Participation PIF - The Unobtainium Polsilver Super Stainless

[JAHE]

SOTD #191/2021
29-07-2021

Preshave: shower, frigid tap water
Brush: Semogue TSN 2020 LE 3-band Silvertip badger
Soap: Murphy and McNeal ~ Gael Laoch
Razor: Karve Stainless Steel Safety Bar "F"-plate
Blade: vintage Polsilver Stainless (8)
Post shave: frigid tap water, Schröder und Mann ~ Majestät AS.

Blade 1 - shave 8

Evening shave. Again a pleasant and smooth. Maybe I noticed a slight loss in terms of sharpness, but finally I sit here with a BBS shave and a calm skin again. What more could you ask for?

Today's setup (hardware and software) was just about perfect. Maybe all I had needed was a sip of Riesling during the passes to get me totally into that zen state....

Enjoy your shaves, y'all!

 

[hairless wonder]

I decided to try another shave (with Pinaud Clubman Shave butter) instead of shave soap this morning. After a cold shower and toweling dry, I wet my face with some water. I then spread some shave butter on my face and started shaving.

Again, I completed a two pass shave (WTG and ATG) with my Fendrihan Kingston razor head on a West Coast Shaving 79BR handle. I continued to use the same my Polisilver blade (blade #2) from my last shave. This was the second shave with blade #4.

Before each pass, I wet my face and spread some shave butter. I also applied a little water to help with buffing of my usual trouble spots.

As before, this shave went well. The blade still felt smooth and sharp. Again, I almost didn't feel the blade. Somehow, I wound up with a minor nick above my upper lip, only this time it was on the other side of my face. I didn't even notice the nick until after I finished shaving. Even then, I just noticed the tiniest red dot.

Aside from the one nick, I didn't really notice any irritation. The nick itself was small and my usual post-shave alum block stopped it from bleeding. Aside from the nick, there was, again, just the mildest (and barely noticeable) stinging from the alum block rubdown.

As before, after rinsing off the alum block with cold water, I applied some Aqua Velva Classic Ice Blue and followed that with some Duke Cannon Cooling After Shave Balm. Again, I appreciated how the menthol of these two aftershaves helped me to cool off a little after my shower and shave.

The end result of the shave was a BBS but it did take a little more buffing than usual. I chalk that up to the shave butter. Since I used my fingers to spread it, the slickness of the shave bitter on my fingers made it more difficult to stretch my skin. I guess I should've rinsed them off and applied a bit of alum block to my fingers before skin stretching.

All in all, I would give this shave a 93/100.

 

[lancre]

Polsilver Stainless, Blade#1, Edge#1, Shave#5
Rockwell T2 on 4
Proraso Green (tub)
Maggard 28mm SHD badger

This mornings shave again felt kind of rough, but with no post-shave irritation. Right on the fuzzy border between BBS and DFS. I think I've pushed this edge as far as I can. Tomorrow I'll switch to the other edge, and see if I can get 5 more shaves out of that side.

 

[Beefdrippings]

Blade #2 Shave #2
Pre: Proraso white
Brush: AP Shave Co cashmere
Lather: Speick
Razor: late ‘40’s Aristocrat
Post: Thayer’s, PAA ClubGuy star jelly

So much for sticking to one razor for the duration of this blade’s life. Nice DFS/BBS after 3 passes + touch ups. Not the sharpest, but dang it it’s smooth and forgiving. I’m coming to enjoy the face feel of products that have some alcohol but not too much.

 

[Demolition]

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

Razor: Fatip Lo Storto Originale (aka FOCS)
Brush: Fine Classic 20mm Angel Hair
Soap: RazoRock Black Label

An excellent shave, overall, despite some mental hiccups on my part.

You know the "autopilot" shaves that I occasionally mention? Those are the ones where you start shaving, get into a rhythm, then suddenly "wake up" at the end with a completely smooth face.

Well, I got partway through such a shave, then suddenly jolted awake. I couldn't recall if I had been shaving north-to-south or south-to-north. I rationalized that I must have just finished my WTG pass, so I started my ATG pass. Then, muscle memory kicked in and I suddenly knew that I had already performed an ATG pass. But it was too late... I was already 3/4 of the way through my second ATG pass!

Luckily, this blade is still very smooth and I'm none the worse for wear. Apparently, working from home has made me a bit lazy and it's creeping into my shaving. (Either that or it's Alzheimer's. )

Anyway, in the end, I had an extremely close shave, with no post-shave irritation.

