Wilkinson Sword (Solingen Germany)

[Pip605]

I had heard very good things about this blade and a few good reviews so I bought a tuck of 10. Loaded one into a Muhle R89 Twist this afternoon. First pass felt a bit scrappy and already had a nic (I don't recall cutting myself with this razor much at all even with Feather, Permasharp or Nacet!) by the end of the second pass (normal 2 days growth BTW) I was highly irritated and by the end of the third pass it was a total blood bath on my neck and at least two decent nics on my face! To add insult to injury it was also not a good finish... Lots of areas needed touching up! Took it straight out of the razor and binned it! .
To be fair to the blades and to see if its just a dud blade I'll try again at some point after giving my skin a rest for a few days.

 

[gsbfan]

Haven't tried german WS yet, laying in my drawer and waiting for its turn. It is well regarded blade, teflon coated so it should be smooth.
Maybe you should give it a try in another razor. Some blades work better in certain razors. GSB in FaTip Gentile is my go to daily combination, just a right amount of smoothness and sharpness. In R89, it is like shaving with broken bottle.

 

[Billski]

Haven’t used one to this day.

 

[MisfitWy23]

I've used them in the past and never had a problem with them. However if I had had the experience you did, and you have other blades that work for you and others yet to try, I think I would wait more than a few days before trying them again, more like a few months or years when maybe your technique will have changed.

I think it's unlikely you would have happened to get a dud on your very first use, and that if you did I would suspect all the blades in the tuck are duds. I've shaved with double edged blades for decades and I don't believe I've ever encountered a dud.

 

[Cracker]

The Solingen made Wilkinson Sword blades were the reason why men in 1970s Germany changed lightning fast to the G2 (Track2) cartridges .

 

[SharpieB]

I‘m not a fan of German WS blades at all. I find them rough.

I really like the Indian Gillette Wilkinson Swords though. Nice blades and cheap.

 

[emwolf]

I really like my German Wilkies. They are one of my longest lasting blades as I usually get a dozen comfortable shaves for face and head per blade. It's been a couple years since a bought some, however, have they changed production lines or anything?

 

[albsat]

This post is a testimony that every face is different. I think the German WS blades are sharp and last a lot. I easily get 2 weeks of shave.

 

[Burundian Hawk]

I have used them in DE89 too... Sharp blades, maybe this attribute is appreciated by people who seek maximum use of blades, but otherwise unremarkable for me.

I think each blade behaves differently because of the honing that each factory does. The honing influences the optimal cutting angle. Each razor bends the blade to different degree. This, combined with the different honing, makes a blade feel better or worse in different razors. The mitigating method is to change the usual cutting angle while you shave. Unfortunaly, most if not all of us, with time, develop a natural cutting angle that becomes second nature and changing angles becomes unintuitive. This, i believe is one of the mail factors that makes a blade work bad or not for different people and different razors.

 

[Wogus]

I had my first shave with a Wilkinson Sword blade yesterday. Are these the German made blades?
......

 

[cyberdog]

Those are the German Wilkies, I bought a pack of 100 (20 cards of 5) back in 2019. Good in some razors, and just prone to giving a nick here and there in others. In my Timeless, or REX (at 3+) I get mystery weepers and small nicks, that you don't always now occurred until the red appears. In my Rockwell 6S, MingShi 2000, or Rex at 2.5 (or below), no issue. I find them a little 'Edgy', sort of like a Feather for the first few shaves.

Once you get past the first couple of shaves, or load into the right razor, they do last quite long, and seem to be a very sharp blade, maybe too sharp, which is the issue in some razors? As I mentioned, they're like loading up a Feather for 2-3 shaves, before they smooth out.

 

[Pip605]

T

Those are the German Wilkies, I bought a pack of 100 (20 cards of 5) back in 2019. Good in some razors, and just prone to giving a nick here and there in others. In my Timeless, or REX (at 3+) I get mystery weepers and small nicks, that you don't always now occurred until the red appears. In my Rockwell 6S, MingShi 2000, or Rex at 2.5 (or below), no issue. I find them a little 'Edgy', sort of like a Feather for the first few shaves.

Once you get past the first couple of shaves, or load into the right razor, they do last quite long, and seem to be a very sharp blade, maybe too sharp, which is the issue in some razors? As I mentioned, they're like loading up a Feather for 2-3 shaves, before they smooth out.

In testing they're not as sharp as a feather, more like Gillette 7'OClock Sharp (Yellow). I have no issue with sharp blades, for my whiskers sharper is batter! If anytbing these seemed dull and skritchy... Didnnot cut well and as a result caused much irritation. I will deffo give them another go as I want to like them!

 

[Wogus]

Those are the German Wilkies, I bought a pack of 100 (20 cards of 5) back in 2019. Good in some razors, and just prone to giving a nick here and there in others. In my Timeless, or REX (at 3+) I get mystery weepers and small nicks, that you don't always now occurred until the red appears. In my Rockwell 6S, MingShi 2000, or Rex at 2.5 (or below), no issue. I find them a little 'Edgy', sort of like a Feather for the first few shaves.

Once you get past the first couple of shaves, or load into the right razor, they do last quite long, and seem to be a very sharp blade, maybe too sharp, which is the issue in some razors? As I mentioned, they're like loading up a Feather for 2-3 shaves, before they smooth out.

Thank you for confirming.

I used one of those for the first time in my 6S just yesterday. I used the R4 for the first pass, and the R3 for passes two and three, which is my typical routine. That first shave was excellent, so that's nice.

According to the data on Refined Shave, these blades sharpen up quite a bit after a couple shaves and, again, based on the Refined Edge data, will be the sharpest blade I have on hand at that point. I'll be curious to see if these pan out for me or not.

 

[Pip605]

Haven't tried german WS yet, laying in my drawer and waiting for its turn. It is well regarded blade, teflon coated so it should be smooth.
Maybe you should give it a try in another razor. Some blades work better in certain razors. GSB in FaTip Gentile is my go to daily combination, just a right amount of smoothness and sharpness. In R89, it is like shaving with broken bottle.

I only have an R89 safety razor and a couple of cut throats. I appreciate the idea of blades behaving differently but not going to buy another one. I'll just keep changing blades, much cheaper.

 

[ivan_101]

I had heard very good things about this blade and a few good reviews so I bought a tuck of 10. Loaded one into a Muhle R89 Twist this afternoon. First pass felt a bit scrappy and already had a nic (I don't recall cutting myself with this razor much at all even with Feather, Permasharp or Nacet!) by the end of the second pass (normal 2 days growth BTW) I was highly irritated and by the end of the third pass it was a total blood bath on my neck and at least two decent nics on my face! To add insult to injury it was also not a good finish... Lots of areas needed touching up! Took it straight out of the razor and binned it! .
To be fair to the blades and to see if its just a dud blade I'll try again at some point after giving my skin a rest for a few days.

The German Wilkinsons will never work in an R89 if you have tough whiskers. They just need very aggressive razors, and then they are very nice.

 

[gdawg55]

I like the German Wilkies. They work well in the razors I use. I find them smooth and long lasting.

 

[StratMan]

I love these blades, plenty sharp and smooth and they also last longer than any other blade ive tried.. ymmv

 

[Pip605]

The German Wilkinsons will never work in an R89 if you have tough whiskers. They just need very aggressive razors, and then they are very nice.

I'll give it a go in my a Kamisori then, see how it fares.

 

[Lefonque]

Not tried them but interested in how others have experienced them.