Aggressivity of the razors you are using

[engblom]

There is an entry on the wiki with blade gap as a measure of the aggressivity. However, this is not the whole truth. There are many other factors involving, and I decided to create a thread were everybody rank those razors they have been using according to skin aggressivity (not according to performance). This thread could help people finding milder/aggresiver razors according to the one they have at the moment. Of course some will have different opinion, but you should still be able to see the opinion of the majority. I might then put together a wiki entry from what the majority were thinking.

Milder higher up.

1. Merkur 15C
2. Gillette Tech (about the same mild on the skin as 15C, but in a final pass ATG, Tech removes a tiny amount more)
3. The improved Ri Mei Sodial (basically same as Tech)
4. Mühle R41
5. Mühle R89 / EJ DE89 (less performance than R41, but giving more skin irritation)

 

[karm]

I cannot comment on all five. However, I would rate the EJ DE89 as a medium/smooth shaver and the 1950's+ Gillette Tech a little milder. Keep in mind, earlier Gillette Tech's were slightly more aggressive (triangular holes).

 

[engblom]

You should not comment on the same either, unless you have experience with them. It would be a failure if everybody commented just on those five I have used. Then it would be a very short list. I hope I will be able to have a compiled list with as many razors as possible, and not just those I mentioned.

 

[tdmsu]

For me, my Merkur 33c is more mild than my Maggard m10, which I'm told is similar to an EJ89. So:

1. Merkur 33c
2. Maggard m10

I've also shaved with a Merkur 37c slant bar, but I think I gave up on it too fast and sold it. Seller's remorse!

 

[KQY61]

Hi,

Here is my ranking of the razors I have, milder first.

Gillette Blue Tip SS
Late Gillette Tech
Early Gillette Tech
Fine side of a Solingen Slant (greater number of scallops on the safety bar)
Fine side of a Fasan Double Slant
Gillette Super Speed
Gillette Red Tip SS
Coarse side of a generic Solingen Slant (fewer number of scallops on the safety bar)
Coarse side of a Fasan Double Slant (marked on the cap by a red dot)
Gillette NEW short open comb
Gillette NEW long open comb
Gillette Old Type open comb

For those who are unfamiliar with them, there were a lot of Slant type razors made in Solingen, Germany. Many of the heads were made in a common foundry, then sold by razor companies under their own brands. Some, however, were unmarked with a brand name, so they are referred to as Generic Solingen Slants.

They have a nifty feature where one side of the head is more aggressive than the other. Meaning the blade gap and exposure is greater on one side than the other. The idea is to shave with the coarser side first, then go back over the same area with the finer side. The safety bar is scalloped, making it a hybrid between the usual flat safety bar and an open comb. This leaves lather behind for the flip side to work with without having to relather.

The Fasan Double Slant was a product of Fasan, also in Solingen, and sports twice the slant twist of the usual Soligen Slants, and is also open comb. While looking quite different, it also sports the differential aggressiveness associated with the standard Slants made in Solingen.

So, these two slant razors occupy four slots in the list.

Stan

 

[karm]

Oh... I get it. Ok, from least to most:

Schick Krona
Late Gillette Tech
Early Gillette Tech
Parker 22R
Gillette SS
Merkur 38C
EJ DE 87
Gillette Red Tip SS
Nanje TTO

You are going to find wild swings in YMMV, here...

 

[engblom]

Thank you. Now we will have an interesting case as KQY61 put Gillette Old Type OC as the most aggressive. I hope someone with more information is able to tell if I am right, but does it not have the same head as Merkur 15C? I am asking as I had it as the most mild.

Hopefully we will get more lists with razors ranked so the majority opinion will solve this problem.

 

[engblom]

You are going to find wild swings in YMMV, here...

It is expected. Still it is possible with enough of participants to make a list that works for most people.

 

[Kev Kev]

My razors, from mild to wild...

• Gillette Tech
• Gillette New
• Merkur 38c
• Merkur 39c Slant
• FaTip Grande
• GEM SE
• Merkur Futur (set@6)
• Mühle R41 (2011)

 

[Icebear]

The blade gap is only one part of the equation. The way how the blade is fixed (plane or bend) in the razor head will determine the angle at which the edge is coming into contact with the whisker - and the skin. Therefore razors with the same blade gap width can have pretty different properties.

 

[Eeyore]

1) Gillette Knack (very mild)
2) Feather Popular (still very mild)
3) Mühle R89 (medium mild)
4) Gillette Rocket HD (medium agressive)

I never used something more agressive than a Rocket, nor do I need to.