What's new

Participation PIF - The Unobtainium Polsilver Super Stainless

This week I am trying blade #3 in my less-used razors. Not surprisingly, the Polsilver has given consistently smooth, comfortable, and excellent results in the Merkur 34C, Star, Tech, and Progress. I have been getting 6 shaves per blade, standard for my use.
IMG_20210721_204453508.jpg
 
Blade 1 Shave 3

Razor Wolfman WR2 1.15 w/Blackbird Handle
Blade Polsilver SS (3)
Brush WCS Beacon Silvertip
Soap Pre De Provence #63
Balm Pre De Provence #63
EDT Pre De Provence #63

Rating 9\10 BBS

The blade felt smooth but perhaps I chased BBS too hard. My alum block gave me a lot of feedback and I still feel some slight irritation. I did get a close shave so by that yardstick it was a good very close shave but it wasn't as comfortable as I like. Blade is cutting well so will continue tomorrow. Perhaps I will break out my Rockwell 6S for the next shave, it is much neglected.
BW 63.jpg
 
Unobtainium Polsilver Stainless Blade #1 - Shave #4

Equipment:
Merkur 20C, Polsilver Stainless (4), WCS Duck Fat Pear-Brrrr, Graydog Grey Wolf brush

The Shave: I rushed things a bit this morning, but still managed a DFS shave. After 4 shaves, the blade, to me, feels like it's slightly less sharp now, but still smooth. Hoping to get 2 more shaves from it.
 
proxy.php


Seventh shave with the Polsilver Stainless (Vintage) blade #1

Razor
: Fatip Lo Storto Originale (aka FOCS)
Brush: Yaqi Purple 24mm Mink
Soap: Tabac Shaving Soap Stick

The best shave of the week (so far)! Great performances from both the razor/blade and brush/soap pairings.

Most shavers are aware of the amazing lather that Tabac can produce. Today was no exception. A few swipes of the Tabac stick on my cheeks was all that the Yaqi Purple Mink needed to generate enough of the richest and slickest lather for at least six passes.

I only needed three passes to get the closest shave that I've had in a long time. The FOCS/Polsilver Stainless duo still feels as good as new. Buffing has been unnecessary. Tugging and roughness has been non-existent. There has been no post-shave irritation. This might be the best uninterrupted streak of shaves that I've had in a long time (or possibly ever). :thumbup1:

Side note: One thing that I've noticed is that this blade is easier to keep clean than any other blade in recent memory. For example, if anybody recalls my daily reviews from the Kai Participation PIF and the Modern vs. Vintage Astra SS Challenge PIF, I complained about how difficult it was to keep blades from getting grungy and discoloured ("tea stains") over extended use. Rinsing with water was ineffective; I had to physically clean the blades (lightly rubbing the faces with toilet paper while trying to avoid the edges). I even resorted to using diluted concrete cleaner (phosphoric acid) to dissolve accumulated soap scum, stubble, and oxidation from the Kai blades.

On the other hand, the Polsilver Stainless blade looks as good as new with just a quick rinse under the tap. The quality of a blade's coating makes a real difference, obviously.
 
CD191C10-D281-47A2-AE77-8AD38181C9B9.jpeg

Blade 1 Shave # 4
Pre:
Proraso blue
Brush: Maggard Timberwolf
Lather: Body Shop maca root+aloe
Razor: RR Mamba 70/Barber pole handle
Post: Thayer’s, PAA ClubGuy Star Jelly

Nice DFS+ for shave 4. Took a bit more work than yesterday but that could be soap/razor related. Still no tugging or loss of smoothness . Next blade I might stick to one razor+soap but for now I’m having fun switching it up every day.
 
