Souplex razor information.

[morseman]

Hi all, i am after a bit of help regarding this neat little razor that has come my way, it looks as if it has never been wet and comes with six new and unopened blades, the razor is a 3 piece one in some sort of plastic/bakelite material and the head looks like it could be stainless steel, and it all packs into the tube very neatly. The things i have found out are that the blades were produced from 1929 but i do not know when they were discontinued and it looks like the razor could be mid 1930s, so anything else that i could find out about this little gem of a razor would be a bonus.

Thanks in advance

 

[ArNav]

Souplex brand is still alive today. You can buy Souplex blades. They are very good, BTW.

 

[mblakele]

The modern Souplex brand is German, from Solingen I believe. This razor and blades were made under the UK brand. As far as I can tell they were entirely separate organizations, and the name is just a coincidence. The UK Souplex got out of shaving ca. 1960, becoming a plastics producer. Then they changed names, and ceased to interest me.

The wiki page for Souplex has a little more about the history of the UK brand. I believe the Double Six blades were still available in 1935, so mid-1930s sounds reasonable. There was also a Double Six razor, which you can see on the wiki at Souplex_Double_Six_Minor. Aside from the color it looks very similar.

There might be a reference to this razor at http://books.google.com/books?id=lUXOAAAAMAAJ - snippet view only, sorry. But the search preview showed me this: "Big Ben, Souplex and Double Six razor blades, and a range of bakelite products which includes the latest design in compact razors for ladies and gentlemen, shaving brushes and soap containers." The word "latest" sort of implies that it was a new design in 1935, but I would not swear to that.

 

[morseman]

Many thanks for your information mblakele, as this razor was made about 40 miles from where i live i have found it very difficult to find any info about it,even google
could not help, but once again b&b comes up with the goods. Considering the razor is in superb condition and its 80 years old it may be a keeper, but as i mainly
use se razors we will have to see.

 

[nemo]

All good info as usual from mblakele.

Many thanks for your information mblakele, as this razor was made about 40 miles from where i live i have found it very difficult to find any info about it,even google
could not help, but once again b&b comes up with the goods. Considering the razor is in superb condition and its 80 years old it may be a keeper, but as i mainly
use se razors we will have to see.

I ran into the same lack of info problem when I was researching the wartime bakelite for the wiki (razor from my collection). Be sure to document yours in there, B&B will be the premiere source of information on obscure razors.

Maybe the razor will help you convert to DE. And hopefully someday soon we can gab about early Ghias!

 

[morseman]

Hi doug, well its a 63 ( imported from alabama ) so not so rare but i could not find a lowlight as they are as rare as hens teeth with the lips attached over here, and as i came from de shaving to the se razors ( 30 years ) i still have a few de razors about fatboy, slim etc etc, but it seems a shame to use this razor as its survived for such a long time seeing that its a bakelike razor so i might just put it away for future use by my son.

 

[mjclark]

Just to resurrect this thread, I acquired an identical Souplex yesterday and shaved with it this morning.
It is surprisingly aggressive and demands a delicate touch, but it is a superb shaver!

 

[alex2363]

Just to resurrect this thread, I acquired an identical Souplex yesterday and shaved with it this morning.
It is surprisingly aggressive and demands a delicate touch, but it is a superb shaver!

What blade did you use?

 

[mjclark]

What blade did you use?

Used a Brazilian Wilkinson that I received in a PIF from edw (thanks!)
Honestly Alex, I was amazed by this razor - I got as good a shave with it as from my Pearl SS-04!!

 

[alex2363]

Used a Brazilian Wilkinson that I received in a PIF from edw (thanks!)
Honestly Alex, I was amazed by this razor - I got as good a shave with it as from my Pearl SS-04!!

I just saw your post on BOTOC and replied.....i said that the Bakelite look nice but i dont like the shave results.

 

[mjclark]

I just saw your post on BOTOC and replied.....i said that the Bakelite look nice but i dont like the shave results.

Like your new avatar! And yeah, I had a British bakelite Tech set that looked amazing but I didn't enjoy the shave.
This aggressive Souplex, however, has just delivered a great result for me and is in a whole different league!

 

[alex2363]

Like your new avatar! And yeah, I had a British bakelite Tech set that looked amazing but I didn't enjoy the shave.
This aggressive Souplex, however, has just delivered a great result for me and is in a whole different league!

Yes, the holidays are here and we love it.....