Carbon steel blades? Do they feel different?

[Shavetheman01]

So I recently found some Treet blades lying around. This company makes many different types of carbon blades which I'm guessing could be different levels of smoothness. There's also some Indian brands that are carbon too.

How are these blade types different? I know they have to be dried so there's no rust.

 

[razorhead63]

I have used Treet blades, the black carbon ones. I bought them because I thought they were cool looking. They were pretty smooth but terribly dull. I could never get more than 2 shaves from any of them. I will not buy them again.

 

[jmudrick]

I have Treet Falcon carbon blades in my rotation . I don't use any blade for more than 2-3 head and beard shaves so the Falcons do fine by me.

Sent from my LG-US998 using Tapatalk

 

[ShaverAZ]

Also got some Treet carbon blades just to see how they compared to some vintage carbon steel Gillettes. Unlike stainless blades, carbon blades I've tried can be successfully stropped to give a smoother shave. It also seems to make a difference if the blade edges are coated with a blade oil between uses in order to keep them from corroding & dulling the edge.
As noted, they're not very sharp, but I've found them to be more servicible when stropped.

 

[htownmmm]

Tried an entire tuck once. I will never get that time back. The worst blade I have ever used is the Treet Black Beauties Carbon Steel blades.

marty

 

[Space_Cadet]

I can extrapolate that in general carbon blades tend to be less sharp than stainless-steel blades, and if you can work out some sort of an estimation about the average level of their smoothness, it will probably show that they are a little smoother than stainless-steel blades.

 

[ShaverAZ]

I got the Treet Black Beauties to see if they would perform as well as vintage Gillette Thins (they don't). The Carbon steel Thins ere good for 2 shaves, then after stropping, good for 2 more, even smoother shaves. They could be stropped 2-3x more to further get smooth shaves. Nevertheless, they would never equal a good stainless blade, but they worked well in a vintage Tech. The Treets didn't work well at all in the Tech, and didn't strop worth a darn.

I revisited the Treet Black Beauty this morning, using a Parker Semi Slant. Got a respectable shave out of it. I think the secret is to use a really slick soap that has a lot of residual slickness. Stirling Electric Sheep did the trick, but I think any Stirling Soap would work.

So now, I have the Parker as a dedicated razor for the Treets. My other dedicated razor is the Gillette Super Adjustable 109, which is the only one the Rapira LUX blades work worth a darn in.

Both blades were initially considered hopeless, but in their respective razors, and with a quality soap, I'll be able to burn thru using them without feeling like I've wasted money.

 

[ouchyfoot]

It’s one of those subjective questions.
I’ve used Treet black beauties about four different times and each shave was smooth and BBS. My last Treet Carbon shave was about a week ago with a “Shake Sharp” razor. It was divine. I plan to order at least 30 of them, but first I want to sample all the other Carbon steel models other than the Black Beauties for comparison. I’ve always had a healthy respect for carbon steel knives.

 

[santamariasteve]

YMMV is the best comment I can make.

 

[Mouser]

Yes, and if you're obsessed with vintage blades, like me, both carbon and stainless, you may be able to find some rare pristine ones that have been kept sealed and stored in an airtight container, Tupperware in most of my cases, and you'll find they sound different and shave wonderfully. But it's very, very unlikely. I was extremely lucky. More than once. The very best of the carbons, imho, were/are the Schick Deluxe with Krona Edge, which I breakout on holidays and special occasions.
These.

P.S. the damage you see to the dispenser was done by me after I finished this particular one trying to disasemble in order to reload it.

 

[ShaverAZ]

It’s one of those subjective questions.
I’ve used Treet black beauties about four different times and each shave was smooth and BBS. My last Treet Carbon shave was about a week ago with a “Shake Sharp” razor. It was divine. I plan to order at least 30 of them, but first I want to sample all the other Carbon steel models other than the Black Beauties for comparison. I’ve always had a healthy respect for carbon steel knives.

I've got a couple of other Carbon Blades enroute from Razorblades Club. Been a couple of weeks & they're taking their sweet time getting to me. The Chinese are speedy in comparison.

Todays' shave was the 2nd using the Treet Black Beauty - coated edges with blade oil after the shave yesterday & todays' shave was also BBS. Contrary to previous experience, I'll do a 3rd shave tomorrow & expect BBS to still be attainable.

 

[TexOkie Shaver]

Back in 68 when I started shaving, I started with Gillette Super Blue blades. I think they were carbon steel. I don’t recall them being all that bad, but I was 16 and had skin like Superman.

 

[guitarslinger]

Uncoated carbon steel is ultra rough for me no matter what. It’s a no go.

 

[mullard]

I have shaved with the Treet blades you mentioned as well as many vintage carbon blades over the years. Some of the vintage carbon blades have coatings that provide a smoother shave and some do not have coating and can feel rough during ones first pass. The storage over the years of the vintage carbon blades makes a considerable difference in their performance. I sometimes use my vintage uncoated carbon blades for my final pass and they do provide a very close shave. Carbon blades provide a different feeling to ones face in comparison to stainless steel and I rather enjoy using them from time to time.

 

[DougK]

I've used carbon blades in the SE world and my skin really doesn't like them. They shaved wonderfully but also left my face on fire and blotchy for a few hours.

 

[ShaverAZ]

Today was my 3rd shave using the Treet Black Beauty. I'm trying hard to hate the Treet Carbon Blade, but so far its' performing up to BBS standards.
Today I tried (unsuccessfully) throwing a whammy at the blade: I used a tube of Tabac for the first time - untested, but has enough residual slickness to support an above average shave. I used my Sheraton, which is a little more finicky with blades. I did left side shave with the Treet and right side with a 4x used Shark Stainless. I got equivalently BBS smooth results on each side with my normal 3 pases + some clean-up.

The plan was to toss the Shark & the Treet today, and I even have my next rotation blades sitting on the counter - they're just gonna sit there, waiting for another day or so.

 

[geneaut]

Many many years ago I considered the Treet Durasharp carbons my favorite blade due to how smooth they were on my face, but I fell out of love with how fast they rusted so I wandered off looking for other blades. I have never gone back.

Also, back then, I valued a smooth and uneventful shave over an efficient one.