Hi gents,
I am having real trouble with feather blades. They are not performing as well as I had hoped that they would. I stupidly ordered a bulk buy of them (over 120 blades) thinking they would suit me fine as I head read everywhere how they were the sharpest and best performing etc.
When I am shaving with them, regardless of which razor I use them in (EJ89, Merkur slant 37c or my Muhle R41) the blade is quite literally bouncing all over the place. In order for them to work I am having to pull the skin really tight and put some force into shaving which of course is leading to cuts and irritation.
I know about YMMV and what works wonders for some does not work great for others. My head hair is extremely coarse and dense, I am a BBC'er, so does any one have any suggestions of some other blades that I could trial? Obviously the sharper the better. I am now going to try and flog the rest of my feathers on ebay. I really should have bought a sample lot of blades.
Thank you guys,
Bremner
What's your shaving pattern, with the grain, against the grain or cross grain?
For me, bouncing can usually be attributed to poor lather, or too steep of an angle combined with poor lather. For me, a bad blade will feel rough, and my not produce very good results, but doesn't generally produce any additional skipping.
As far as your original question, I would try at least the blades listed below. These are the most popular blades used across various forums I frequent. I usually recommend people try at least two blades in a row, with at least 2 shaves on each blade. That gives you a good representation of what you can expect from long-term use of a blade. If you just try one blade and use it one time, then your opinion could be based on a dud blade, bad technique one day, poor lather one day, dry skin one day, etc.
www.tryablade.com is a great resource for making a build-your-own sampler with flat-rate shipping.
-Polsilver Super Iridium
-Gillette Silver Blue
-Gillette 7 O'Clock Super Platinum (Black)
-Gillette 7 O'Clock Sharp Edge (Yellow)
-Personna Labs (Blues)
-Personna Platinums (Reds)
-Perma Sharp
If you decide to get rid of the feather blades let me know. The slant and 41 are kind of an aggressive razors to start out on. I would stick with the 89 for a while. I would throw in Astra blades to the above list. And practice your angle! Bad angle and bad lather cause bounce. Also go with the grain. Your not going to get smooth with one pass. Wet shaving is a marathon not a sprint. It takes patience and practice. I've been doing it for 6 years and I still suck at shaving my Adams apple.
I had to try several brands before settling on derby extra. No one size fits all. Feather blades tore me up.
I find that the Wilkinson sword blades (black and white pack) have a nice balance between being sharp but also smooth