Souplex DE Blades - Can't remove weird rust-like substance

[weaz12]

Being new to DE shaving, I have been buying and testing a whole bunch of different DE blades. Depending on the blade and whether it's available as part of a sampler pack, sometimes I will have to buy them individually. I had read some really great reviews on the Souplex DE blade, and decided to buy a box of (10).

After removing the box of blades from the shipping package, I immediately noticed that the box containing the (10) blades was completely blank. Unlike every other box that I had received, the Souplex box did not contain any graphics, logos, or text whatsoever. This struck me as being a bit odd, but once I started pulling the actual razor blades out of the box, I noticed that the blades had a very dark, rust-like residue covering quite a large portion of the blades surface area. The fact that the blades were not usable upon arrival, combined with the odd, plain white box that they showed up in, it pretty much seems to me like these blades were already used at some point and were put into the generic plain box to be resold?

As you can see in the photos below, this substance is all over the blades, but did not appear to be on both sides of each blade. I tried a bunch of different ways to remove the residue, but was unsuccessful in each of them. The residue is not a type of glue or wax, that much I do know. Is it possible that its rust?

I guess what I am asking here is if anyone knows what this substance is, or has anyone encountered a similar situation with Souplex blades? Also, any recommendations or advice on how I might go about getting rid of this would be greatly appreciated.

Also, until I can get some conclusive evidence indicating that these are a bad batch, or perhaps are already used blades, etc., I would prefer not to mention the vendor that I purchased these from.

Thank you.

 

[cubfanbob]

> The fact that the blades were not usable upon arrival, combined with the odd, plain white box that they showed up in, it pretty much seems to me like these blades were already used at some point and were put into the generic plain box to be resold?

That seems like an odd and premature assumption. Maybe they're manufacturing seconds? Maybe they corroded in storage? Plenty of other possibilities.

I have seen similar surface anomalies on Super-Max Stainless blades (blue/orange pack). It certainly wasn't as extensive as the pictures you're showing but the blade edges themselves were (as far as I could tell) unaffected, the blades shaved just fine.

Perhaps try one and see how it works/feels?

 

[redtide]

I have the same issue, I bought a box of 100 from shaving.ie, on the their web page here they mention it is a teflon coating issue which should not affect the performance of the blade.

 

[smalltank]

sandpaper...180 grit sandpaper will work but scratches will be visible til you go up to 2k grit for a beautiful shiny look...its not like your shaving NOT with the edge...which has NO rust from what I can see..

 

[redtide]

Mine also came in a plain white box.

 

[talibeard]

This is not what a Souplex blade should look like at all. I mean not that it is not genuine; they do come in plain white boxes these days and the graphics on the blade are legit too. The corrosion you see is what it is; corrosion. Meaning these have been stored (very) wrong or have become wet during storing and or transport, and this probably some time ago to let this amount of corrosion take place on a stainless steel blade. This has nothing at all to do with a teflon coating; if anything teflon would even more protect the blade from corroding.

The only other explanation would be that the steel supplier of Medyna (maker of Souplex) did send ground material that was unfit.

Edit: Did you contact the vendor about this? If anything he should be made aware that this is what he is selling; no decent seller will like it if his blades arrive in this condition!

 

[Luke Sky High]

Unlike what many DE shavers believe, coating is only applied to the cutting edge, to make more resistant to wear. Maritime stainless has 17% chrome in the alloy. Stainless blades have 12% or 13% chrome in the alloy. They will rust if badly stored for long periods of time.
If the cutting edges are in mint condition -> use the blade.
PLEASE DO NOT WIPE THE BLADE'S EDGE! Stainless is softer than carbon steel, therefor manufacturers apply Teflon and platinum coatings to the blade's cutting edge to increase it's wear resistance, giving the blades a longer usable life.
I judge from your photos that the surface corrosion is only in the main surface, not in the edge. Someone has to be the guinea pig.

 

[weaz12]

Thanks all. I appreciate the feedback.

With the other poster mentioning that he had same issue after ordering from shaving.ie, I think I should probably point out that I purchased these from shaving.ie as well.

I have not contacted them yet, as I wanted to see what people had to say about it first. I will contact them and inform them that there's been more than one reported case of this.

 

[redtide]

I Guess no one read my post except the original poster, here is what is posted on shaving.ie about the souplex discolouration.

SPECIAL OFFER: WE HAVE REDUCED THE PRICE OF THESE BLADES DUE TO A DISCOLOURATION CAUSED BY A TEFLON COATING APPLIED IN THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS. THE MANUFACTURER INSURES PERFORMANCE AND USABILITY HAVE NOT BEEN COMPROMISED.

 

[barbapapa]

I Guess no one read my post except the original poster, here is what is posted on shaving.ie about the souplex discolouration.

SPECIAL OFFER: WE HAVE REDUCED THE PRICE OF THESE BLADES DUE TO A DISCOLOURATION CAUSED BY A TEFLON COATING APPLIED IN THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS. THE MANUFACTURER INSURES PERFORMANCE AND USABILITY HAVE NOT BEEN COMPROMISED.

case solved when it comes to souplex sold by the 100s. however - op states he bought a pack of 10 - the discoloration is not mentioned there - but it does say "Packaged in white packs of 10".

 

[redtide]

Mine also came in a plain white box.

I assume when they sell individual packages of ten blades they are getting them form the 100 packs with this flaw.

 

[Cyanshine]

Did you get anywhere with this? Got the same with Timor blades.

 

[weaz12]

Funny you ask....

I emailed shaving.ie for the 2nd time earlier this week to see about getting an exchange, etc.

EDIT: I should have read the posts above me first....

Ill update once I hear back from shaving.ie

 

[malocchio]

I always wanted to try the Souplex,but whether or not the coating discoloration has any effect or not,I would not want to pay a premium price for ugly looking blades .These blades should have been cleared out of the wharehouse at $10 per hundred,just to get rid of them !....let me know when they start issuing pristine blades,I still want to take a shot at them.

 

[CapnPanther]

Had the same experience as Cyanshine with a Timor I loaded earlier this week, though the discoloration wasn't nearly as extensive as that shown in the OP. Not a huge surprise since they are manufactured in the same factory as Souplex. When I went to discard it today after three shaves, the discoloration had spread to about 75% of the blade. Fortunately, it did not effect the shave, which were smooth and comfortable. But I agree with malocchio; this shouldn't happen to a product for which a premium price is charged.