Carbon Forest of Treets: A deep dive into carbon steel double-edge blades

[slimshavy]

Treet Relief
I'm taking a detour into the non-Treet carbon-steel blades before starting round 2 of the Treets in a new razor.

Leon
Blade one, Shave one
July 8, 2022

Razor: Gillette NEW short comb
Aftershave: Barrister and Mann Leviathan

After the Tatra, I could not have lower expectations for this second tested offering from Czech Blades. (And, with the NHL draft on my mind, the Czech Blades seems like it must be the name of a team in the Czech Extraliga.) However, I could tell from the first strokes with the grain that this blade would make it through the shave.

That said, it wasn't easy. This blade struggled more than any other blade I've tried besides the Tatra. The upside was that it mostly didn't cut my skin. Buffing in the mustache was like chopping. All over, this blade pulled the hairs before it cut them. It's better than Tatra in that it eventually cut through the hairs.

It reminded me somewhat of the Silver Star blade -- not sharp, but with patience and multiple extra passes you can get a decent shave. This blade is about as unlikely to cut skin as the Silver Star, but even less sharp. I'd have to quit my job if I shaved regularly with it, the shave took so long.

I'm left with a DFS, on the good side of DFS, thanks to some stubble retracting (or my face expanding?) after the shave. I'm also a little itchy, although I can't say that's from the blade pulling and not, say, from touching my face after petting the cat, from summer allergies, etc.

 

[ShaverAZ]

If a carbon blade will work, it's gonna be in your Short Comb. I've recently looked into the Treet Carbons. For me, the best performers are the Black Beauty and Classic blades, with the Silver, Dura Sharp and New Edge almost as good. I toss them all after one shave, since subsequent shaves are pretty rough.

 

[slimshavy]

If a carbon blade will work, it's gonna be in your Short Comb. I've recently looked into the Treet Carbons. For me, the best performers are the Black Beauty and Classic blades, with the Silver, Dura Sharp and New Edge almost as good. I toss them all after one shave, since subsequent shaves are pretty rough.

The last carbon blade I have to try in the short comb is the Tiger, then it's onto the second round. Hoping to replicate @edw 's good luck with TTOs by using a Slim; then I'll circle back to another favorite of yours, the Old Type, for Round 3.

 

[ShaverAZ]

The last carbon blade I have to try in the short comb is the Tiger, then it's onto the second round. Hoping to replicate @edw 's good luck with TTOs by using a Slim; then I'll circle back to another favorite of yours, the Old Type, for Round 3.

From my experience, the carbon steel blades were a disappointment in my Slim, Techs, and Super Speeds.

 

[slimshavy]

ROUND TWO: SLIM

Treet Falcon
Blade two, Shave one
July 10, 2022

Razor: Gillette Slim, set at 8
Aftershave: Barrister and Mann Vespers

I dove into Round Two slightly earlier than expected, but Slim was to be the razor of this round and I happened to be traveling to my brother's house and my brother is the keeper of our late grandfather's Slim. It's hard to turn down a chance to shave with my grandpa's razor, so I started the round with a Falcon.

My apologies to science; there were more variables than I'd like. It's not my usual Slim and I used a tubed shave cream instead of a soap. (The aftershave was a different scent but I think it's otherwise the same as my usual Leviathan.) I've intentionally changed the order of the Treets in the second round to account for changes in technique over the trials. I've also decided to fix the Slim at 8 for these trials, barring any disaster that forces me to change course.

With that out of the way, it was a decent shave and drastically different from the ones I'm used to. I've grown very accustomed to the NEW short comb, so every difference with the Slim stood out. It felt big and blocky and harder to maneuver. It's also heavier, but the weight felt good in my hand.

That thin, hard-to-describe gliding sensation of some of the better Treets in the NEW wasn't there. The Slim just shaves differently. At 8, it's more aggressive, and I got a few weepers and a small nick on my chin. I also think I overshaved around my "handlebar" area. Fortunately, it didn't get really irritated but it did get puffy and stayed BBS after stubble had emerged everywhere else.

I'm resisting conclusions from what is just one shave, but the good signs for me are that things feel much different and that it's possible to shave too closely. That means both that it's worthwhile to continue this experiment and that my shaves will improve as I adjust to this second razor.