Last edited:
Was going to do this in sets of 2 but feel a bit compelled to do a single day post:

Day 5

Razor: BB@ 3
Preshave: T&H “you must love lemons” preshave
Cream: B&M Seville ( sample )

I do not think I have regularly had a day 5 this good and really far better than days 1 -4, alum block would not have thought I shaved AND BBS for much of the day. My only conclusion here is either the blade is overly sharp and I just smoothed it out ( I do not quite think so as I am good with feathers and blacks, though not really the hugest fan ) OR perhaps I just had some historical gunk that I got off over the last few days OR perhaps some muscle memory kicks in for the blade. I was going to switch back and forth btwn the wizamet and these but am looking forward to testing polsilver blade 2 after day 6 ( which if it is as good as day 5 probably does not need to be tossed ) just to see what a new blade feels like again.

i regret not jumping in the IE stash a bit now ( that said wizes are good ;)) Thank you again for the PIF

Avi
 

BradWorld

Dances with Wolfs
Shave 3 …. Blade 1

After a sub par result in my Wolfman WR1, I put this blade into a milder, but efficient, razor this morning. It did as expected, and I had a decent shave. I still believe that this blade is not as sharp or as good as the current crop of Wizamet blades. But it is handling itself nicely. I will decide if this blade gets a fourth shave on Saturday. So far so good.

AC69CB76-AA6D-49E4-866C-1508304EEDBD.jpeg
 
Razor: Yaqi katana SE on RR BBS aluminum handle
Blade #0.5 shave 2
Brush: TGN black badger
Soap & Aftershave : Stirling strawberry lemonade
Felt maybe about as smooth maybe a little smoother, was an easy shave. Going atg had to buff a little with some minor tugging on 2 days growth, so maybe a little less sharp.
 
Round 1:
Shave#1, Polsilver PIF: DFS, no drama, just felt a bit rough.
Shave#2, Polsilver SI: DFS, no drama, nice and smooth, most comfortable of the 3
Shave#3, Polsilver SS: DFS, Nice and smooth, tickle on the alum, no other drama, closest shave of the 3

Round 2:
Shave#4, Polsilver PIF
Razor: NDC Fat Handle Tech
Blade: Polsilver PIF
Brush: Rubberset 400
Soap : Proraso Green (Tub)

DFS+ with the above gear, smooth and comfortable.
Quite a change from this blade in Round 1, the roughness was gone, leaving me with a great shave.
 
Ninth shave tonight with the Polsilver.

For tonight's shave I am using another razor that I just received that I have never shaved with before. It is the famous (infamous) Yaqi adjustable. Many may have heard a while back that Heritage, the makers of those replica vintage brush handles, was working on a project to make a replica of the famous Gibbs adjustable but one that could take standard DE blades. It seems the manufacturer they were working with in China took the design and went to Yaqi, who them modified it slghtly and released it under their name. The v1 version had many flaws and so few were produced. The v2 version corrected some of the flaws, but added another flaw by having the adjustment numbers out of sequence. They were numbered 1,2,3,6,5,4 as can be seen in the pic. the other flaw that was not corrected was that when the handle was tightened, the adjustment dial could not move and so the bottom knob that secured the blade had to be loosened and fooled around with. A person that used to make brass replacement handles for the Gibbs decided to correct the problem and made a brass handle that could be tightened and still have the adjustment knob fully turn up to two turns. So far, Yaqi has not come up with a v3, and so this may be the best it will get.

DSC03785.JPG


I have no idea what to expect, but it has my Polsilver blade with eight shaves on it and possibly beginning to wear down.

For tonight's shave, I decided to start my WTG with the adjustment right in the middle, which was 6 according to the numbers, but actually 4. WTG pass went very smoothly and was surprisingly efficient. One main difference with the Yaqi was that the base plate they used was their standard clone of the R89 base plate with scalloped safety bar. the Heritage and the real Gibbs had a smooth bar. After the WTG pass, all I could say is that the rumor of the Polsilver starting to wear out was greatly exaggerated.

ATG pass, I went with setting 2 (which really was a 2). Another comfortable pass, however stubble was left over. Like my shave with the Flexi, I think that maybe I should have gone with a 3 or stayed with a 6. I ended up doing an XTG pass along my jaw line and under my chin and again ended up with a very comfortable BBS.

Since I am deep into wanting to finish off this Polsilver, I am forgoing my Feather Friday shave tomorrow and will be using another razor I have never shaved with before - a vintage German Apollo with the two piece base plate.
 
