Van der Hagen

[strop]

I had a short road trip this past weekend for a wedding. After arrival at our destination comma I found myself without my dopp kit. I made a trip to Walmart to see what I could find. Fully prepared to go back to the cart, I discovered that they carried the van der Hagen safety razors. I figured this was as good as time as any to give it a try. I picked up a tube of Cremo cooling cream as well, since I didn't really want the cheap brush and mug.
I was pleasantly surprised with the shave, and found it on par with my Tech. My initial impression was that it was lighter, but this was probably influenced by the fact that I have been using my fat boy all week long. In reality it's six grams heavier than the tech. It came with a packet of blades, labeled made in Germany, so I suspect they were Merkur blades. Either my memory is getting bad, or my technique is better, because these were much better than what I remember Merkur to be. I'll continue to use this set up this week to see how many shaves and I can get from one of these blades. Very likely this will turn out to be my travel razor. Fit and finish we're really above my expectations. Label says Chrome plated brass.

 

[jmarlow]

Awesome, thanks for the quick review. I've wondered about the quality of these razors. I'll be anxious to hear the rest of your take on how the blades perform as well.

 

[gvw755]

They are rebranded Weishis, and Weishis are a good middle grade TTO. Like many Chinese razors, they are better than their price point.

 

[Boring Euroshaver]

That looks like to be a rebranded Weishi 9306. If it weighs about 63g and you say it's chrome plated, then it's the Weishi F. I have 2 of them. It works with any blade for me, but it works best with sharp blades.

 

[KeenDogg]

Weishis have a good reputation.

 

[McHale]

I dunno about anybody else here, but I really like the Van der Hagen soap they sell as well. It lathers well, smells OK, inexpensive, and a good size puck.

 

[jmarlow]

I dunno about anybody else here, but I really like the Van der Hagen soap they sell as well. It lathers well, smells OK, inexpensive, and a good size puck.

I too have good results using the soap.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

 

[gvw755]

Well since we're in a VDH praise fest, my second brush was a VDH boar (the old green handle ones). I got it for $2 at BB&B on the clearance rack. It is still in my rotation after 3 years and holds it's own against a RR, Omega, and Semogue. It convinced me that boar was the way to go. I own just one badger brush (since I was curious) and never wanted another.

 

[Hoka Hey]

I read an article that said they started out only making soap.

 

[BSAGuy]

Elegant field expedient solution. Hope the wedding was fun.

 

[Zipslack]

The razor, soap, and brushes are all decent products. Not great, but good. The blades, however, are not very good. They'll do in a pinch until you can find better.

For future reference, you can also find DE stuff at Sally's Beauty Supply. They have the Personna (US) blades in the 10-blade dispenser, which are very nice, for less than you would pay for the 5-pack of VDH blades. As a bonus, you can get a bottle of Clubman for $5-6. They have some kind of TTO that goes for about $12.

 

[strop]

Well it makes sense that VdH wouldn't be making their own. Rebranding a Weishi makes sense. Heck, even AOS rebrands! Seem to remember that the puck is made by the same people that make Col Conk. I was going to get the soap, mug, and brush set until I saw the Cremo. I had never tried it before, so wanted to give it a go. And I agree, the blades are not the best, but I've shaved with a lot worse! I've seen the stuuf at Sally's, but I was in a little town of 6,000! It was Walmart or CVS, and Walmart was closer!

 

[Boring Euroshaver]

Weishis have a good reputation.

In Europe i have spotted at least 4 other brand names, under which the heavier versions of Weishi 9306 have been commercialized. Including the mostly known for its Merkur clone, QShave. I have also seen one brand selling the lighter version of the razor for 5 EUR (the lighter version is supposed to be...much lighter, i think around 40g and doesn't shave so well due to lack of weight).

