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Participation PIF - The Unobtainium Polsilver Super Stainless

Last night, I had shave #52 with blade #2 of the vintage Polisilver Stainless Steel blades. The blade was held in place with a nickel Fatip OC Piccolo head on a gold Grande handle.

I used Proraso red shaving soap in the tub and made a good, thick, and cushiony lather.

Prior to the shave, I repeatedly splashed myself with warm water while brushing my teeth (including rinsing with mouthwash), used warm water to soak my Semogue Owners Club cherry wood handle finest badger brush. I also poured warm water into the tub of Proraso to help bloom it.

After the water in the tub turned filmy, I squeezed my brush to remove some water from it, then dumped the filmy bloom water into an empty cup. Next, I picked up my brush and began to stir it in the Proraso tub for a minute to load my brush before removing the brush and all the protolather I could scoop into my Captain's Choice Seaworthy lather bowl where I gradually added some of the soapy bloom water to make my lather while stirring with my brush. When my lather looked shave-ready, I applied a little of the soapy bloom water to my face by hand before each lather pass.

I did my usual two pass (WTG and ATG) shave and buffed my trouble spots. I managed to get an irritation-free BBS.

I cleaned up my shave with my usual alum block and felt no sting. I then cleaned my shaving gear before taking a warm shower, which washed off the alum.

Finishing up the shave, I applied some aftershave splash (Clubman Pinaud) and aftershave balm (Korres TobaccoAfter Shave Balm). Unlike with the alum block, I felt the tiniest hint of sting from the alcohol in the splash.

All in all, I would give this shave a 99.5/100.

6B90651A-A9B5-4AA9-937E-A370AB6D22A8.jpeg
 
I got to this thread to late to participate, but reading it has got me thinking I just have to try one of these blades. So... found a couple of 10 packs on ebay, cost was about $1 a blade. I'm very curious to see how they will compare/hold up to the contemporary blades I like best.
 
Last night, I had shave #53 with blade #2 of the vintage Polisilver Stainless Steel blades. The blade was held in place with a nickel Fatip OC Piccolo head on a gold Grande handle.

I used Proraso red shaving soap in the tub and made a good, thick, and cushiony lather.

Prior to the shave, I repeatedly splashed myself with warm water while brushing my teeth (including rinsing with mouthwash), used warm water to soak my Semogue Owners Club cherry wood handle finest badger brush. I also poured enough warm water into my Captain's Choice Seaworthy lather bowl to wet the top of my Proraso soap, which I removed from its tub and placed upside down in the lather bowl.

After the water in the lather bowl turned filmy, I squeezed my brush to remove some water from it, then dumped the filmy bloom water into an empty cup. Next, I picked up the Proraso soap with my left hand and swirled my brush across its top (for a minute) with my right hand. I then scooped all the protolather I could manage into my lather bowl before rubbing the excess protolther on my face and subsequently washing whatever remained off my hands.

I gradually added some of the soapy bloom water to the protolather in the lather bowl while stirring with my brush When my lather looked shave-ready, I applied a little of the soapy bloom water to my face by hand before each lather pass.

I did my usual two pass (WTG and ATG) shave and buffed my trouble spots. I managed to get an irritation-free BBS.

I cleaned up my shave with my usual alum block and felt no sting. I then cleaned my shaving gear before taking a warm shower, which washed off the alum.

Finishing up the shave, I applied some aftershave splash (Clubman Pinaud) and aftershave balm (Korres Saffron Spice After Shave Balm). Unlike with the alum block, I felt the tiniest hint of sting from the alcohol in the splash.

As with my last shave, this one felt effortless even as the razor efficiently mowed down my stubble, leaving me smooth and (generally) irritation-free. In fact, had it not been for the aftershave splash, I would've had absolutely zero irritation. As it was, the splash provided only the barest hint of alcohol burn in a couple random spots.

All in all, I would give this shave a 99.5/100.

