Russian Blades- Da!

[shumanfoo]

I have had 4 shaves now with the Voskhod blades from Russia.

They have been great!

It says they are Teflon coated.

What's the deal with this? Could this be the dif?

 

[jamsie]

I am in the process of trying some Russian blades out at the moment, I had been a frequent user of Gillette Rubie's and I like them, also have had a couple of weeks on the Rapira Platinum Lux and they are good too. Neither of them are teflon coated (I have not noticed this written on the blades).

I am currently not enjoying the Sputnik's which are teflon coated. Maybe mine come from a bad batch but they don't seem as sharp as the others I tried nor do they have the endurance. In my opinion the teflon has made no difference unless without it the blades would be worse...

 

[RF1963]

I have an article excerpting Joseph M Juran's memoirs "An Architect of Quality" detailing his involvement in 1947 with Gillette.

In experiments to test the efficacy of cutting edges it was noted that a blunt wire cuts cheese with less resistance than a dull butter knife or sharp steak knife. It was concluded that the resistance was caused by the cheese adhering to the sides of the knives and it was suspected that human hairs do likewise to the sides of a razor blade. This led to some blades being coated with silicone and then shave tested. Testers reported an increase in shave comfort and so was created the Gillette Super Blue Blade.

I imagine the non stick teflon surface has the same effect which might explain "the diff"!

 

[malocchio]

I am in the process of trying some Russian blades out at the moment, I had been a frequent user of Gillette Rubie's and I like them, also have had a couple of weeks on the Rapira Platinum Lux and they are good too. Neither of them are teflon coated (I have not noticed this written on the blades).

I am currently not enjoying the Sputnik's which are teflon coated. Maybe mine come from a bad batch but they don't seem as sharp as the others I tried nor do they have the endurance. In my opinion the teflon has made no difference unless without it the blades would be worse...

I have had good luck with my sputniks,and have used a few packs of them....they work better in some razors than others,but I think this is true for all blades...sometimes it's the blade/razor combo that makes the difference...for me a sputnik loaded into my 1926 big boy or my e.j. chatsworth gives a really great shave

 

[shumanfoo]

I have had good luck with my sputniks,and have used a few packs of them....they work better in some razors than others,but I think this is true for all blades...sometimes it's the blade/razor combo that makes the difference...for me a sputnik loaded into my 1926 big boy or my e.j. chatsworth gives a really great shave

I'm using my Voskhods in a Merkur Progress. Maybe you're correct.

 

[jamsie]

I only have one DE razor the Muhle R89 so can't compare. I am really happy with its size and weight so am not tempted (yet) to seek an alternative. The good thing is that there are so many choices of blades out there that it is easy to find your razor's perfect partner.

 

[Helveticum]

Hello gents. Just tried a pack of Sputniks and was amazed: the shaves I got were absolutely superior by closeness and comfort to the ones with Derbys and 7 O'Clocks I'd been using before. So far only Feathers beat it in my experience - but definitely not by value, given the price difference of tenfold

P.S. really want to try Rapiras now.

 

[tumblty]

I have been using Vokshods for two weeks, I am now rotating them between my favorites. I love those blades and they are as good as my Persona Medical preps and PermaSharp Supers. (infact, I think the permasharps may be from the same plant, but IDK)

 

[malocchio]

I am in the process of trying some Russian blades out at the moment, I had been a frequent user of Gillette Rubie's and I like them, also have had a couple of weeks on the Rapira Platinum Lux and they are good too. Neither of them are teflon coated (I have not noticed this written on the blades).

I am currently not enjoying the Sputnik's which are teflon coated. Maybe mine come from a bad batch but they don't seem as sharp as the others I tried nor do they have the endurance. In my opinion the teflon has made no difference unless without it the blades would be worse...

many forum posters have stated the teflon coated blades take 1 or 2 shaves to really expose the raw edge of the blade...this makes sense,since the teflon covers the whole blade....

 

[Confilo]

I'm into a Russian blades phase and IMO, the soap or cream one's use makes the difference if the blades are good quality to begin with