would expect that one to be finalized in the near term as well.

Long term, I would like to start offering resin scale blanks for straight razor and knife makers. I just sent a blank out to a very well-known straight razor maker in Austria, so it will be awesome to see what he does with it. Do you have a message you would like to share with the Wet Shaving community? Well, first thank you to everyone who has supported me and taken an interest in my work. I sincerely appreciate it! Second, if you enjoy this hobby that we all share, try to get involved and be welcoming to new joiners. There are a lot of social media groups that are a great place to hang out and share your experiences. Also try to attend an in-person meet-up. I have been to a few and they were very memorable. I have been fortunate enough to make some amazing life-long friends though this hobby.

Paul Trotter

Visit Trotter Handicrafts