What Will These Vintage Blades Do To My Face?

[mjclark]

I got a sealed pack of 5 Gillette Blue from a junk shop today:





That "H1" means 1962, right?
From what I hear, these blades are rough and take time to settle in so best bet is to use them in a Tech.

I'm also hanging on to these US Personna Super Stainless:



I don't know anything about them- they came with a 1940's bakelite 7 O'Clock set, though obviously the blades are newer than that.
Any suggestions or experience of others who've used these blades would be much appreciated before I set to...
...And once I have, I'll report back.

 

[deoxy4]

I have not used uncoated carbon blades but have used coated carbon blades. Coated carbon blades are rough shavers but for me cause no irritation. I suspect they will shave rough but have no idea about irritation. Do a search for "carbon" if you don't get replies. http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...ng-to-Love-Old-Carbon-Blades?highlight=carbon

 

[Old Man Army]

On several occasions, my vintage razor purchase has included vintage blades. I have tried vintage Gillette blue blades, Shick blades and a couple other lesser known brands that slip my mind. While there was an element of cool factor of using something 50 years old, the shaves weren't all that great. YMMV.

 

[Dalejr]

You probably won't like the Gillette Blue Blades but the Personna Super Stainless should be nice.

 

[mjclark]

Well I played it safe and loaded the Gillette Blue into a 44g ball end Tech and, much to my surprise, the results were fantastic.
It was altogther a different experience to stainless but not rough in a random jarring way like I've experienced with Astras, just more uniformly abrasive.
I came away with some reddening on my neck but it passed very quickly.
And it was super super sharp, reminded me of Feathers but qualitativly different , like using a ceramic knife. It felt as if the blade was just mowing down the hairs and I ended up with a really close shave.
I think I've just been converted to carbon and have ordered some Treet Durasharps now just to make sure.

 

[Sir Lurkalot]

The Personna stainless will be excellent. Blue Blades? Tried them once. Never again.

 

[mjclark]

Ok I just had my second shave with the same Gillette Blue blade in the same Tech head but I swapped out the ball end handle for the crosshatch aluminium handle, bringing the weight of the razor down to about 30g.
I can honestly say this is the best shave I have ever had...yet. Right in DFS territory and edging its way towards BBS.
The very light razor worked really well with this blade, another similarity to my experience with Feathers and I'll definitely give one of these Blues a go in my bakelite 7 O'Clock sometime soon.
I guess the blade is settling in too and there was less sense of abrasion, still some slight redness on the neck but this went even more quickly than on the first shave, and there didn't seem to be any diminution in sharpness.

After reading about other peoples experiences with this blade, and carbon steel blades in general, I'm surprised at how well it agrees with me. I've also had great experiences with Sharks and Feathers but haven't been able to get on with Astra SP or Polsilver SI at all.
Really ​looking forward to the Treets arriving now!

 

[deoxy4]

Given your positive experience, I would recommend you try some pristine Gillette Super Blues.

 

[Kilroy08]

I tried a vintage blue blade from the '30s in a similar vintage tech. I got a very nice shave out of it.

 

[americanarmsdealer]

The Personna stainless will be excellent. Blue Blades? Tried them once. Never again.

+1! I had a bad experience! Although mine lasted all of one single stroke. Then I was like, "Well, that's enough of that!" Felt like trying to shave with an Epilady...or at least what I would imagine it would be like to shave with an electric rotating spring!

 

[mjclark]

Well...after two magnificent shaves from the Gillette Blue, I had a day off and returned for the third shave tonight. The blade had been in the head for four days and showed no signs of corrosion but the edge had deteriorated to such an extent that it was unusable, like shaving with a bit of cardboard.
Whether this rapid deterioration is due to the age of the blade, the fact that I didn't remove it after each shave and store it in oil, or is just in the nature of carbon steel blades I don't know.I've got some Treet Durasharps now and there's ten PAL hollow ground on their way, so we'll soon find out

Anyway I swapped onto the Personna Super Stainless and played it safe again by loading one into a very mild English Old Type clone.
It was really really smooth but very mild so maybe this blade deserves a more aggressive razor to do it justice...
... So I tried another Personna Super Stainless in the much lighter but more aggressive bakelite 7 O'Clock. This was the razor with which these blades originally came, and it gave a great shave. These blades really are super smooth but frustratingly mild. Maybe this is due to age and a rough decades-long journey from the USA to Devon or maybe the were just always like that.

 

[bdcoffey]

After reading these responses, I am tempted to put a few Gillette Blue blades to use that I found for sale at a historic department store here in Milwaukee.

 

[The Dean]

Just guessing here, but I think I know the answer to the question "What will these blades do to my face?'

Answer: Shave it!