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I’m curious, those of you who are getting such an incredible amount of shaves from a single Polsilver blade—how many shaves do you get from other brands? I’ve never experienced a blade lasting anywhere near that long.
As a general rule, I got about 5-8 comfortable shaves with most blades I've tried. The worst blade I ever tried was a Dorco ST-300 (or was it the ST-301?) that came with my MicroTouch One; I couldn't get even one comfortable shave with it. With Voskhod, I could only get about 4-5 shaves. Shark Super Stainless blades were good for about 5-6 shaves. Gillette Platinum provided about 6-7 shaves. With Lord Platinum, Lord Super Chrome, and Astra SP, I was able to get about 7-8 shaves. LOI Salon Titanium got me over 10 shaves (I forgot the actual number). I've tried some other blades, but I don't remember them off the top of my head.

Then again, I didn't try these blades with a Fatip OC head, which is what I've been using lately with the Polisilver. The Polisilver felt a little less smooth with the Fendrihan Kingston (also an OC head), which I used before the Fatip. I wouldn't be surprised if the some of the other blades also benefited from being used with the Fatip.
 

Mike M

...but this one IS cracked.
I’m curious, those of you who are getting such an incredible amount of shaves from a single Polsilver blade—how many shaves do you get from other brands? I’ve never experienced a blade lasting anywhere near that long.
I got 13 from a Polsilver for other blades I have got the following

Astra SP-13
Kai-14
Astra SS-15
Gillette Nacet-15
Personna Platinum(German)-16
Gillette Platinum-25
BIC-28

Recently I have had as little as 8 from a Lord and 7 from a Treet there are plenty more blades I have tried and many more still to try
This has increased, when I started I was getting 4 from a Derby green and 5 from an Astra SP, it is all about technique.
 
I got 13 from a Polsilver for other blades I have got the following

Astra SP-13
Kai-14
Astra SS-15
Gillette Nacet-15
Personna Platinum(German)-16
Gillette Platinum-25
BIC-28

Recently I have had as little as 8 from a Lord and 7 from a Treet there are plenty more blades I have tried and many more still to try
This has increased, when I started I was getting 4 from a Derby green and 5 from an Astra SP, it is all about technique.
To me those numbers are staggering. I shave my head and face daily and generally toss a blade after a single use.
That said I just completed my third shave with a Feather blade. I’d like to see if I can get a few more out of it.
 
I’m curious, those of you who are getting such an incredible amount of shaves from a single Polsilver blade—how many shaves do you get from other brands? I’ve never experienced a blade lasting anywhere near that long.
I got 9 or 10 out of my first Polish Polsilver. I generally toss a blade after 2-3 shaves.

I have used a few more of the Polsilvers and got 4-5 shaves with no problem.

Great blades and possibly my favourite out of the 35-40 different ones I own.

I was luckily able to find 200 of them a few months ago at shaving.ie for a reasonable price.
 
Last night, I had shave #54 with blade #2 of the vintage Polisilver Stainless Steel blades. The blade was held in place with a new gold Fatip OC head with my earlier gold Fatip Grande handle. This will likely by my new Gold Fatip Grande setup.

I used Proraso red shaving soap in the tub and made a good, thick, and cushiony lather.

Prior to the shave, I repeatedly splashed myself with warm water while brushing my teeth (including rinsing with mouthwash), used warm water to soak my Semogue Owners Club cherry wood handle finest badger brush. I also poured enough warm water into my Captain's Choice Seaworthy lather bowl to wet the top of my Proraso soap, which I removed from its tub and placed upside down in the lather bowl.

After the water in the lather bowl turned filmy, I squeezed my brush to remove some water from it, then dumped the filmy bloom water into an empty cup. Next, I picked up the Proraso soap with my left hand and swirled my brush across its top (for a minute) with my right hand. I then scooped all the protolather I could manage into my lather bowl before rubbing the excess protolther on my face and subsequently washing whatever remained off my hands.

I gradually added some of the soapy bloom water to the protolather in the lather bowl while stirring with my brush When my lather looked shave-ready, I applied a little of the soapy bloom water to my face by hand before each lather pass.

