Longest a blade held for me was 30 shaves. A Personna Med Prep. Also I’ve pushed Astra SS and Gillette yellows to about 20 shaves.
What DE Blades Have the Best Edge Retention?
- Thread starter CMP
- Start date
We'll agree to disagree . Based on the confirmation biased circle jerk of Polsilver users on the forum one would conclude it has some kind of magical properties. I don't believe it does. Without knowing a great deal about each Excalibur user a simple count of blades being name checked isn't a "data set" worth much to me, it being particularly apparent some users continue shaving with edges I wouldn't want to, don't shave ATG, etc. But knock yourself out wading through it.
I prefer the short term use objective tests at refined shave dot com which if not perfect at least are carefully constructed and unbiased..
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Some of my statement was in jest, however, many in the Excalibur Club like Williams because it's slick.
It's the only lathering product I use.
And cheap. We're talking about the Excalibur Club here [emoji2].
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You really have to figure out which blade works best for you: with your beard, with your face, with your razors.
Some guys can get away with a 1 or 2 pass shave, others need 4 passes. Some shave daily, others every few days. Some have facial hair that is fine and sparse; others have a beard like steel wool. Some have skin like a baby; others have skin like leather. Some shave with highly aggressive razors, others shave with mild ones. Thus, you cannot rely on the opinions of others to determine how many shaves you should be getting from a blade. Put a blade in your razor and use it until it no longer provides a good shave. Either it will start to feel too dull or it will start to feel too harsh. Your face will tell you when it is time to replace the blade. Once you find out which blades work for you (if you have multiple razors, you might need different blades in different razors), purchase them in bulk.
Some guys can get away with a 1 or 2 pass shave, others need 4 passes. Some shave daily, others every few days. Some have facial hair that is fine and sparse; others have a beard like steel wool. Some have skin like a baby; others have skin like leather. Some shave with highly aggressive razors, others shave with mild ones. Thus, you cannot rely on the opinions of others to determine how many shaves you should be getting from a blade. Put a blade in your razor and use it until it no longer provides a good shave. Either it will start to feel too dull or it will start to feel too harsh. Your face will tell you when it is time to replace the blade. Once you find out which blades work for you (if you have multiple razors, you might need different blades in different razors), purchase them in bulk.
The closest scientific answer to this I have found is on this thread. It covers all major blades on the market for sharpness and edge retention.
Razor Blade Sharpness Summary with Comparison Chart
This post is to serve as a quick reference as a Razor Blade Sharpness Summary which includes a Razor Blade Sharpness Comparison Chart. To see more in depth how the testing works, check out Razor Bl…www.refinedshave.com
The methodology used for this testing is rock solid, meaning the results are objective data, not opinion.
Feather is the sharpest blade but has poor edge retention - drastic fall off after first use. Nacet is slightly less sharp than Feather in the first shave but has excellent edge retention and beats Feather from shave two onwards.
The Med Prep was also the best for longevity from all the blades I've tried.
Personna labs, Personna med preps, GSB and Nacets often provide 7-10 comfortable shaves for me!! 
I was going to disagree with this, but since I became a DIGITAL MINIMALIST, I decided not to except to say we aren't shaving rocks.
AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
Most current blades give me 10-14 shaves
A Wilkinson Sword Classic gave me 19
An Astra SP gave me 26
A Gillette SharpEdge gave me 32
A Feather gave me 34
For the most part, I've stopped counting now except for the English Wilkinson Sword blade that's on the go right now. I expect a good shave count from that.
A Wilkinson Sword Classic gave me 19
An Astra SP gave me 26
A Gillette SharpEdge gave me 32
A Feather gave me 34
For the most part, I've stopped counting now except for the English Wilkinson Sword blade that's on the go right now. I expect a good shave count from that.
Sharpest blade after two full head and beard shaves in his tests are the BIC Chrome Platinum. These are my most used blades but I've never pushed them past 3 or 4 beard and head shaves in my recollection.
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jmudrick is going to love this, but for me the Polsilver lasts at least 3 or 4 shaves longer than any other DE blade I have tried.
And yes, I do think there is some sort of magic in the Polsilver blade. ;-)
And yes, I do think there is some sort of magic in the Polsilver blade. ;-)
I don't accept this methodology as valid. Whiskers aren't threads. The first two shaves on a blade are a tiny percentage of the shaves I get. Matching the razor, blade, lathering product, and beard is important.
Reductionist studies such as this one seldom give any useful information. I would include this study as one of those.
In fact, it's not even a study.
A study would find an association between the results and shaving experience in a double-blind clinical trial.
Sorry, but I'll just keep using my Astra SP's. Everyone else can use what they like. We will anyway.
Yeah I believe in magic in a young girl's heart (that dates me)...but not in P&G razor blades. Three decent but unexceptional beard and head shaves just like most of my other blades that don't get pushed by cult followers who don't realize they can get the identical blade in a different wrapper for a lot less money.
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The difference between my good blades and my best blade is 1 shave. Good I toss after 2, my best after 3.
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I think blade opinions are very subjective. Everyone has their favorite daily blade and that blade won’t necessarily work for you.
That being said, your original question asked about retaining sharpness. I originally used Feather blades as my go to with the Astra second. However, I have since had 4 shaves on a BIC platinum chrome and I swear that each shave has been better than the last. It makes no sense to me, but the blades are definitely smoother from shave to shave, but I think they are as sharp now as the first shave.
That is my opinion, and I’m certain others will think differently.
Very difficult to tell a true ymmv thing.
What I noticed in it depends on your beard, your prep, your razor, your soap, your technique. How you care and clean a blade.
What is worse is that though I tend to squeeze 5-10 days out of a de blade sometimes the same blade is rubbish after only 3-5 and sometimes they keep on going.
Now using half a kai de in my broman for a week and it is not tired at allllll.
And I tend leave my razor in a wet steam room so it is not tlc. Maybe the slick menthol stirling pre shave soap helps
Flipping a blade extends life, drying and oiling it too. Tried most of them when I used feathers in my oneblade.
Do not worry too much about it though
The longer that blade stays in your razor the bigger the chance of hidden germs. Changing a blade and cleaning the razor out is healthy.
But gillette sb, platinum, nacet, Wilkinson, bic chrome, derby premium rarely disappoint
What I noticed in it depends on your beard, your prep, your razor, your soap, your technique. How you care and clean a blade.
What is worse is that though I tend to squeeze 5-10 days out of a de blade sometimes the same blade is rubbish after only 3-5 and sometimes they keep on going.
Now using half a kai de in my broman for a week and it is not tired at allllll.
And I tend leave my razor in a wet steam room so it is not tlc. Maybe the slick menthol stirling pre shave soap helps
Flipping a blade extends life, drying and oiling it too. Tried most of them when I used feathers in my oneblade.
Do not worry too much about it though
The longer that blade stays in your razor the bigger the chance of hidden germs. Changing a blade and cleaning the razor out is healthy.
But gillette sb, platinum, nacet, Wilkinson, bic chrome, derby premium rarely disappoint
It's interesting to read others blade use. I keep it simple, for the price per blade it is one and done for most of my daily blades. I will use the feather twice because I think the second shave is better than the first..
They are likely sharper as indicated by the objective testing.
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Sadly, I finally had to bin a Personna 74 blade after 40 shaves. It didn't start tugging but wasn't as sharp as before.
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