Macduff’s Monthly Blade Review: Polsilver Super Iridium

[RayClem]

I took another pass at the Polsilver. I was able to get to BBS level with lots of work. I expected more from this blade. The smoothness of the shave was the best, The closeness left much to be desired. I had to do a three pass with a clean up. Many blades do a better job at clean up, including Derby Extra. I'm wondering if the Polsilver is too smooth?
MM879

I am not sure it is possible to have a blade that is too smooth (at least not if you have a sensitive face). However, if you have a tough beard like I do, there are blades that are not sharp enough. For my beard, Derby Extra are not sharp enough.

I love Feather blades for their sharpness, but they irritate my face on the first shave. Shaves 2 and 3 are smoother. After that, Feathers start losing sharpness for my beard. I was able to get four shaves out of a Polsilver, which is unusual for me. They were no good by shave 5, however, my beard is really tough on edges. I am amazed at folks who say they can use a blade for a month or longer.

 

[HereticHermit]

They were no good by shave 5, however, my beard is really tough on edges. I am amazed at folks who say they can use a blade for a month or longer.

RayClem but you know the drill of YMMV and how people just generically toss the claims without stating what type of beard they have. I don't have very sensitive skin but I do have full beard of a middle age guy. Dreaded feathers bow before my beard and give up on 4th shave to make way for Polsilvers that lasts up to 6 shaves for me.

 

[Nelenea]

I don't cork my blades. I either hand strop a few times each side prior to the first shave or use a piece of hard felt the same way as a cork and get much better results on the first shave. Of all the blades I use, the Polsilver give me the best results on all the shaves with all of my razors, with the one exception to Wizamet blades. I find those to be a hair superior to the Polsilvers.

 

[RayClem]

RayClem but you know the drill of YMMV and how people just generically toss the claims without stating what type of beard they have. I don't have very sensitive skin but I do have full beard of a middle age guy. Dreaded feathers bow before my beard and give up on 4th shave to make way for Polsilvers that lasts up to 6 shaves for me.

When I make comments, I always include statements about my beard and my skin as it puts the comments in perspective. A young guy with a southern European heritage is going to be a lot different than an old guy with a Scots-Irish/English heritage like me. If your middle-age beard is tough now, just wait until you become a senior citizen. As you age, your beard normally gets tougher and your skin gets thinner. It is not a good combination for shaving. The only good thing is that once your beard turns grey or white, it is not as noticeable, so you can get by with shaving less frequently.

 

[Macfrommichigan]

My results are similar. The first pass is a tad rough. But otherwise, a great blade. I recently bought 100.

Gillette yellows also work real well for me.

Thanks, Macduff.

 

[MM879]

I took another pass at the Polsilver. I was able to get to BBS level with lots of work. I expected more from this blade. The smoothness of the shave was the best, The closeness left much to be desired. I had to do a three pass with a clean up. Many blades do a better job at clean up, including Derby Extra. I'm wondering if the Polsilver is too smooth?
MM879

I figured out what the problem was with the Polsilver blades that I was using. The Polsilver blade is about 0.1mm narrow compared to other DE blades.

The narrow dimension would explain the issues I was having with the Polsilver. The first pass was good to very good. Second pass and clean up would leave stubble no matter how hard I tried.

I finally tried a clean-up pass using excessive pressure and noticed an improvement. The high force clean-up still was not perfect, but showed improvement.

I compared the Polsilver blade to other used blades and noticed that the Polsilver was narrow. I used a sharpie marker and colored the edge of the comparison blade to accent the difference between the two blades. I compared the Polsilver to several different blades and the Polsilver was narrow to all of them.

The Polsilver narrow blade issue would be the most severe in razors that are considered mild. I was using a 34c.
MM879

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I figured out what the problem was with the Polsilver blades that I was using. The Polsilver blade is about 0.1mm narrow compared to other DE blades.

The narrow dimension would explain the issues I was having with the Polsilver. The first pass was good to very good. Second pass and clean up would leave stubble no matter how hard I tried.

I finally tried a clean-up pass using excessive pressure and noticed an improvement. The high force clean-up still was not perfect, but showed improvement.

