RayClem's Blade Evaluations

Wednesday Shave- Gillette Goal Super Platinum- China

The Gillette Goal blade are made in Shanghai, China. These were rather expensive bades when purchased by the tuck, so I was hoping that the performance would be at least as good as the Gillette Super Stainless with Platinum blade I used on Monday.

I started the shave with the Super Stainless blade still in the Karve razor. The blade was still reasonably smooth and reasonably sharp based as determined in the previous shave. When I replaced the blade with the Gillette Goal blade, the initial impression was that it was not quite as sharp as there was significant blade resistance. The blade did become sharper during the shave and I was able to achieve a near-BBS shave, but not as close as I normally expect for a four-pass shave. Furthermore when i applied witch hazel after the shave, the feedback was rather uncomfortable. Thus, I rate this shave as slightly below the shave with the Gillette Super Stainless. That was a disappointment.

Based on the results of this shave, I rate the Gillette Goal at 4 sharpness, which is similar to the Super Stainless. However, because of the elevated level of irritation, I only rated the smoothness as 3.5. As with the Super Stainless blade, the Gillette Goal is one I would have difficulty recommending as there are numerous blades available with similar or better performance and lower cost when purchase in bulk.

The evaluation spreadsheet has been updated.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/71ttt15wy...qo8eb&dl=0

For Friday's shave, I plan to use the Gillette 365 Platinum blade made in India.

Wednesday Shave- Gillette Goal Super Platinum- China

The Gillette Goal blade are made in Shanghai, China. These were rather expensive bades when purchased by the tuck, so I was hoping that the performance would be at least as good as the Gillette Super Stainless with Platinum blade I used on Monday.

I started the shave with the Super Stainless blade still in the Karve razor. The blade was still reasonably smooth and reasonably sharp based as determined in the previous shave. When I replaced the blade with the Gillette Goal blade, the initial impression was that it was not quite as sharp as there was significant blade resistance. The blade did become sharper during the shave and I was able to achieve a near-BBS shave, but not as close as I normally expect for a four-pass shave. Furthermore when i applied witch hazel after the shave, the feedback was rather uncomfortable. Thus, I rate this shave as slightly below the shave with the Gillette Super Stainless. That was a disappointment.

Based on the results of this shave, I rate the Gillette Goal at 4 sharpness, which is similar to the Super Stainless. However, because of the elevated level of irritation, I only rated the smoothness as 3.5. As with the Super Stainless blade, the Gillette Goal is one I would have difficulty recommending as there are numerous blades available with similar or better performance and lower cost when purchase in bulk.

The evaluation spreadsheet has been updated.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/71ttt15wy...qo8eb&dl=0

For Friday's shave, I plan to use the Gillette 365 Platinum blade made in India.

I am curious to see how the 365’s go. They appear to be a good buy, even when purchased by the tuck. I see a five pack of them at Maggard’s for only $1.00. I also saw them elsewhere for $3.49 a tuck which is quite a price gap.

Today I paired up my Wizamet blade with my Timeless Ti95 OC. It was a fantastic shave. Very smooth and very efficient. I remember when I had first gotten the Timeless how shocked I was at how smooth it shaved. At that point in time, a .95OC seemed quite intimidating, but it doesn’t feel aggressive at all. I have the polished version, and I’m wondering what anybody’s thoughts would be as to how much the high polish on this razor does or doesn’t add to the smoothness of the shave.

Today I paired up my Wizamet blade with my Timeless Ti95 OC. It was a fantastic shave. Very smooth and very efficient. I remember when I had first gotten the Timeless how shocked I was at how smooth it shaved. At that point in time, a .95OC seemed quite intimidating, but it doesn’t feel aggressive at all. I have the polished version, and I’m wondering what anybody’s thoughts would be as to how much the high polish on this razor does or doesn’t add to the smoothness of the shave.

I got a Timeless titanium 0.96 SB at Christmas. I meant to order the OC model, but I messed up when placing the order. I have only use it a couple of times as I am using the Karve C plate for the blade evaluations. I have not even used it enough to determine whether it is more or less aggressive than my Karve D plate. I also have a Karve E plate, which I have not yet tried. 

When I finish the blade evaluations sometime in March, I want to try going back to my typical shave procedure of using a different razor and blade for each pass. The routine I am envisioning is using the Karve E-plate for the 1st pass WTG; using the Timeless 0.95 XTG. Using the Karve C plate ATG; and then using the Timeless 0.68 for my clean-up pass. With the right blades in each razor, I should be able to get a full BBS shave with zero irritation. 

Since I have little experience with the Timeless 0.95, I doubt I would pick the Wizamet as my first blade, but after a little experience, I could see myself using it for WTG and XTG passes. I would be somewhat wary of using it ATG or buffing until I had a fair amount of experience with the razor. Typically, I like using less aggressive razors for those passes due to skin sensitivity. 

I also have the polished finish for both of my Timeless razors. I love the finish. I have no idea how Timeless got them so shiny.  Both razors are absolute works of art, but also great shavers. I have not used either of my razors enough to tell whether the finish affects the glide. However, I am using soaps that provide such good primary and residual slickness, I am not sure I would be able to tell, even on the clean-up pass. The only way I might be able to tell is to try my clean-up pass  without relathering. I have a few soaps whose residual slickness is good that I can do that without causing irritation.

