Lux DE

I was quite lucky to get a hand on one of those Lux razor, thanks to a guy at TSD
Before i tried it i read a lot of mixed comment on that razor , some said it was very aggressive, some said it was not enough.
The only way to know was to give it a try, what i done this morning.
The shave was great.
Yes it's an aggressive razor but when handle whit care it will reward you whit a smooth BBS shave.
I used it whit a new Feather and i had no problem.
For the price i give a 10 because i haven't paid for it.
The handle is very good , it won't slip in your hands for sure.
The balance is top notch also.
Ease of blade replacement, well it's a 3 piece razor.
I like the Lux more than the Portable, he's more aggressive but smoother on the shave and the handle is bigger.
The blade gap is quite big , a bit like a Progress at 3.5 so be careful and apply the no pressure method.
I highly recommend it.

I bought a Lux as well as 5 blades via Ebay from a seller in Poland, total cost including shipping was about $10US.

When I first saw the razor, I was pretty impressed; for $10 not a bad purchase! However, upon closer inspection, all was not what it appeared:

When I first put a razor in, I "bunged" it in place, and tightened it up. Oh oh.... the blade was showing more on one side than the other, and the blade was not parallel with the top piece sides. After fiddling around screwing and unscrewing with this for quite a time (this is why I gave 4 for "user friendly" as I have to do this every time I change blades), though I could get both sides approximately even, I realized the top cover piece was not perfectly rectangular -not by much mind you -but enough for my eye to pick up on it. As noted in previous reviews, the corners of the base plate are a little sharp, but if necessary these can be smoothed off.

Though it is a nice stainless steel and not cheap and nasty, perhaps the boys in the factory in 1960's Poland might have made the one I received the day after May Day celebrations......?

So I found I had to take a little more care in installing a blade, though the 3 piece design is well, what it is, which is fine. Perhaps my previous paragraph is a little harsh as for shaving, I found it more than adequate, and very similar to a '66 Gillette Super Speed flare tip I have. As I said, though the top cover isn't perfectly rectangular, I honestly couldn't tell. This razor is perfectly functional.

I found the balance a little too handle heavy; and the knurling on the handle was adequate and gave a very nice grip, but certainly not top quality and I think it's true to say it's reflective of the price I paid.

If you are looking for a quality razor, this is not it (and of course, for the price, you can't realistically expect it to be so either!). However, this razor is perfect for a travel, introductory or backup razor -the kind of razor that still has a nice metal quality to it -but also if you lost it, it wouldn't be a big loss either. There's also a certain amount of interest in knowing you have a piece of the old Cold War, and of course you don't see too many around in the USA!

This one's going in my downstairs bathroom.

Not that the LUX is bad...it just isn't good. This is going to be my travel razor until I can upgrade- after that, I think I will either PIF it or just retire it. Horrible razor to give to a newbie, however. Nearly impossible to cut yourself with it! The angle I have to use to get it to shave is odd; the razor is nearly perpendicular to my face.

Price: $11 shipped. Can't beat that.
Quality: 1960's Poland. It works, but that's about it. Kinda cool to have a razor made to be used after a nuclear war though.
User Friendly: Like I said, I couldn't nick myself if I tried.
Grip: Awesome grip. Best thing about this razor. Maybe I could find a new head and use the handle from the LUX.
Ease of blade replacement: 3 piece design- not hard to load a new blade, but a bit annoying.
Aggressiveness: Not at all, but gives me a lot of ingrowns. That's the main reason that it will be benched once I get a better travel razor. It'll take a week or two of using my HD to clear up those ingrowns.
Balance: Pretty bad. Even though it is Stainless Steel, it is kind of light, and all of the weight is in the bottom of the razor which I don't like.

Well I've now got one and I'm thrilled with it .

Once the slight sharp edges were taken off I had a shave with it and was pleasently surprised at how smooth the shave was { loaded with Astra blade} .

So impressed in fact I've ordered a second .