 

[borwish]

Shave #9
2 days growth

Blade: Polsilver Stainless
Pre: Cool shower with Yardley activated charcoal bath soap
Razor: GC 68OC
Soap: La Toja stick
Brush: Stirling Pro Handle Synthetic
After: Clubman Classic Vanilla

Another fine shave. 3 passes giving BBS excepting the trouble spot. Smooth sailing with no feedback. The blade isn't as sharp, but it's chugging along with no trouble. Maybe it'll last long enough to try in my Winning razor that 's inbound.

 

[SgtCrppls]

This is the first time I have had 2 days growth since I started wet shaving last October, I am passing a kidney stone and just did not feel up to it yesterday.

Blade: Polsilver Stainless blade #3, shave #1
Brush: Morris & Forndran L7 Bi-Color 26mm Finest
Soap: Officina Artigiana Milano Stay Traditional
Razor: Wolfman WR2 SB 1.35 w/ Timeless Ti Crown Handle
Post Shave: Lucky Old Man (Bootlegged)

If I did not like shaving every day I would switch to every other day, finally had enough stubble to really see how efficient my Razor is with this blade, it was amazing.

10/10

 

[South Dakota Guy]

Shave 2 Wizamet SI Polsilver Stainless VS Wizamet SI

Razor Rockwell 6S Plate R4
Blade Wizamet Super Iridium
Brush PAA Peregrino
Soap Wickham 1912 Shamrock Tweed
AS Captain's Choice Developmental Aftershave (for what became Italia)

10/10 BBS

This mornings shave was a carbon copy of yesterday's shave with the Polsilver. Smooth and close shaves both . Like yesterday almost no feedback from the Alum or aftershave. After two shaves each with mild razors I couldn't tell any difference between the Polsilver and the Wizamet, I am sorry for the lateness of my post as I had to get up a couple of hours early to be on a job site 2 hours away. My next set of shaves with these blades will be with my Wolfman and Tabac. Perhaps a more efficient razor will reveal a difference in these blades.

 

[Hachet]

Shave #4 (blade 0):

Pre-war Tech on Durham handle
The Black Rose by Black Ship
Omega Syntex (weirdly awesome)

I shaved my head and neck and did all my touchups and sculpting last night before bed, after my evening shower. There is nothing to report except a clean comfortable shave. No aftershave feedback and I woke up this morning to near BBS skin.

Going to continue pairing it with mild rigid razors. Next up is the Schick Krona. Also I have a feeling this blade may go the distance. We shall see.

 

[Mike M]

Blade#1 Shave#4

Razor: Rockwell 6C R5 plate
Blade: Polsilver Stainless Unobtainium
Soap: RR Don Marco
Brush: Yaqi Lucky Dice 26mm

Tonight I stayed with the Rockwell 6C this time with the R5 plate. Despite the rubbish weather I decided to go with RR Don Marco (lathered with the Yaqi Lucky Dice) just for the scent. As a summer soap it just makes you think of an orange grove.
The WTG pass was not as good as yesterday with the R4 plate. It was noticeably rougher today.
The XTG pass wasn't quite as rough, but still rougher than yesterday. Finally the ATG pass was again slightly rougher and my neck required some buffing to get a BBS.
Overall another great shave, but if I decide to use the Rockwell again tomorrow I think I will go back to the R4 plate as it gave a much smoother shave.

 

[Chard52142]

The Unobtainium-Polsilver-Super-Stainless blades made it safely across 9400miles to Malaysia then through the postal service to my hands despite the worsening pandemic here. Huge thanks to @Grundi for sending over and to @Space_Cadet for the blades.
Shave reports will be in a few days as I am testing some SRs. Can't wait to join and give my feedback...

 

[str8six]

Thanks again to our generous hosts for making this possible. At some point I may well skim the thread in more detail but for now I'd like to form my own impressions. Shaved twice with this blade:

b1s1 w/black tip, a razor that I find comfy with most blades but not quite as completely so as the Henson. I found it was sharp, but a bit harsh. Like a Nacet but not as smooth (or like a Feather but not as sharp). Left me with some irritation on the neck.

b1s2 w/mild Henson went better. I'm liking the Sabre handle on this, the head-heavy handle matches up well with the extremely light head. Shave felt a lot better and feels nice afterwards. Did wind up with a slight weeper though and only Nacet and Feather have done that for me with this razor so I'm going to deduce this is just on the sharp end of things. Seemed a lot smoother the second time around.

