this post was submitted on 24 Oct 2024
5 points (100.0% liked)
Wicked Edge - A community for Shaving Enthusiasts!
61 readers
1 users here now
A community for shaving enthusiasts! Safety razors or straight edge.
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Don't quote me on this but I think most blades will have a PTFE (Teflon) coating of some sort, but some have more than others. I think both Voskod and Feather have a PTFE coating.
I've not used Voskod at all, and everyone's face is different, so I'm not sure how good my recommendations will be, but for me personally nothing beats Tiger Platinum blades made in Czechia. They are made by the same company who used to make the Astra blades for Gillette before they moved production to Russia. Here in the UK I only ever see them in specialist shaving shops, but they're easily obtainable online. My second favourite are the German made Personna Platinum blades.
I know you said you didn't want to experiment, but I do think that's the only way you'll find "your blades". Even though I'm perfectly happy with Tiger and Personna I've still got a stash of 5-10 blade packs of various brands that I haven't tried yet; every now and then when I'm feeling adventurous I'll give one of them a try and see if it's an improvement on what I'm currently using. I know it's cheaper to buy in bulk but I'd never buy a 100 pack of a blade I've never tried before.
I really wish razor blades came with a "nutrition label" that said what they were made of, where they were made, and their initial sharpness. Terms like "super stainless" "sharpedge" and "superior stainless" just do not do much to help me figure out what I'm potentially introducing to my bloodstream or how the blade will perform.
I actually have a 8 packs of samples of "silver blue" "7 o clock" (green and yellow?) "Sharp Durablade" "Astra superior stainless" "ladas" "Derby" and "Shark". I have not appreciated Shark in the past. The Ladas appear to have Russian writing, but do not clearly say where made. The 7oclock and super blues say they are made in Russia clearly. The Astra does not say where it is made, but it is clearly a P&G brand, so should I assume Russia? The "Derby Extra Superior Stainless" says it has a "Platinum Tungsten Polymer Coating", should I assume this is still teflon?
Planning to continue my "experimentation" with the derby (made in Turkey, maybe not teflon?), but would also love to know any details about Sharp and Astra as this stuff is just not "google-able".
Yeah, it can be pretty tough to pin down exact details about some blades. I've often seen details on a single blade vary from shop to shop, forum thread to forum thread. It's part of why I don't feel confident enough to say for certain what blade has PTFE or not.
As for the safety of PTFE, it is used for many medical purposes, including arterial grafts; that's about as close to the bloodstream as you can get. PTFE can give off harmful gasses at high temperatures, but it's stable up to 260 °C (500 °F) so as long as you don't run the tap too hot and you'll be fine 🤣
There's one blogger out there who does in depth blade reviews and tries to objectively measure each blades sharpness (annoyingly I can't find his site anymore), but at the end of the day no matter what a review says each blade is going to perform different for each person depending on their face, skill, razor, and 100 other variables.
My first double edge razor blades were Derby's and I found them to be an excellent starter blade; very forgiving of bad technique. I've still got a few packs of them and keep meaning to go back and revisit them after a few years of learning and practice.
refinedshaving was the site you are perhaps referring to. The website has shutdown now but regardless it is a bit outdated now since a lot has changed since those tests were done.