 

[ShaverAZ]

Never was impressed with the Ho Hum carbon blade shaves in any of my "newer" vintage Gillettes: Slim, Super Adjustable, Super Speed or Techs.
The carbon blades excel in my "Older" vintage razors: Goodwill, New SC & LC, & Sheraton. Nevertheless, I've only gotten 2 good shavesper blade max.

 

[Rhody]

Treet “black beauty”
Blade one, Shave one
June 22, 2022

Razor: Gillette NEW short comb
Aftershave: Barrister and Mann Leviathan

View attachment 1476436
First experience with the famous black beauties, and they are certainly beautiful. They’re not as black as I thought, though, kind of a deep swirly sheen.
View attachment 1476438
The shave was OK. I’ve heard these really tug, and it’s true it wasn’t particularly sharp, but was sharp enough. I stretched my skin and plowed ahead.

First two passes went fine. I thought I would break the Treet streak of cutting myself on early passes but I got one weeper on my neck. Went for an ATG pass without an extra diagonal pass, and it went pretty well, no cuts in the mustache. I was babying it a little though, and could have gone a little closer.

Neck was a different story, with some weepers and irritation. I backed off from cleanup with a mind to save my face and the blade.

I find myself wanting to like this blade, but I don’t give sympathy points, so we’ll see if the next shave goes better.

Great thread!
I usually enjoy the black beauty. I’ve occasionally noted a sharp drop off in performance after a few shaves. Ice toyed with the idea of just using the blade once and tossing it due to that and taking it out of the razor to avoid rust. My most recent experience was awful. Second use. Blade was out of the razor on a paper towel. Had 2 days growth. The blade felt terrible. Tugging doesn’t describe it. I disassembled the razor thinking it was not seated properly but it was. By eye the blade edge looked like crap. I reassembled and gave it another try before trashing that blade. They are cheap enough I might just do one and done from now on.

 

[slimshavy]

Great thread!
I usually enjoy the black beauty. I’ve occasionally noted a sharp drop off in performance after a few shaves. Ice toyed with the idea of just using the blade once and tossing it due to that and taking it out of the razor to avoid rust. My most recent experience was awful. Second use. Blade was out of the razor on a paper towel. Had 2 days growth. The blade felt terrible. Tugging doesn’t describe it. I disassembled the razor thinking it was not seated properly but it was. By eye the blade edge looked like crap. I reassembled and gave it another try before trashing that blade. They are cheap enough I might just do one and done from now on.

Thanks! I always aim for blades to get at least three shaves. With cheap blades, say 10 or 11 cents per blade, three shaves is 3.3 to 3.7 cents. That's a better deal than getting four shaves with a 15-cent Nacet or Bic, or five shaves with a 19-cent Wilkinson Sword. Given my reluctance to create more waste, however, I'm going to pick the blade that gives me four shaves over the one that gives me three if the cost comes out the same.

Of course, the quality has to be close to equal for the comparison to be fair. Carbon steel blades do have a reputation of breaking down quickly. I dry and store blades with silica packets, but if I shaved daily, there would be less degradation between the shaves and perhaps I'd get more shaves per blade.

 

[slimshavy]

Treet Relief
I'm taking a detour into the non-Treet carbon-steel blades before continuing round 2 of the Treets in a new razor.

Leon
Blade one, Shave two
July 12, 2022

Razor: Gillette NEW short comb
Aftershave: Barrister and Mann Leviathan

I had this loose end to take care of. I'm traveling and wanted to finish the blade I started in the NEW, because I won't have the razor with me.

Turns out, there's not much to say, as the Leon couldn't get through the second shave. I got to the chin and pulled and struggled to cut so much that I swapped in a used Wilkinson Sword, which got the job done without issue.

I've retired the Leon. Now, sticklers might point out that the blade sat for four days instead of the usual two, and they'd be correct. So maybe the Leon could have gotten through a second shave on my usual schedule. Nevertheless, I'm happy to move on. I suspect we'll meet again.

 

[Lord NSIC]

I picked up a ten pack of vintage Gillette Thin carbon blades as OCtober was starting last year so I used them in all of my OC DE razors. I found that the carbon blades worked well in my Gillette Old, New Improved and New razors and lasted a good 6-7 shaves, but when I've used the slim carbons since that time in newer Super Speeds, Fat Boys and Slims, they don't seem to do as well. But used in a "period correct" razor, the thin carbons give a nice smooth shave with a post-shave face feel much like my vintage carbon straight razors, that I don't get with a stainless steel straight razor or a stainless DE blade (new or vintage Wilkie). To me, carbon blades and razors give a shave with more "character" than a stainless blade--(imagination aside) I'm not sure if stainless and carbon steel have a chemical difference with my skin, but I prefer the carbon shaves to stainless. I think it's how some people prefer music from a vinyl record versus a digital recording--analog vs digital, you know, "old guy stuff."