Southsider

I never quite found the old Gillette Platinum blades to be quite sharp enough for my beard. I am sure they worked well for many shavers. However, the Platinums in the new blue packaging like you used were a step up in both sharpness and smoothness making them a blade I can easily use to achieve a great shave. Those blades were made by PPI in Russia. Thus, my concern is whether the brand will be relocated to China or India and still maintain that level of performance. That is why I am currently evaluating some Gillette blades made elsewhere. I am hoping blades like Gillette Goal Platinum, Gillette Super Nacet, and Gillette 365 (India) might be suitable replacements.

BTW: I hope you like the Grooming Dept Eau de Magnolia soap. While not quite as good as the more recent Maxima formulation, I love both the performance and the scent.

I have a good number of both new and old Russian made Gillette Platinum blades such that I will never run out in my lifetime. I do agree that the New is better though I can get a good shave from either. I suspect you are more tuned to the differences than I am. Packaging differences aside, the New blades have the arrow heads laser etched on them. Upon reviewing Razor Blades Club, it looks like the New Chinese Gillette Platinum blades come in tucks which look like the New tucks from Russia. More confusion.

I very much like Eau de Magnolia which is in the Kairos base. What a nice scent and my shave yesterday was excellent. I don't have any of the newer Maxima base soaps and cannot make a comparison. I have so many Grooming Dept soaps such that I cannot justify buying more from the same maker at this point in time at least until I get through a tub or two. My past experience tells me that Mo makes incremental improvements so I will buy some Maxima in the future. What I have noticed is that his scent crafting has improved greatly. Really what it is, is an embarrassment of riches. We have so many good products to choose from.

I would like to follow up on half of the blades I received in RayClem's super-generous blade PIF. I have been using them in alphabetical order, and I have tried two of the four brands so far.

Lord ASCO: The ASCO blade would suit me well as a daily use blade. Very good level of sharpness and smoothness for me. Good close shaves with no irritation. I used the ASCO in the WCS/CG American Liberty razor and the Pearl Flexi OC.

Bic Astor: I was curious to try the Bic Astor to compare to prior experience with Bic Chrome Platinum blade, which I found very sharp but caused many weepers on my neck. The Bic Astor treated my skin much better than the Chrome Platinum as far as blood-letting. In contrast to the ASCO, however, the Astor gave me significant skin burn in the Pearl Flexi. That may very well be due to the razor, as the Astor was a much better fit for me in the Parker Variant OC.

PIF review:

Ray's work and generosity has provided a couple of nice blades that I am working into my rotation now.

1. Gillette Nacet Stainless. Sharp & comfortable.
2. Bic Chrome Platinum. Works well in my ATT M1
Very durable for me.
Able to get 4 very close comfortable shaves w/ 1 blade
3. TATARA - new favorite blade, works in all my mild razors
4. Wizamet - very sharp and shaved well in Wolfies

I will try a few more that are 4.5+ on sharpness and are less than 20 bux per 100.



Sent from my SM-A536U using Tapatalk

PIF review:

Ray's work and generosity has provided a couple of nice blades that I am working into my rotation now.

1. Gillette Nacet Stainless. Sharp & comfortable.
2. Bic Chrome Platinum. Works well in my ATT M1
Very durable for me.
Able to get 4 very close comfortable shaves w/ 1 blade
3. TATARA - new favorite blade, works in all my mild razors
4. Wizamet - very sharp and shaved well in Wolfies

I will try a few more that are 4.5+ on sharpness and are less than 20 bux per 100.



Sent from my SM-A536U using Tapatalk

The Nacet stainless has been a favorite of mine for some time now. It was pretty much the first blade I think I really realized that I liked. I picked up the Wizamet blades on my own and find them to definitely be very sharp and smooth as well. It worked well in my Timeless Ti95 OC and my...wait for it...OVERLANDER!!! I used a Wizamet in a handful of my other reasonably aggressive razors and it was smooth in all of them. Though I have to admit some of these blades on the sharper end of the spectrum may very well have been just a tad too much for the Lupo 127. I'm slowly going through the blades that I haven't tried before that I got from RayClem.

Next up I am trying a Tiger Superior Stainless in my Parker 24C open comb. Ray has rated that blade at a 4 on both sharpness and smoothness. I haven't used this razor in quite some time but I do remember being a touch on the scratchy side. At the time I also had Muhle R41 and it kind of reminded me of that a little bit. I wasn't a fan of quite that much bite, but that was literally a few years ago so I'm going to give it another go with a sharp, but not the sharpest blade. And it was so long ago I have no idea what blades I was using with it back then.

ewk
TommyCarioca
metal_shavings

Thanks for your feedback on various blades in various razors. I never intended my blade evaluations to be "reference standards", but only comparative guidelines in helping others find the best blades for their razors. You are confirming that the guidelines are helpful in doing that.

Different razors often work best with particular blades while some razors can be used with nearly any blade. I love the Parker 24C OC razor when equipped with a smooth blade and used at a shallow blade angle. However, it can cause irritation if used with too sharp a blade or too steep an angle.

Gasman, Go ahead and send those. I have been out of town for several weeks and won’t be able to send them til later.