Well worth buying ,this will be one of my favourites for sure ...................................I have so many favourites at the moment

I received one of these a few hours ago. Very cheap and delivered quickly from Poland. Although it looks like a basic Gillette 3 piece, it is in fact very different. For a start off it is all stainless steel. ALL my other razors are brass, plated with either nickel or chrome. The handle is very solid and nicely machined. The head was very sharp edged so I set to work with a fine diamond sharpening board and rounded everything off smoothly, finishing it off on a power buffer. The guard piece looks very flimsy, but is in fact very tough, being steel, NOT plated brass. Again, some smoothing and polishing work has made it much more user friendly. The blade set in the head is not as precise as my Merkurs and one edge of the blade is not exactly straight. We are talking about minute variations here as I have a very well developed eye for lack of symmetry! In spite of what was said by an earlier contributor to the contrary, it is VERY aggressive. The gap between blade and guard is very large and maybe I have a particularly extreme example. It gives a great shave, providing you handle it with kid gloves. The thinly stamped guard, combined with the very solid handle, allow the razor to float over my face and makes a sounding board for the bristles being cut making a very satisfying noise. It shaves at least as close as my Futur on a 2 setting, or my Slant bar. It does require careful handling for the best results, but at £4.50 it represents an absolute bargain.
Cheers,
Martin
3 Gillettes, 4 Merkurs, Slant bar, Long handled open comb, Heavy duty, Futur

As has been noted in some threads, the edges of the stamping were a bit rough. They smoothed out nicely with some 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper and are quite smooth now. It is a fairly aggressive razor and the blade angle takes a little getting used to. However, once you get used to it, it is an excellent razor.

I've been shaving with the Lux for a month now and it's become my go-to razor. It has the right amount of aggressiveness for me when loaded with Red Pack Personna's. It's made of stainless steel so it'll last a lifetime. The handle is solid and has a nice grip even with wet hands.

It looks the part, it feels the part - until the moment I put it to my face and then it was so mild and non-aggressive that I had to double check I'd put a blade in!

I have used this razor for a couple of days now and I am very pleased with the quality of shave I get. The build quality is not top notch. There are a couple of rough edges here and there but the razor is NOS and doesn't need a lot of "restoration". THe price is right. It only costs 8 dollars (incl. 5 Derby Extra blades) and I think it is a great value. This razor is very forgiving. Compared to Weishi, LUX shows a bit more blade and is a little more aggressive. Anyway the aggressiveness of LUX is just about right and can be compared with the aggressiveness of Merkur 34c (HD).

The razor is not made in Russia as it was stated in one of the earlier reviews. It is manufactured in Poland in 1960-ties in city of Rawa Mazowiecka. If nothing else this piece is worth to have in my collection.

I bought one of these from classic_razors ebay shop, it cost £4-5 inc delivery from Poland. The razor is not Merkur quality & it is not agressive enough for me however I use it as a travel razor & for the price I am quite happy, it also offers a Tech type performance for wet shavers with OCD who don't fancy a used one.

I saw this advertised on ebay as "GILLETTE TECH. Exact replica: Razor LUX" with the low, low, low buy it now price of 6.75. Bought it on a whim. The handle looked nice. I figured that even if it was crappy, I could use the handle and re-purpose one of my old Gillette Tech travel razors into a more normal razor. The vendor picked up a 150 from Poland.



Received it tightly wrapped in newspaper. First observation is that the handle is very well made. (and yes, it nicely fits the head of an old Gillette head).
The writing on the bottom of the of the head has some Cyrillic writing that kind of points to a Russian, probably Soviet Union era heritage. So its not a EXACT replica of a Tech - more a Communist era interpretation of a Gillette Tech. I wonder if the advertising campaign was "Lux, the best the proletariat can get".



The Lux head on the other hand is a mixed bag. The first problem was figuring out how to get the head apart. Seems it was packed in grease that had long ago dried out. A short soak in some WD40 dissolved the old grease and allowed me to separate the two parts of the head.



The top part of the razor head is heavy, seems forged, is well made, and nicely polished. The safety bar part of the head is made of cheap pressed metal that has sharp edges and is not smoothed. Though it properly fits the top part, it doesn't do so smoothly. Its like someone decided to save a few bucks by making the wrong part cheaply.

How does it shave? Like a Tech. The sharp edges of the safety bar are annoying when you do XTG.

Would I recommend getting one? No. Unless you want the handle

Gillette Techs are still undervalued on auction sites and can be had for the same price of a Lux.