Shave #4
1 days growth

Blade: Polsilver Stainless
Pre: Warm shower with Yardley activated charcoal bath soap
Razor: KCG
Soap: Captain's Choice Bay Rum soap
Brush: Stirling Pro Handle Synthetic
After: Aqua Velva Ice Sport

This morning's shave was finally a nice smooth shave like many others have reported. 3 passes with BBS excepting the usual trouble spot under the chin. No fuss, no drama. I was in a bit of a hurry and so chose the KCG. That razor never lets me down performance wise. No feedback from the alum and only the typical alcohol/menthol shock from the splash. The blade seems to be performing better as it gets broke in.
 
Brush: Morris & Forndran L2 Bi-Color
Blade: Polsilver Stainless #2 (1), 11th shave to 1st shave on new blade, big difference. I think.
6 shaves per blade is the sweet spot for me.
Soap: Ethos Greenfresh
Razor: Wolfman WR2 Sb 1.35 w/ Timeless Ti Crown 👑 Handle
Post Shave: Ethos Unscented skin food, 471151E7C877-134E-4A59-BF1F-364E26443099.jpeg662B9E29-D797-4C22-8C00-57F2AC265B77.jpeg0077B863-8B7B-4697-8145-549B1572E3C5.jpeg
 
Another smooth shave with the polsilver (1st blade/4th use). I got an absolutely fantastic head shave with some new things:

First time using a karve in my life and this razor (with the D plate) was very efficient at taking down 3+ days of growth. Very efficient AND smooth. No alum feedback or alcohol burn from the splash. Just smooth bbs dome.

Blade was a 4th use polsilver blade.

The soap was also a first. Azalea city suds makes a great lather. Head feels soft post shave and no issues with lathering at all.

proxy.php


Fayiz D.
 

FarmerTan

"Self appointed king of Arkoland"
IMG_20210722_145355452.jpg
Shave 2 on blade one...
Used my "Smile" handmade, beautiful werk of art by Steve @Graydog (and several elves in a hollow tree that he salvaged from a wood stove).
The soap was a Palmolive Stick from @BudgetShaverGuy .....

I'm also falling head over heels in love with the Krona. So intuitive.

That blade is amazing. BBS in my hybrid one pass style that I copyrighted.

Thanks Grundi and @Space_Cadet !
 
Day late shave report:

I changed things up and tried a morning shave when the temperature is still a little cooler. Again, my prep was a cold shower. I soaked my Van der Hagen Night Star three-band badger brush in some cold water. I squeezed out a dollop of Proraso Blue cream into my Captain's Choice Seaworthy bowl and partially filled the latter with some cold water.

I completed a two pass shave (WTG and ATG) with my Fendrihan Kingston razor head on a West Coast Shaving 79BR handle. Since I forgot to grab my last Polisilver blade (blade #1) from my travel kit, I dropped in blade #2. This was the first shave with blade #2.

Before each pass, I wet my face with some of the water I'd used to soak the shave cream (and poured into a cup before making lather) and then applied some lather. Each time, I initially brushed the cream on to my face with circles but wound up painting on the lather to get a better coating.

The shave went well. In addition to the two passes, I also did my usual buffing of my trouble spots. The blade felt smooth and sharp. Unlike the previous shaves with blade #1, I almost didn't feel the blade this time, unlike my previous experience with blade #1..

During the shave itself, I didn't really notice any irritation, though, I wound up with a small nick just below my nose. The nick was too much for my usual post-shave alum block rubdown, but it did stop when I applied a styptic pencil to it. Aside from that, there was maybe just the mildest (and barely noticeable) stinging from the alum block rubdown.

After rinsing off the alum block with cold water, I washed my face with a little bit of the left over lather, rinsed my face with cold water a second time, and dried off my face with a towel. I then applied some Aqua Velva Classic Ice Blue. Once that dried, I applied some Duke Cannon Cooling After Shave Balm. The menthol of these two aftershaves helped me to cool off a little after my shower and shave.

All in all, I would give this shave a 95/100.
 

Attachments

  • 971804EB-8812-408D-A6F7-38FFFF77B485.jpeg
    971804EB-8812-408D-A6F7-38FFFF77B485.jpeg
    7.1 MB · Views: 3
Top Bottom