Thread: Blades

It was Obie who I got my DE from, a lovely Mühle R 89. Obie did me the great favour of not only offering really good advice and tips, but also including a sample set of blades. Two of those included were excellent for me, with this razor, they are Astras and the Gillette 7 O'Clock "SharpEdge" in the yellow packs he mentions. I didn't feel the Derby blades matched those two for smoothness. I value smoothness over crazy/silly sharpness...

Dorcos are a very mild blade, so if they work without tugging, most blades on the market will probably be fine. Since you like a mild blade, you might try Shark or LORD blades, or, perhaps "Crystal" blades from Personna. What youv'e selected should be a good start, though. The Gillettes are both fairly sharp blades, btw, so you'll get an idea if you like sharper blades or not from them.

Picked up some cheap Swords at Wallymart tonight to hold me over till my order arrives. Crazy how those were one of the most expensive ones I ordered but so cheap at the store. Walmart economics in action.

I also grabbed an Alum "deodorant crystal". Ingredients are only Alum & aloe for $3.

The dorcos seem ok, but once I use one on my head it's effectiveness is greatly diminished and razor burn begins to pop up on my throat.

I see talk of 4 numbered sides on some razors...that has me confused. How does a two edge blade have 4 sides. Does flipping them over help?

Originally Posted by Nonstickron

Picked up some cheap Swords at Wallymart tonight to hold me over till my order arrives. Crazy how those were one of the most expensive ones I ordered but so cheap at the store. Walmart economics in action.

I also grabbed an Alum "deodorant crystal". Ingredients are only Alum & aloe for $3.

The dorcos seem ok, but once I use one on my head it's effectiveness is greatly diminished and razor burn begins to pop up on my throat.

I see talk of 4 numbered sides on some razors...that has me confused. How does a two edge blade have 4 sides. Does flipping them over help?

I'm using the Dorco at the moment while they are not very sharp they do not tug, and leave my skin with a nice smooth feel. As for blades having 4 sides try thinking of it this way; When shaving WTG your using side 1&2, and when you switch to ATG your using 3&4. I think that what your question's answer is.

No, I was curious if the numbers indicate that the blade she be flipped over in the SR.

So far I seem to be getting much smoother 3 pass shaves with the Swords vs the Dorco.

I believe the numbers on the sides of the blades are related to quality control in the manufacturing process, and not meant to indicate anything to do with the actual shaving process. I'm possibly a consumerist, capitalist pig, but i use my blades only twice. I picked up a 'trick' here whereby I dry the blade, wrap it back in its papers, and put it upside down in its box with the others. That way, next time I use the blade (which is normally next weekend, I use a DE generally just on Saturdays) I know to throw it away after the second use.

I alternate between the two edges when using the razor, i.e. shave, rinse, flip, shave, rinse, flip, etc.

TL;DR

My favorites in no particular order are these:

Personna Lab Preps
Supermax Super Platinums
Supermax Titaniums
Personna Red Israeli made

I prefer my DE blades to lean towards the comfort side of the scale between edge sharpness and comfort. These three brands are also not crazy expensive like Personna Medical Preps or Gillette 7 O'clock Blacks (both of which I also like a lot but as mentioned are too pricey for my needs).

Got my order today. They had thrown in a 5 pack of Gillette Silver Blue and a five pack of Super Max Super Platinum.

It'll take me a few weeks to try them all out. Wish i could shave more than once a day, lol! I guess I should journal my experience with them or I won't remember the nuances of each one. I need to figure out a format. Hmm. Maybe I'll use the SRP blog.

I used an excel sheet and recorded the sharpness, smoothness, amount of shaves from a blade, and any general notes. I also included which DE I was using the blade in because your opinion on a particular blade may change based on what razor you have it loaded in.

I get really good results with the Feather blades, but as mentioned, the Wilkinson Sword blades are pretty good for the price as well.