Types of DE blades

[Cerbul13]

The more blades I used, the more I started to notice that I can almost split the blades in 2 big categories:
1. thin-smooth ones - not necesarily smooth, but they feel like an extremely thin blade
2. rough ones

At start when I used personna and derby, it was quite obvious that I need sharper blades. But as today I used a Gillette Yellow, which is definitely the sharpest blade that I tested until today after feather(I still think feather is sharper), I got the feeling that it feels very alike derby and personna. Don't get me wrong, but I get the feeling that it sticks to my face like a knife does to butter, cutting myself way too easy, and is a totally different feeling from other blades like Gillette Stainless, Gillette Platinum, Iridium Super, which feel a bit rougher but cleaner, and don't tend to stick to my face, and take off an entire layer of skin.

Is there something wrong in what I do? Are the 2 categories that I described correct?
If this is true, are there any specific materials that they are coated with that don't work with my face? Or I don't know. Is there a place where I can find more info about what the blades are coated with and how does it affect the shave?

 

[mblakele]

Choice of blade is very personal. I would not use those categories, but if they work for you that is all that matters. Possibly you are sensing differences in the blade grind, tip radius, or both.

For coatings there are no rules, and little information available. Uncoated blade are sometimes said to feel rougher, but some folks prefer them. By convention any blade with "super" in its name is likely to have a coating of teflon (PTFE) or some other friction-reducing material. The next step up is usually a coating of something like platinum, under the PTFE. This is supposed to make the edge harder and more durable, but again some folks prefer plain "stainless steel". Perhaps the coatings end up increasing the tip radius enough to matter. There may also be interlayers of binding agents, so that the coatings stick to each other and to the underlying metal.

More exotic coatings also appear: ceramic, polymer, DLC (diamond-like coating), possibly nitrides, etc. For example here is what Gillette claimed in one whitepaper. The telomer coating is equivalent to PTFE, while DLC takes the place of platinum. There is an Nb binding layer between the steel and the DLC, and a Cr layer between the DLC and the telomer.

 

[talibeard]

I don't think there are 2 categories, apart from blades you like and blades you don't like. Some coated blades suit me better than their stainless/teflon counterparts and sometimes it is the other way around. Sharp and smooth is sometimes to be found in the same blade and sometimes not; the funny thing is that for two people this can be totally different (or even 'opposite') blades.

There is only one way to find out; try them!