I did my usual two pass (WTG and ATG) shave and buffed my trouble spots. The blade feel was a little greater than when I used my nickel Fatip OC head with the Grande handle, but I managed to get an irritation-free BBS. That said, I initially thought I had run over a skin bump under my lower lip, but there was no blood.

I cleaned up my shave with my usual alum block and felt no sting, not even on the bump I thought I may have nicked. I then cleaned my shaving gear before taking a warm shower, which washed off the alum.

Finishing up the shave, I applied some aftershave splash (Stirling Spice) and aftershave balm (Stirling Spice After Shave Balm). Unlike with the alum block, I felt more of the usual alcohol sting from the the splash.

As with my last shave, this one felt effortless even as the razor efficiently mowed down my stubble, leaving me smooth and (generally) irritation-free. As it was, the splash provided a much welcome alcohol burn that I haven't felt in a while.

All in all, I would give this shave a 99.5/100.

(Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture if my setup before packing away some if my shaving gear. I plan to unpack it all shortly and will likely use the same setup just so I can make up the picture.)
 
Last night, I had shave #54 with blade #2 of the vintage Polisilver Stainless Steel blades. The blade was held in place with a new gold Fatip OC head with my earlier gold Fatip Grande handle. This will likely by my new Gold Fatip Grande setup.

I used Proraso red shaving soap in the tub and made a good, thick, and cushiony lather.

Prior to the shave, I repeatedly splashed myself with warm water while brushing my teeth (including rinsing with mouthwash), used warm water to soak my Semogue Owners Club cherry wood handle finest badger brush. I also poured enough warm water into my Captain's Choice Seaworthy lather bowl to wet the top of my Proraso soap, which I removed from its tub and placed upside down in the lather bowl.

After the water in the lather bowl turned filmy, I squeezed my brush to remove some water from it, then dumped the filmy bloom water into an empty cup. Next, I picked up the Proraso soap with my left hand and swirled my brush across its top (for a minute) with my right hand. I then scooped all the protolather I could manage into my lather bowl before rubbing the excess protolther on my face and subsequently washing whatever remained off my hands.

I gradually added some of the soapy bloom water to the protolather in the lather bowl while stirring with my brush When my lather looked shave-ready, I applied a little of the soapy bloom water to my face by hand before each lather pass.

I did my usual two pass (WTG and ATG) shave and buffed my trouble spots. The blade feel was a little greater than when I used my nickel Fatip OC head with the Grande handle, but I managed to get an irritation-free BBS. That said, I initially thought I had run over a skin bump under my lower lip, but there was no blood.

I cleaned up my shave with my usual alum block and felt no sting, not even on the bump I thought I may have nicked. I then cleaned my shaving gear before taking a warm shower, which washed off the alum.

Finishing up the shave, I applied some aftershave splash (Stirling Spice) and aftershave balm (Stirling Spice After Shave Balm). Unlike with the alum block, I felt more of the usual alcohol sting from the the splash.

As with my last shave, this one felt effortless even as the razor efficiently mowed down my stubble, leaving me smooth and (generally) irritation-free. As it was, the splash provided a much welcome alcohol burn that I haven't felt in a while.

All in all, I would give this shave a 99.5/100.

(Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture if my setup before packing away some if my shaving gear. I plan to unpack it all shortly and will likely use the same setup just so I can make up the picture.)
54 Shaves!! That's absolutely mind-boggling!! And still at 99.5/100!!
 
Left one must be newer stock. We got hyperinflation in the late 80s early nineties when the iron curtain was about to fall. Producers of various goods could not keep up with inflating prices so they stamped with ink, retailers did it too

I have one sleeve of these , rarely use them they're not my cup of tea maybe bad batch or something.. bn76 and bn71 these I do enjoy

I have a suspicion blades supplied within the Topic are later production (mid90s). I'm not familiar with these except i had some regular iridium with printing on blade that looked like the one from post #67, they were super sharp super smooth. comparable to St.Petersburg versions

here's what Wikipedia says about late Wizamet:

"In 1992, the Wizamet plants with 800 employees and in a very bad financial situation were privatized, 80% of the shares were bought by Gillette and 20% were sold to Wizamet employees. Workers paid half the price Gillette paid for the action."