 

[slimshavy]

I picked up a ten pack of vintage Gillette Thin carbon blades as OCtober was starting last year so I used them in all of my OC DE razors. I found that the carbon blades worked well in my Gillette Old, New Improved and New razors and lasted a good 6-7 shaves, but when I've used the slim carbons since that time in newer Super Speeds, Fat Boys and Slims, they don't seem to do as well. But used in a "period correct" razor, the thin carbons give a nice smooth shave with a post-shave face feel much like my vintage carbon straight razors, that I don't get with a stainless steel straight razor or a stainless DE blade (new or vintage Wilkie). To me, carbon blades and razors give a shave with more "character" than a stainless blade--(imagination aside) I'm not sure if stainless and carbon steel have a chemical difference with my skin, but I prefer the carbon shaves to stainless. I think it's how some people prefer music from a vinyl record versus a digital recording--analog vs digital, you know, "old guy stuff."

I don't know enough about the metals and coatings to know whether there's anything behind this, but I tend to have better shaves with blades labeled stainless than platinum. I wondered if it would be similar with carbon steel after trying and quite liking the different experience of shaving with a yellow Treet Dura Sharp. So far, no revelations. I haven't shaved with a vintage carbon blade, so all my impressions are limited to what's currently produced.

 

[slimshavy]

Treet Falcon
Shave two
July 14, 2022

Razor: Gillette Slim, set at 8
Aftershave: Barrister and Mann Leviathan

The Falcon has traveled and seen several corners of this pleasant peninsula. It's been four days since I shaved with it, and in a different Slim, so I'm not controlling well for variables. When this round is through, I may give another Falcon a chance.

Today's shave shows how different the Slim is from the NEW short comb. Whereas the NEW plowed through the first pass like nothing, the Slim is much choppier with two days' growth. I'm also inclined to rinse it more often, as the Slim looks like it gets clogged (though I don't notice any decline in performance).

The Slim glides on the second pass, across the grain. Against the grain it again needs some help. I'll hit a thick patch and then return to an angle between across and against the grain. Then I do against. At least with this blade, it feels like it works best with very small increments of beard reduction at a time. I can tell when it's stopped up in my mustache hairs that it's going to cut me if I plow ahead.

Fortunately, I listened to the razor and made extra passes. I was rewarded with a nice DFS shave. Notably, my left jawline is BBS, which I rarely accomplished with the NEW. I also had some irritation there, which is a tradeoff I'm comfortable with and will gladly adjust to. No weepers after rinsing, although some red dots made brief appearances during the shave.

The downside is this shave took forever. Like, maybe 40 minutes. Learning curve, I guess, and that will come down, but I don't want to spend that much time shaving. (I mean, I do, but I have a job.)

 

[slimshavy]

Treet Falcon
Shave Three
July 16, 2022

Razor: Gillette Slim, set at 8
Aftershave: Barrister and Mann Leviathan

Another shave like the last: rough going on passes except for the second (across the grain), which was smooth and easy. Cleanup, or buffing, if you can call it that, was again super slow. I gave up before the mustache was entirely BBS, but kept attacking the chin and jawline bit by bit until it got at or near BBS.

The good thing is it got there, and that it was a lazy weekend shave, so I had the time. The mustache tells me the blade is done, which is almost a shame given how close the Slim shaved me everywhere else. Again no weepers that lasted (some reddened up after applying aftershave).

I feel the Falcon is a decent blade, and I’m fairly sure I could get one to four shaves in a Slim, but I’ll have to get the technique down and the shaving time reduced to make it enjoyable. For now, moving on.

 

[slimshavy]

Treet Super Power
Shave One
July 19, 2022

Razor: Gillette Slim, set at 8
Aftershave: Barrister and Mann Leviathan

I had an extra day between shaves, as I was on an island. The three days’ growth presented a challenge for this experiment, as it’s unfair to give one razor more work than others (especially given indications that the Slim has a harder time with longer growth). To solve this, I used the old Falcon to do a light trim with the grain before swapping in the Super Power for a second with-the-grain pass.

