Well-loved blades which you hate

[UncleMush]

So there are some blades which get mucho love in this subforum, and here below are some which come to mind.

• Astra Superior Platinum
• Personna Lab Blues
• Polsilver Super Iridium
• Feather
• Voskhod

My question is this: is there a highly-touted blade which you absolutely cannot stand?

For me it is Polsilver. I bought two tucks a couple-three years ago, and have never done well with them. PSI just rip my face open.

 

[FloridaCreekIndian]

Most of the more common/popular blades I do well with. I did not care for Shark blades. I liked the Merkur blade that came with my 34c better than the Shark.

 

[Swazilander]

Personna Lab Blues didn't like enough that I traded them away and apologized to son for giving him some for grad present.

 

[UncleMush]

Agreed. Lab Blues are a small step up from mediocre, but I don't hate them.

 

[CamberwellCarrot]

Feathers
I tried to forget about lab blues, but this thread dredged up some old buried feelings.
Derby Extra is another one which is probably as contentious as Feathers. I fall on the "would rather shave with a butter knife" side.

 

[lloydrm]

feathers and 7o'clocks

 

[gwsmallwood]

Labs. I've tried revisiting them a few times with no luck. Just not my blade.

 

[weekly]

[QcannoE="Swazilander, post: 8822777, member: 101462"]Personna Lab Blues didn't like enough that I traded them away and apologized to son for giving him some for grad present.[/QUOTE]
I can not stand/tolerate any of the Persona
blades to me the Israeli Persona is the worst
just absolutely terrible and the Med Preps
to me are not Sharp at all, the GSB'S and
any of the 7o'clocks are far Superior to any
Thing carrying the Persona name..

 

[Kreator82]

I have recently found I have great disdain for Astra SP blades. They aren't that sharp, and rough on my face. My most hated blades are the Gillette 7 O'clock line. All the colors were horrible. They are rough, dull, and hacked me up. I've never been snagged by a blade so much in my life. I would rather saw my own head off with fishing wire than use them again.

 

[Demidog]

I can't stand Gillette Silver Blues, which seem to be the most popular blade by a longshot. I tried two different blades in case one of them was a dud and they were both terrible for me.

I don't know if they're considered popular but I also hated Sharks and Personna reds. They are both easily the worst blades that I have ever used. It was like shaving with a rusty can and I had pain for days after using the Personna red. Personna blues weren't too bad on the first shave but the second one was enough to discourage me from using them again.

 

[Joe blow]

I don't hate any of them. I love them all. Everytime I compare a 15 cent DE blade to a $3.00 cartridge which I shaved with for decades I get a warm and fuzzy feeling. $3.00 for a 10pk vs. $23.00 for a 10pk of the old cartridges. Love DE blades ....

 

[Dog Whiskerer]

Perma-Sharp Super. They might be too sharp. I get bumps in the area below my mouth and on my chin when I shave with these blades.

 

[G-Dogg]

Shark Super Stainless. They seem to get lots of honourable mentions, but I couldn't even finish the sample pack, they were that poor (for me). They perform very well in my baker's lame, though.

 

[StanStill]

I had a leftover Feather that I had been saving for (no idea why, I just have a habit of saving one of every blade I've tried) a couple years. For a long time I just sorta gave up on them. No matter what I do, I get 3-5 weepers and my Adam's apple area gets totally inflamed. But it's been so long, and I figured "I can handle it... my technique is way better now... I haven't had a weeper since I don't even remember when... I'll be very gentle"

Sure enough, 4 weepers, and I've got a candy red Adam's Apple. And my face isn't even smooth! Not sure how they can cut my skin more and my whiskers less.

 

[adamchur]

How long a list would you like.........

Derby Extra.....
Sharp enough for 3 good, close shaves per blade and smooth enough to be comfortable, but.....
Every time I tried shaving with them, both as a beginner and 12 months later just to satisfy my curiosity.....
My face always ended up hot, red, sweaty, puffy and unbelievably itchy - no other blade ever had that effect on me either before or since - not even the dreaded mystery blades with the Chinese writing on the wrapper that come with cheap, Chinese razors - and that's saying something !!
To be fair I think it was a reaction to the chemicals they use in the coating.

Super-Max Stainless or Super Stainless
I've read some good reports on both blades, but I've never been happy with either
Stainless always went blunt on day one
Super Stainless weren't too bad for 2 days, but not worth having on the 3rd - I can get the same performance from Dorco ST300 blades for half the price !!
Super-Max Blue Diamond were ok, but I'd rather have something from Moscow or St. Petersburg instead that costs less money and has equal or better performance

Gillette 7 O'Clock Black from India
I got 4 shaves per blade, and never had a nick, weeper or irritation, but they felt so uncomfortable that I'd rather pay less money for something that I can enjoy shaving with -
ie Gillette 7 O'Clock Green from India or Gillette 7 O'Clock Yellow from Russia

Gillette Wilkinson Sword from India
Gillette 7 O'Clock Green from India, Gillette 7 O'Clock Yellow from Russia and Wilkinson Sword from Germany are three of my favourite blades, but.....
To me, combining the names Gillette and Wilkinson Sword in the same name is a recipe for disaster
I just about managed to get one mediocre shave from a blade before I threw it away
I tried another blade just to see if it was a dud with the same result
Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice - shame on me !!