View attachment 1294807

if the blades kindly sent by Space_Cadet and Grundi are gilpol ones I'm confident most will like them :)

I agree, they look like Gillette Poland production. Note that the Polsilver Stainless blade has the offset POLSILVER logo printed on the blades, I suspect that that logo didn't appear on non-Gillette blades made in the Wizamet factory.

Here's a pic of some old Polsilver Super Iridiums made at the Lodz factory by Gillette, with offset logo:
polsilver super iridium made in poland gillette gilpol.jpeg

polsilver super iridium made in poland gillette gilpol2.jpeg


Note that it as well as the Polsilver Iridium you posted above, both made by Gillette in Lodz, do not have an EAN number/barcode.

I don't think any Wizamets before the Gillette takeover carried EAN/barcodes either. Top two here are pre-Gillette Iridium Polsilver and Polsilver Stainless.:
1639084610425.png


It would stand to reason that pre-Gillette Wizamet didn't use EAN/barcode, Gillette tookover and didn't use EAN/barcode, and then Gillette did begin to use EAN/barcode. Rather than pre-Gillette Wizamet used barcodes, then Gillette took over and stopped using barcodes.

Further, I'm not all that familiar with UPC/EAN but wiki states in it's page on International Article Numbers (ie EAN/UPC numbers):
"Manufacturer code
The manufacturer code is a unique code assigned to each manufacturer by the numbering authority indicated by the GS1 Prefix. All products produced by a given company will use the same manufacturer code.

Product code
The product code is assigned by the manufacturer. The product code immediately follows manufacturer code. The total length of manufacturer code plus product code should be 9 or 10 digits depending on the length of country code (2-3 digits)."

The EAN number of the Gillette Stainless in question is 3014260316242

Searching EAN 3014260316242 gave results for similar EANs - several Gillette products with the same initial part of the EAN number (Gillette purchased Braun in 1967).
Screenshot 2021-12-09 10.30.46 PM.png


Perhaps Gillette's manufacturer code is 3014260. Can someone knowledge about EAN codes shed any light?
 
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SOTD #296/2021
17-12-2021

Preshave: shower, frigid tap water
Brush: Semogue 1800
Soap: Ariana and Evans ~ Spartacus
Razor: Blackland Blackbird SS
Blade: Polsilver Stainless (7)
Post shave: frigid tap water, Ariana and Evans ~ Spartacus asl.

BLADE 5 - SHAVE 7

After having enjoyed a little site trip into SE-land with a bunch of great shaves provided by Blackland's Vector it was time to get back to this lovely blade. And as expected, the Polsilver provided another stunningly smooth and close shave.

2 passes, some touch-ups on my trouble spots - and my skin felt silky smooth again. It's such a solid performer.

Thanks @Grundi and @Space_Cadet!
 
Polsilver Stainless - Shave #1

Equipment: Standard Razors razor (to more easily differentiate the blade qualities, I'm just using hot water)

Polsilver Stainless Result: A little irritation. Tugged a little on the neck hairs. Had to go over some spots multiple times. Out of the blades I tried, right now I'd set it right in the middle for both sharpness and smoothness. But here is the interesting part: It was punching well above its weight. Fairly close cutting of the hairs despite my perception. I can see why people like it. This one will be interesting to go the long-haul for longevity.
 
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BLADE 5 - SHAVE 8

It's been a rather uneventful shave. 2 passes with some additional buffing on the neck made my entire face almost feel BBS. Unfortunately, I cought some minor redness on my neck. I'm not sure if I had applied too much pressure - or if the sharpness of the blade just has faded and caused the irritation. But overall , it's been a relaxing Sunday shave, though.

Have a great Sunday, y'all!
 
