Razor blade challenge

[Nate B]

The Graham field is by far the worse blade I have ever tried. Did a pass on my head and it left more hair than it cut with extreme tugging. For the second pass I used a Rapira blade (not my favorite) and it felt so good compared to the Graham. I can never again say there is not a blade I was not able to use.

 

[Grundi]

Super-Homex Super Stainless Blue Blade

Thank you, @Nate B, for the generously sharing these blades. This is one of the greatest parts of wet shaving - all of the different choices, different coatings, cheap prices, and guys willing to share. It blows my mind the vast array of blade choices.

TL;DR - From the same blade I got 1/2 a great shave, and 1/2 an acceptable, but uncomfortable shave!

Presentation - like the others who are reviewing these blades, I'm impressed with the wrapper - clean printing, nicely wrapped, with a quality inner wax paper wrap. The printing on the blade is better quality than most, readable and not smudged.

Prep - I'm also participating in the Pannacrema Nuavia passaround, and it's my turn with the PCN soaps. I loaded the Super-Homex blade into my Merkur 20C (a mild razor), showered, and whipped up a very nice creamy, yogurty, PCN Verde lather, then smeared it all over my beard.

The Shave - the very first stroke was nice, smooth, no drag; the second stroke was like the first. Hmmm, not a bad blade at all. I'm thinking there's possibilities here...BUT...as I continued my shave, I began to notice some tugging and some irritation...BUT...then I noticed that the blade went back to shaving nicely...THEN...poorly...THEN...you're getting the idea. When I shave, as the soap builds up on one side of the razor, I turn the razor over and use the other side; back and forth, rinsing as needed. One side of the blade was quite nice (sharp and smooth), the other was just south of Derby-town (rough and tuggy).

Results - I made it through a 2 pass, full face shave with the same blade, resulting in a SAS shave and no weepers.

I'll Take QA For $500, Alex - it appears that the manufacturer of Super-Homex has some quality control issues. I've only used one of the blades, so I don't know if the other blades are like this one. I've tried some nice Chinese made blades, so I know they can compete with any blade maker; but I've also tried some not-so-nice blades and know that there are some lesser quality blades out there. This Super-Homex blade seems to split the difference, on the same blade.

 

[lancre]

Mine came in the mail today. I'll try it tomorrow morning.

 

[fast shaver]

I really wanted to like the Homex blade but when it started tugging & pulling on the first stroke I said oh boy I'm in for it with this blade. It might have been a bad blade so, I will try again tomorrow with a new blade in my Schone razor. I have tried other Chinese blades & they were smooth for at least two shaves.

 

[DCRIII]

I just received mine in the mail today as well. I'll try one put tomorrow in one of my Techs.

 

[Grundi]

I really wanted to like the Homex blade but when it started tugging & pulling on the first stroke I said oh boy I'm in for it with this blade. It might have been a bad blade so, I will try again tomorrow with a new blade in my Schone razor. I have tried other Chinese blades & they were smooth for at least two shaves.

That's the spirit, @fast shaver!! I have received bad Sputniks due to manufacturer quality control issues. The blades were wrapped in plastics with other Rapira blades from a Moscow seller.

 

[rabidus]

Used one today for a very nice BBS face and head shave. Not as sharp as my top blades, but definitely better than a Derby. Took more strokes but it wasn't bad at all. Used my '48 Aristocrat with Nivea shave gel(canned goo), good stuff. I spray a generous amount in a bowl, add 1tsp of water and it whips into a nice lather instantly.

One face and head shave equals 3 face shaves.

Not the best or worse blade.

 

[tlentz]

I would definitely be interested in trying this

 

[Dog Whiskerer]

Second Shave

Showered last night, so prep was at the sink. Lathered with a much better soap--Tabula Rasa--with great residual slickness. But to what advantage for the shave, I'm not sure. Two passes and touch up and there was irritation and missed spots. I've finished the One-Blade-in-February challenge putting 28 shaves on a Gillette Platinum Plus and it shaved closer and more comfortably than this Super Homex with 2 shaves.

On the plus side, no nicks.

 

[fast shaver]

Just finished shaving with a new Homex blade in my Schone razor. It was a nice smooth shave unlike the other blade that was terrible. It seems they are inconsistent blades but, this blade more than made up for it. It was way better than Derby.

 

[rabidus]

Just finished shaving with a new Homex blade in my Schone razor. It was a nice smooth shave unlike the other blade that was terrible. It seems they are inconsistent blades but, this blade more than made up for it. It was way better than Derby.

Which Tech did you use? If it was a prewar or flat bottom Tech then I'm not surprised at the bad results, they lack the rigidity need to get a poor blade to perform well. I would be shocked if it performed bad in a postwar Tech though.

 

[fast shaver]

It was a 1960 something Tech. However, I think it was just a bad blade. I get bad blades in every brand now & then. Its not very common though with a good brand of blade.

 

[BigPete]

Second shave today. After some debate with myself (I won) I decided to shave with the same blade with the same setup as yesterday. My reasoning was that some blades that I use are smoother on the second shave, so I would see if this was the case with the Homex.

Prep was hot shower with face washing, Mitchell's Wool Fat soap and Parker 99R razor.