I compared the Polsilver blade to other used blades and noticed that the Polsilver was narrow. I used a sharpie marker and colored the edge of the comparison blade to accent the difference between the two blades. I compared the Polsilver to several different blades and the Polsilver was narrow to all of them.

The Polsilver narrow blade issue would be the most severe in razors that are considered mild. I was using a 34c.
MM879

That reflects my experience too. The only razor I could get it to perform in without tugging, was the face chomping Fatip Grande. The two cancelled out each other to some extent, and ended up more like a "normal" blade in a "normal" razor. Still not enjoyable enough to challenge my favourites though.

 

[MM879]

That reflects my experience too. The only razor I could get it to perform in without tugging, was the face chomping Fatip Grande. The two cancelled out each other to some extent, and ended up more like a "normal" blade in a "normal" razor. Still not enjoyable enough to challenge my favourites though.

As soon as I can grow some whiskers I'll try biasing the blade to one side of the razor and re-test. The Polsilver is a fine blade, but I couldn't understand why it would preform in one area and then not preform in a less demanding area. I've used many tier 2 blades that would work fine on clean-up while being tuggy on first pass.
MM879

 

[SuperMax_fan]

I for one have not had any issues with Polsilver blades. Had a shave last week and the blade performed well, but struggled a bit on on the neck and moustache (though it should be said I shaved with that blade for several times). I used a Merkur 43c and the moustache and neck areas are trouble spots for me as those have thicker, denser and coarser hair.
In closing, I would like to add that I shaved with Polsilvers alternatively with other blades for months and months now and always felt they strike a nice balance between a good sharpness and a good smoothness plus longevity. My skin is a little sensitive and these work nicely without irritation.
Guess the skin type and beard type can make even the best blades underperform for some.

 

[Tokyospike]

I’m late to this party, but thanks again Macduff. These are fine reviews. My experience of the Polsilver, in an ATT R1 and a Gillette Old Type, pretty much matched yours. They were my second favorite out of 21 DE brands, and those two stood well above all the others. Just the best combination of sharp, smooth and long-lasting I found.

 

[MM879]

As soon as I can grow some whiskers I'll try biasing the blade to one side of the razor and re-test. The Polsilver is a fine blade, but I couldn't understand why it would preform in one area and then not preform in a less demanding area. I've used many tier 2 blades that would work fine on clean-up while being tuggy on first pass.
MM879

I switched blades to Astra SP and the porcupine effect is gone. The clean-up pass is close without all the stubble missed by the Polsilver. The Polsilver is still an enigma for me.

 

[HereticHermit]

I switched blades to Astra SP and the porcupine effect is gone. The clean-up pass is close without all the stubble missed by the Polsilver. The Polsilver is still an enigma for me.

Seems like a whole bunch of bad blades there. A rather rare instance if I consider the number of posts here calling out Polsilvers as excellent blades.

 

[MM879]

Seems like a whole bunch of bad blades there. A rather rare instance if I consider the number of posts here calling out Polsilvers as excellent blades.

All of the symptoms would indicate operator error. The problem of a random bristle here and there is the confusing symptom. When a blade works as well as the Polsilver on first-pass I would expect it to glide right through clean-up pass. It did feel great through the clean-up just didn't make a complete smooth performance.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Seems like a whole bunch of bad blades there. A rather rare instance if I consider the number of posts here calling out Polsilvers as excellent blades.

It probably depends on the razor. I found Polsilver to be a dreadful blade in my usual mild/moderate razors, but in the face chomping Fatip Grande, the underperforming Polsilver toned the Fatip down quite well. That was the best shave I'd had with to grande OR the polsilver, and I think they cancelled out each other's adversities.

 

[psfred]

I found that I had to open up my FatBoy to 7 to get a good shave with a Polsliver. Nice shaves, but not very close in anything else I tried, so Fatboy it is for Polsilvers. Along the way I found I prefer a more aggressive setting for most blades anyway, but it's required for the Polsliver.

I'm guessing the blade is just a tiny bit narrower than the standard, at least for current production, and a wider blade gap is necessary for a close shave, at least in my razors.

Otherwise they are excellent blades, will be getting shave #100 on my first Polsilver blade on Xmas day.