This should have been an easy layup for the Super Power, and it did ease through the generally plowed pass, but it managed to cut me in the chin divot.

The across-the-grain pass was smooth, again the best pass for the Slim. I try to not let the previous bad experience with this blade color my actions, but I nevertheless didn’t want to go straight into an against-the-grain pass, so I did some diagonal strokes.

ATG was slow, especially in the mustache, but I was able to spend the time and get through. It was slow and took lots of cleanup but I got a closer-than-usual shave even while holding back under my lip (where I decide how much I want to puff the hairs out to cut below the skin and how many cuts I’ll accept). I couldn’t really go across the grain on my neck, as the razor and blade were both giving me warnings. I cleaned up nicely with adjusted passes, though.

Again, a good shave, probably BBS-. None of the weepers persisted after a rinse. And even if it had some help to get there, the Super Power earned a second shave.

 

[slimshavy]

Treet Super Power
Shave Two
July 21, 2022

Razor: Gillette Slim, set at 8
Aftershave: Barrister and Mann Leviathan

I’m a little under the 48-hour mark for this shave, which might be babying this blade more than science allows. I’m fine with it because the blade needed some help and won’t make a third shave anyway.

First pass was fine, as befitting a shorter growth time. Second pass wasn’t as smooth as the Slim-Falcon pairing, with more rough blade feel. Extra mustache-cheek pass needed before going ATG, and even that diagonal pass needed some modifications to make it through.

ATG really required patience in the mustache, like I was making stone tools or something. Negotiated something short of BBS there in exchange for no real weepers.

There was a lot left after my ATG pass and chin touch-ups, so I was reattacking the same areas to get the persistent stubble even as the blade lost its ability to get any closer.

Some irritation in the end, but no lasting weepers. Neck a bit rough but skin smooth above the jaw.

To my memory, this was a better performance than the Super Power in the NEW short comb, but reading over that entry, it seems pretty close. Not a great performer, lasts two shaves, doesn’t go for blood. Sounds about right.

 

[slimshavy]

Treet Dura Sharp (blue)
Shave One
July 23, 2022

Razor: Gillette Slim, set at 8
Aftershave: Barrister and Mann Leviathan

The Dura Sharp in the Slim was a little rough, not any of the glide it had in the NEW, but sharp enough for the first passes. Again the Treet-Slim combo has a hard time in the mustache, so requires a full four passes. Otherwise, not a lot of trouble spots, and it got through the neck and under lip without issue but with some compromise.

It’s definitely a close shave, BBS outside those spots. It did open some weepers, a couple lasting after the rinse but not much longer.

The aftershave burned like crazy though. Definitely feels like I got a good skin scrape with my shave, and you can see some skin flecks on the surface that got kicked up. Sorry, that sounds gross, but I don’t know how to describe that particular side effect of a scrapey shave.

In short, I’ll use it again but the Dura Sharp wasn’t a revelation in the Slim.

 

[APBinNCA]

I was just looking at my sole pack of these in my blade stash last night. Yep, all but one blade are in there. I bought these a year ago due to several recommendations getting the best of me. Your description is dead on, they are exfoliation devices. I got my pack of Silvers in yesterday…

 

[edw]

Blades are always that thing, you must try yourself and can't borrow other people results.

Of all Treet blades this is the smoothest to me. Paired with right razor (being Slim one of them) it gives me delightful smooth "silky" shaves (as the package says). Got more 100 of it just in case.

 

[slimshavy]

I was just looking at my sole pack of these in my blade stash last night. Yep, all but one blade are in there. I bought these a year ago due to several recommendations getting the best of me. Your description is dead on, they are exfoliation devices. I got my pack of Silvers in yesterday…

Strangely, my memory of the Dura Sharp yellows is the opposite, very smooth. But, then, even the blues were a bit smoother in the NEW.

 

[slimshavy]

Blades are always that thing, you must try yourself and can't borrow other people results.

Of all Treet blades this is the smoothest to me. Paired with right razor (being Slim one of them) it gives me delightful smooth "silky" shaves (as the package says). Got more 100 of it just in case.

Funny story about the Slim: My father-in-law came in when I was shaving today, so I asked him if he had ever shaved with a Slim. He said yes, when he was in the Air Force in the ‘60s and they were bivouacking a few days without electricity but still had to present themselves for inspection, “I had to buy one of those.”

Not exactly a ringing endorsement but, then, he’s always been an electric shaver and early adopter of gadgets and I’m the old romantic.