I'm going to revisit the black tip and see if's smoothed out with that one too and then give the gen 2 'crat a try with it. Might take a while though as I'm not going to starve myself of straights...

 

[HarleyDChevrolet]

Blade #1, shave 3 & 4:

I've kept my setup and prep consistent from the beginning. Hot shower prep, Slim on 9, Stirling Sharp Dressed Man and Stirling synthetic brush. So far, there has been no perceptible degradation of performance the last three shaves. As you may remember, my 1st shave was a bit uncomfortable as well as drawing blood, but not any more. I know this is only the 1st blade but I'm struggling to see the advantage over the Astra SP's that I've been using which are much smoother right out of the wrapper and seem to hold an edge just as long. Are the Polsivers really better or is it the idea that they are made from Eastern European unobtainium that makes us THINK they are better . The adventure continues...

 

[Weean]

Polsilver Super Stainless Blade 1 Edge 1 Shave 4. Wizamet W-11 Elegance; Martin de Candre Fougere; YaQi Giotto 24mm synth

An unexpected external video meeting this morning means I'm having a shave after only 24 hours for the first time in a while.

I dialled the W-11 back to 7, and I think I might have found the sweet spot for this razor. The shave was more comfortable that the first edge's fourth in the Wilkinson Sword Classic, but it's still clear that this blade's journey is over.

I've tried quite a few vintage blades, through these PIFs and my own activities, and often they shine in longetivity rather than sharpness. These Polsilvers seem more 'modern', starting off sharp and declining relatively quickly. I think someone upthread mentioned Personna reds, and the comparison works for me.

Next blade I'll kick off in my Tech, I think.

 

[South Dakota Guy]

Polsilver Stainless blade 2 shave 3. Polsilver VS Wizamet

Razor Wolfman WR2 1.15 SB
Blade Polsilver Stainless
Brush WCS 24mm Silvertip
Soap Tabac
Toner Lucky Tiger
AS Pinaud Clubman

Rating 9/10 BBS

A very close shave today. The blade felt smooth while shaving but two weepers, the Alum block and the aftershave tells me it wasn't gentle as I like. I don't fault the blade. I am still new to this razor and it is more efficient than I am used to. It slices everything that gets in it's way and that includes the bump and skin tag today. On a side note since I began using the alum block my face gets less oily and the number of bumps are declining. Tomorrow same shave but with Wizamet blade.

 

[SgtCrppls]

Polsilver Stainless blade 2 shave 3. Polsilver VS Wizamet

Razor Wolfman WR2 1.15 SB
Blade Polsilver Stainless
Brush WCS 24mm Silvertip
Soap Tabac
Toner Lucky Tiger
AS Pinaud Clubman

Rating 9/10 BBS

A very close shave today. The blade felt smooth while shaving but two weepers, the Alum block and the aftershave tells me it wasn't gentle as I like. I don't fault the blade. I am still new to this razor and it is more efficient than I am used to. It slices everything that gets in it's way and that includes the bump and skin tag today. On a side note since I began using the alum block my face gets less oily and the number of bumps are declining. Tomorrow same shave but with Wizamet blade.

View attachment 1304072

That is a beautiful razor my friend, I find it is definitely worth the cost and wait, wait a minute you cheated and bought it on BST from @hannah’s dad , hope you are loving the razor.

 

[South Dakota Guy]

That is a beautiful razor my friend, I find it is definitely worth the cost and wait, wait a minute you cheated and bought it on BST from @hannah’s dad , hope you are loving the razor.

Thank You! So far so good. I am still learning a bit.

 

[SgtCrppls]

I did a stupid thing yesterday, did not feel well the previous day so it was the first time I had two days growth, I decided to put a new Polsilver Stainless in my razor. I had heard that people were corking the blade before its first use to get any glue away from the edge.

Here is the stupid part I could not find a cork so I used a piece of “CARDBOARD” then proceeded to shave, immediately it did not feel as sharp but I continued to my second pass then felt my face, it was like I had not even shaved. Switched out to another new Polsilver Stainless and it was wonderful.

Moral of the story is cardboard dulls the blade,

 

[fast shaver]

Polsilver Stainless Blade #2 Shave #2
Tools: EJ DE89 Razor, PdP B&T soap & Plissoft Brush.
Got a nice close three pass shave this A.M.
The blade was on autopilot for the entire shave.!

 

[c__port]

Polsilver blade number two, first shave - Muhle R89

I got a very close comfortable shave with two passes and some cleanup. I could barely feel the blade most of the second pass. When I applied aftershave though, YEEOW! No nicks or weepers though.