I don't actually hate these blades as such, but I hate the way they either under perform or the way they are overpriced and generally find them to be over rated

Gillette Rubie Platinum
I can't prove a thing, but if somebody told me that Gillette Rubie and Gillette 7 O'Clock Black were just the same blades with different packaging and printing - it wouldn't take much effort to convince me !!

Perma-Sharp Super, Gillette Nacet
Don't get me wrong, I find both blades sharp, smooth and comfortable enough for 3 good shaves per blade, but I consider the price more than I'm willing or able to pay for a "daily beater" blade - I can take my pick of my favourite blades for the same money or less

Voskhod
I like the Super Stainless, Chrome Stainless, Swedish Supersteel, Platinum Lux, Sharp Star and especially Ladas from the Rapira factory in Moscow - all good for 3 shaves per blade, all reasonably priced and with some very generous combined shipping deals to make any one of them a very good choice for a daily beater - but for some unknown reason I find the Voskhod to be a bit rough and scritchy

Not a direct criticism, but I wouldn't buy Feather Hi-Stainless again for various reasons.....
The ones that I bought at auction on eBay from an Israeli seller and the ones that came with my Windrose razor handle from England were good for 4 shaves per blade, but.....
The Feather blades that I bought at auction on eBay from a Thai seller were sometimes good for 4 shaves per blade, but others from the same tuck went blunt after only 2 or 3 shaves - apparently at random.
I think that the Feather blades from Thailand were probably fakes - after all, we've all heard the one about the gullible tourist whose wrist ended up turning green whenever he tried to wear the "genuine" Rolex that he bought in Thailand
Unfortunately I can't remember which seller I bought them from, I have no way of knowing if the other sellers are legit or selling fakes - and more to the point, I don't want to spent about €25 / 100 on Feather blades when I can take my pick of some very good blades like Bic Chrome Platinum, Gillette 7 O'Clock Green from India, 7 O'Clock Yellow from Russia, Silver Star, Personna Platinum Chrome, Racer Super Class Platinum, Wilkinson Sword from Germany or Zaza - all of which are good for 4 very good shaves per blade for about half the price of Feather blades

 

[Big Burly]

Feather blades hate me. I cannot get a decent shave from them, and I have lots of bleeding and irritation when I use them.

GSBs. I had one blade that was fabulous in my Feather Popular razor. The rest have not been kind to me.

Shark Super Chrome. My first 100 blade purchase, and my first to be binned. I had one blade that got me 10 really good shaves. I was lucky to get 2 out of the rest of them. Not comfortable for me. I just could not give these to anyone, unless I wanted slow, weeping revenge.

Lab Blues that were probably the "barber" blades. Sharp and bitey. Blood-letting monsters on my face. Since Personna is so bad at clearly labeling their blades, I can't trust Lab Blues again. I am willing to try Med Preps purchased by Robbins Instruments.

I have used more blades, and there were a lot more that I did not like. My current favorites are Voskhod and German Wilkinson Swords. I remember liking Derby blades when I first started DE wet shaving, but I need to try them again. I believe I have some coming as a freebie with my new RazoRock DE tech razor.

I have Astra SPs that I have had both excellent, smooth shaves from as well as terrible blades that have been bad for me.

I'm starting to believe that my face hates the Platinum coating on blades. I get along much better with PTFE/Teflon coatings.

 

[Norman Gunston]

Little doubt that Feather blades are very sharp, but they simply do not agree with my skin.

 

[seattleshaver]

I don't hate any of them but I've found the ones that I like best and I now just use them. I agree with the majority regarding Gillette Silver Blue and Astra SP are fine as well. I don't need to mess with anything else. When I use the rest of my Astra SP's I'll just stick with the Sliver Blues.

Nacet was fine, Polsiver was fine and I could use most of the rest but I didn't really feel the love for Voskhod, Blue Labs, etc. and Feathers were just too sharp. Derby and Sharks were just too dull.

 

[Pepin]

Astra green, poor to mediocre shaves.
Shark ,,,,,, using someones expression from a previous post: the dull knife of shaving.

 

[musicman1951]

I think the "perfect" shave comes from the best combination of razor/blade/face and technique. I believe that's why some of us love blades that others hate.

In my older, milder razors Feather blades gave me a great shave, but the longevity was quite poor. In my current set-up they too easily provide irritation. Many things are ymmv, but none more than blades.