I may be lazy, but I also do not want to eff up my face experimenting. I got lucky with Voskod blades several years ago finding that they were cheap and easy on my face. Half way through my 100 pack of Voskod blades I also got a 100 pack of feather blades. I found that the Voskod were nicer to my face, and felt better on the 2nd and 3rd use compared with feather. Though, I will admit that feather blades seem to work better when I have overgrown my beard and the blade is brand new.
For several reasons, including the fact that I do not see Voskod blades easily obtainable, I want to replace them with something that feels similar. I would prefer the blades to not be made in Russia, not to be coated in teflon, and to cost less than feather blades.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
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’ll second the Personna recommendation. I did the whole variety pack thing and found I really liked them best. My roommate swears by Astra and I’ll admit they are solid blades too
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.
Sharp are made in Bangladesh along with several other brands such as clifton and Champion to name just two. Sharp also come in various types. Astra blades were made in Russia St Petersberg and are now made in India. Ladas are made in the Russian owned plant Mostochlegmash where Rapira blades as well as your favourite blades (Voskhod) are made.
There are several Derby Blades floating around. There are some Derby Extra blades in white plastic tucks with vertically prints whilst there is an almost identically packaged Derby Extra which is horizontally aligned print insert in the plastic tuck. The ones with the vertically printed insert are said to be of the older stock whilst the new ones are horizontally aligned which is made on newer equipment along with Platinum (Black Plastic tucks) and USTA blades. Some people prefer the old and some people detest them. I have used all of them and they all appear to be fine. The only ones I have not used from this factory is the Bluebird blades but I vaguely recall other blades being made there but my memory fails me. (ZAZA is another blade that I forgot) Derby Extra are also available in orange and also blue labels. The Blue packaged ones are simply packs of 10. The new ones can also be had in tuckless bulk packs that are singly packaged in one little box. (used a fair few of these ones) Derby are very forgiving and probably most peoples starter blades at least they were which is where I suspect they get their poor reputation from.
It’s worth noting that Shark also have several different types of blades. Stainless, Chrome and Platinum. Platinum being the newest of the three types.
Gillette Silver Blue, Gillette 7 O’Clock SharpEdge (yellow) and Gillette 7 O’Clock Super Stainless (Green) still appear to be made in Russia however their quality may have declined in recent years. I cannot verify this myself as I have a large supply of several of these blades and none of mine appear to be made in recent years. In regards to the 7 O’Clock blades you have I would suggest the Super Stainless as they appear to be reasonably sharp and smooth whilst the yellow ones can vary due to changes made over the years. As of today the yellow SharpEdge ones are not bad but some say they are not as sharp as they used to be. I prefer how they shave now in comparison to the older ones I also have as they were not very smooth at all. I would rate the Green blades a little higher than the Astra superior Platinum blades. If I want a decent, no fuss shave I would chose the Green blades out of these. Gillette Silver Blue are a little dearer. I have found them to be more razor dependent than the Greens but are still pretty decent. Since these are all Russian made blades then availability might be a bit difficult. It is perhaps worth mentioning that I believe the 7 O’Clock blades are made for the Arabic nations (Sorry, a better description of the region is not coming to me) so availability might still be good which explains why they are still readily available. There is a version of Gillette Platinum blades that I enjoy that are still being made and I suspect for this reason also. I also suspect that the Silver Blue and Perma-Sharp blades are made for this market also. Prices may vary as some resellers are milking the market right now too.
Astra have been favoured by many as their first “decent” starter blade but due to the manufacturing location changes it is still early days to form a solid opinion and reputation but as with everything you are going to have fans of the old and fans of the new and then some people that hate change. Everyone’s opinion has their merit but since the ones you have are very likely made in Russia I would not depend on these as you will find it difficult to procure them now as they are starting to be overtaken by those made in India.
India, Pakistan and Egypt manufacturer a large assortments of blades not to mention China too. Treet is a reputable brand that make a good variety of blades are largely inexpensive and made in Pakistan. India make a fair few blades including a Gillette 7 O’Clock Super Platinum (Blacks) which are nice but for some reason have a big markup and are not worth the price if you ask me as their are other equally if not better blades made in India and elsewhere. Egypt make a ton of blades under several different brands. Bolzano, Rainbow, Lord (being the largest), ASCO, Elios, Shark and Silverstar etc. Vietnam Make Dorco blades which are not bad either. Greece make BiC blades of which there are two types Astor (Stainless steel) and the BiC Chrome Platinum blades.
I am keen to hear how you go with the Derby Extra blades you have.
I personally never found the Voskhod blades to be that great but there was a rather large batch that were faulty many years ago which is when I bought them. (probably before year 2005)
Perhaps you could clue us in what country you are located in so we can make some recommendations based on availability and prices too. We might even be able to provide you with a decent store to buy them at and at the best prices. As with everything I am not a fan of Amazon as you may not be getting what you pay for and may also be paying more than you should. Another factor ould be what razor you are using too as i believe some blades perform differently in different razors.
First, your writeup here is extremely helpful, thoughtful, and I am very grateful.
I am in the USA.
I actually just cancelled my Amazon Prime membership today after more than a decade. We used them for everything including grocery delivery, but no more.
I have primarily shopped at Maggard Razors (online) for my wet shaving needs and have been happy with their service, though I’m open to anything (except Amazon).
I just started my experimentation of finally trying these sample packs of blades I bought more than a year ago. I used one derby blade twice now. Seems fine. I’m not looking for the holy grail, just an affordable blade that gets the job done. I prefer to use a blade only once or twice before replacing, and I only shave between 2-4 times a week. It feels a lot easier to use a blade once or twice when it only costs $0.11 rather than $0.40 per blade.
FYI, I started off with a POS Viking razor from amazon, then got a Rockwell 6S. The Rockwell was fine, but I eventually got a Razorock GC84-P (Game Changer in the more aggressive gap). I love this razor.
Maggard Razors has the Derby blades in a 100 pack for $11.95. This seems reasonable to me. I will use all 5 in my sample pack (plastic tuck with writing read while tuck is in vertical orientation). Then I will try my tuck of 10 Sharp Durablade.
When I was first buying shaving soap I found it so confusing. It was only after I was informed that the main difference between the soaps was the fragrance that I finally started to “get it”. I have tried several soaps and found them all to be serviceable. I am primarily going with Stirling because it is highly available, reasonably priced, and works well for me.
I think that most blades should be fine for most people barring any bad batches. I do wish the terminology was more logical when describing these things.