I've used my first Polsilver for 3 shaves so far and the results have been fairly consistant. I'm getting probably the closest to BBS with the least effort and irritation over any other blade I've tried, but I can't seem to get through a shave without a tiny cut or two. They seem perhaps a bit less forgiving than I'm used to, even with my milder razors. I'm wondering if I need more practice with them, or if they mellow out a bit after a few shaves.
 
I've had a hectic past couple weeks and so was unable to shave as regularly as I would've preferred, let alone post about the shaves. In any case, I've had shaves #s 54, 55, 56, and 57 with blade #2 of the vintage Polisilver Stainless Steel blades. Each time, the blade was held in place with my gold Fatip OC Grande.

For my shave soap, I used Proraso red shaving soap in the tub and made good, thick, and cushiony lathers.

Prior to each shave, I repeatedly splashed myself with warm water while brushing my teeth (including rinsing with mouthwash), used warm water to soak my Semogue Owners Club cherry wood handle finest badger brush. I also poured enough warm water into my Captain's Choice Seaworthy lather bowl to wet the top of my Proraso soap, which I removed from its tub and placed upside down in the lather bowl.

After the water in the lather bowl turned filmy, I squeezed my brush to remove some water from it, then dumped the filmy bloom water into an empty cup. Next, I picked up the Proraso soap with my left hand and swirled my brush across its top (for a minute) with my right hand. I then scooped all the protolather I could manage into my lather bowl before rubbing the excess protolther on my face and subsequently washing whatever remained off my hands.

I gradually added some of the soapy bloom water to the protolather in the lather bowl while stirring with my brush When my lather looked shave-ready, I applied a little of the soapy bloom water to my face by hand before each lather pass.

I did my usual two pass (WTG and ATG) shave and buffed my trouble spots.

I cleaned up my shave with my usual alum block and felt no sting. I then cleaned my shaving gear before taking a warm shower, which washed off the alum.

Finishing up each shave, I applied some aftershave splash (either Stirling Spice or La Toja Locion) and aftershave balm (either Stirling Spice After Shave Balm or La Toja After Shave Balsamo). Unlike with the alum block, I usually felt more of the usual alcohol sting from the the splash, but oddly enough, sometimes I also felt some sting with the Stirling After Shave Balm.

With each shave, I've realized more and more how much I love the Fatip OC. While the blade feel with the gold head OC is ever so slightly greater than what it had been with my nickel Fatip OC head with the gold Grande handle, with each shave I've managed to get an irritation-free BBS. Some of these shaves have even been darn near perfect. I'm pretty sure I've found the perfect razor for me.

All in all, I would give these shaves scores ranging from a 99.25 to a 99.5/100. Heck, if I believed I could ever achieve perfection, I would give some of these shaves a full 100/100. 😁

22E7406C-D274-4C19-B67C-5BFE188B776C.jpeg
 
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Blade 5 - Shave 10

Another nice shave. Smooth as smoothness can be, but I needed more touch ups than expected. This means the blade's sharpness clearly is fading, but I will give it another spin. Just because.

Onward to shave no. 11.

Merry Christmas to you and yours!
May all of you be blessed.
 
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BLADE 5 - FINAL SHAVE NO. 11


All good things come to an end, they say. So, today's been my final shave in this PIF.

I may take the chance to say "thank you" to @Grundi and @Space_Cadet again .

Without you guys I definitely had missed my now most preferred blade variety.

This PIF might end now - but my journey with the great Polsilver Stainless isn't over. I quickly realised how GREAT this blade is (for my face), so I didn’t hesitate to order in bulk from shaving.ie when they still were in stock earlier this year.
Unfortunately I can't get 50+ shaves out of a single blade, but I have settled on a 10+ blade count on a regular basis with this marvelous blade. Which means I have a 4 digit number of wonderful shaves still to come. Good prospects, I'd say!

Thank you to everyone who contributed to this thread, inter alia my shoutout goes to @Demolition and @hairless wonder (the time has come to score the 100/100, just do it 😉).

Take care @everyone and stay safe in this challenging times. Merry X-mas!
 
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