The second shave was indeed smoother. That's not to say it was comfortable or a good shave. This blade is simply too dull for me. It pulls the hair before cutting and it's just uncomfortable. I did a two pass shave today, I just couldn't face a third one. It wasn't a particularly good or close shave. There were rough spots and visible stubble on my chin and neck. I couldn't go over these spots over and over again, they were starting to feel irritated. I considered touching up with another razor but I decided to give my face a break.

No redness or weepers, I used Floid Vigoroso for my aftershave today and that just added insult to injury. I wound up applying Dove post shave balm to soothe my face. Two shaves with this blade is enough.

Despite this, I am going to try a new blade tomorrow in my Parker Variant on an aggressive setting to see if it gets any better.

 

[DCRIII]

First shave with the SuperHomex blade:

Prep- quick rinse with warm water
Razor- Canadian 1932 Thin Handle Tech
Blade- SuperHomex that was provided
Brush- 22mm TGN Finest banded badger set into homemade beehive handle
Soap- homemade vanilla sandalwood scent goats milk soap
Aftershave- Lucky Tiger

I did one pass WTG on my face and three passes on my neck. WTG, ATG, and XTG and got a nice BBS.
This blade is certainly nicer than Derby blades and 10,000 times nicer than the Graham Field Prep blades. I really liked the first performance of the SuperHomex blade and look forward to using it again tomorrow using the same prep and setup.
Though it's too early to pass final judgement, this might be a blade that I may look into purchasing 100 of.
I'll chime in again tomorrow with my results.

 

[rabidus]

Razor- Canadian 1932 Thin Handle Tech

1932 is stamped on both the Canadian triangle slot and oblong slot Techs. Which slots do you have?

 

[Nate B]

Very interesting results, I thought the feedback would be a lot worse. It is hilarious to hear some prefer the Homex to Derby.

First shave with the SuperHomex blade:
This blade is certainly nicer than Derby blades and 10,000 times nicer than the Graham Field Prep blades.
View attachment 788132

Could not agree more on the Graham Field, those blades are brutal.

 

[TheVez2]

So I've been using a Feather blade since I started my One-Blade February challenge. I had 73 shaves on it when my Homex blade arrived. So I'm hanging up the Feather for now, and will return when I'm done with my Homex trial.

First shave, yesterday. Loaded into my Merkur 34C, which is my go-to test razor, and the razor I use for any good blade longevity. Seems like a decent blade during the shave. Average comfort. I'm a two pass and done shaver. Rarely needing any touchup. After two passes with the Homex, there is still some noticeable stubble. I gave a quich touchup, but it really cold have used another whole pass (or more). After my touchup, I had 2 or 3 weepers. That's a red flag, because I never get weepers anymore.

Second shave, today. Comfort level during shave is slightly reduced. Shave was average. Only did 2 passes, no touchup. Still stubble remaining. A few hours after the shave, I started getting some irritation on the underside of my chin. I get this when I am using a blade and it starts to go dull. This is one of the signs that tell me I need to change a blade. Sometimes I can push through it, and it goes away. So we'll see how the next shave goes.

For those of you that have tried Graham Field prep blades how do these compare?

The Graham Field is a different animal completely, like the Albanian Pitbull, there does not exist another blade like it. I took the Graham Field challenge and got 65 shaves from it. I don't think anyone else came anywhere close. Most didn't make it past shave 1, LOL.

 

[lancre]

****************************************************
Super Homex Super stainless

Good grief! What's all the fuss about? This blade just isn't that bad.

Day 1: Taking a cue from Dog Whiskerer, I stropped the blade on my palm before I loaded it into my 1948 SS. My Brush was a Semogue 830, loaded with Nivea Men Sensitive shave cream. After that, I could almost do a copy and paste from DW's review. The first pass (WTG) was a bit tuggy, kind of like a VDH. Second pass (XTG) much smoother, although not in the same league with Voskhod or Personna Labs. I usually have a pretty fair amount of stubble remaining after 2 passes, so no surprise there. The third pass is the key for me, Homex gave me an overall DFS with minor irritation. And yes, Grundi, my wife commented on it. Post shave, the alum block indicated irritaion in multiple areas, but not everywhere. I followed up with a little WH and Nivea Sensitive PSB. I probably would not recommend this blade to others, or use it on a day I needed to look my best, but I expect to use the other two rather than discard them. Thanks, Nate, for letting me try them. I'll post another review after I'm done with this first blade.

Sharpness 6/10
Smoothness 6/10
Overall 6/10

 

[DCRIII]

1932 is stamped on both the Canadian triangle slot and oblong slot Techs. Which slots do you have?

Mine has the oblong slot.

 

[DCRIII]

Shave number two was just as nice as the first shave with the SuperHomex blade. Ill consider itva DFS today only because I managed to miss a small spot on my left cheak that i hadn't noticed until I started to clean up. My setup was identical to yesterday.

Prep- quick rinse with warm water
Razor- Canadian 1932 Thin Handle Tech
Blade- SuperHomex that was provided
Brush- 22mm TGN Finest banded badger set into homemade beehive handle
Soap- homemade vanilla sandalwood scent goats milk soap
Aftershave- Lucky Tiger