The heavier Weishis (my short handle is 63g, the long handle 75g, both heavier than a vintage Superspeed) i have seen them selling from 16 to 30 EUR. I think the sheer amount of rebrands is telling about the success this razor is having. If you don't mind using a very mild razor and doing touch ups and buffing, it's a very docile, sturdy razor, that can spare you a lot of nicks. I started with 1 Weishi and 1 Edwin Jagger DE89 Kelvin. I ended up with 2 Weishi FL, 2 Weishi F and 2 more Edwin Jagger DE89BL. 95% of my shaves are with the Weishi. The DE89 is more efficient at each pass, but if you come to know the Weishi well, at the end you can do the same job and using the TTO is more cosy than the 3-piece. The Chinese managed to copy the Superspeed well enough this time.

 

[BigJ]

Elegant solution! Glad things worked out!

 

[KeenDogg]

In Europe i have spotted at least 4 other brand names, under which the heavier versions of Weishi 9306 have been commercialized. Including the mostly known for its Merkur clone, QShave. I have also seen one brand selling the lighter version of the razor for 5 EUR (the lighter version is supposed to be...much lighter, i think around 40g and doesn't shave so well due to lack of weight).

The heavier Weishis (my short handle is 63g, the long handle 75g, both heavier than a vintage Superspeed) i have seen them selling from 16 to 30 EUR. I think the sheer amount of rebrands is telling about the success this razor is having. If you don't mind using a very mild razor and doing touch ups and buffing, it's a very docile, sturdy razor, that can spare you a lot of nicks. I started with 1 Weishi and 1 Edwin Jagger DE89 Kelvin. I ended up with 2 Weishi FL, 2 Weishi F and 2 more Edwin Jagger DE89BL. 95% of my shaves are with the Weishi. The DE89 is more efficient at each pass, but if you come to know the Weishi well, at the end you can do the same job and using the TTO is more cosy than the 3-piece. The Chinese managed to copy the Superspeed well enough this time.

I didn't know there were so many! Thanks, that was a great read.

Kindly,
Adam

 

[sebargan2313]

The razor was not bad at all. It's not quite a Gillette, but not bad. But! The soap was quite nice. It lathers well, lasts long and smells nice.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

 

[Boring Euroshaver]

I didn't know there were so many! Thanks, that was a great read.

Kindly,
Adam

Since i started DE shaving, i have browsed pretty much every internet corner of continental EU that i am able to understand the language well enough, to see the situation of product availability and prices (which is pretty good except for local blade availability). Going from memory, i 've seen Weishis 9306 sold under brands:
QShave, Frank Shaving, Figaro (pretty sure it's the lighter, cheaper version), Jagen David, Timor, MenU or Men4U (something like that), Ewin24 and a last one that i can't remember starting with "E" too i think. I also found at least 1 rebrand of each Baili razor model, but Weishi rebrands were way more.

 

[noelekal]

Thanks for starting this thread Mark. I'd wondered about these razors. I'd bought one about a year ago when I forgot to include a razor when I packed for a trip. The razor was quite nice and I wondered what it was. I was pleased that it was of plated brass construction as I don't do Zamak. My impression of the razor is that it shaves about like my 40s Gillette Super Speed.

 

[G.W.]

My first DE razor was a Weishi 9306 long handle. Looking back with the benefit of hindsight, I'm glad that I started there. I've since tried a ton of different razors, mostly vintage Gillettes, and some modern mid-priced examples. None of the modern, more expensive, razors I've used (EJ Kelvin, Merkur 38c, Schone, Maggard's V3A) are "better", they're just different. I'd agree that the shave of the Weishi definitely mirrors that of the earlier Super Speeds, which I happen to like.

If somebody needs an inexpensive razor (whether they're just starting out, or an old hand at DE shaving), a Weishi TTO isn't a bad choice at all.

 

[ackvil]

Nice, Mark. Five years ago it was difficult if not impossible to find DE blades in many stores. Brushes, soaps, creams, and razors were a dream.

About six years ago I went on a fishing trip to Canada. My first stop was in TN when I discovered I failed to pack a brush. I went to Wal-Mart, Walgreen's, and Kroger stores and could not find a brush. My next stop was Georgetown, IN - a suburb of Louisville, KY. Nothing there either even though I visited more stores such as Target, Myjer, etc. Now Kroger, Wal-Mart, pharmacy and other stores carry what you need.