Blades WITHOUT that "Rougher 1st Shave"

(I know that blades are very much YMMV, but still think it's worth asking...)

Long story short, I've been shaving almost exclusively with Derby blades for a long time. I like them fine, but I find the 1st shave on a fresh blade is "rougher" than the 2nd and 3rd shaves. More tugging, not as comfortable, etc.

I've begun going through my old samples to find something that DOESN'T HAVE that rough 1st shave. Smooth out of the gate...

Tried Wilkinson Sword for a week, which was a good blade but not too much different from the Derby. So back to Derby for a week.

Trying Lord Platinum Class this week. First two shaves seemed good.

For anyone who notices that "rougher 1st shave" with certain blades, which ones, in your experience, don't have it?

Ok. Now don't knock this ok? I'm gonna pull something out of thin air. I have about 12 different blades I rotate. I have a problem. Anyway, the smoothest, and I mean S M O O T H from jump for me are the TREET CARBONS. I have feathers, Kai, PolSilver s, all the big boys, but this blade is so smooth. I have it in my rotation. Just really pleasant. There is one bad thing. Just use a blade for one shave. Carbon steel is sharpest because it's soft and pliable and able to get a fine edge. I would not risk a 2ns shave, BUT these blades are so dang cheap. I bought 200 for like 10$ so it's not s big deal. To me these are what your describing.

Others you may consider Astra is Smooth, as well as Ladas. Both of these are nice as well. Also super cheap. I really like the Ladas.

I've never really noticed a lot of difference between 1st and 2nd shaves on any brand.

I usually toss my blades after the 2nd shave, since I'm not into pushing it any further to stretch longevity. I have gone as far as 7 shaves on one blade, and by then, I could notice a difference. I forget which brand it was.

If you're experiencing tugging on your first shave, you might try corking or palm-stropping it to remove any rough edges. That would be a simpler solution than trying to find a whole new brand all over again.

I love Derby blades. It is my go-to when I have a 1-day whiskers, and with a few more passes, it can easily tackle a 2-week beard.

If you like Derby, then stick with them. Just try the palm-stropping or corking if you think they need to be treated before the first shave.

Out of all the blades I have used, I've found Personna Israeli Reds to be ridiculously consistent.
Rapira PLs and Astra SPs are pretty consistent as well.

dpm802 said:

I've never really noticed a lot of difference between 1st and 2nd shaves on any brand.

I usually toss my blades after the 2nd shave, since I'm not into pushing it any further to stretch longevity. I have gone as far as 7 shaves on one blade, and by then, I could notice a difference. I forget which brand it was.

If you're experiencing tugging on your first shave, you might try corking or palm-stropping it to remove any rough edges. That would be a simpler solution than trying to find a whole new brand all over again.

I love Derby blades. It is my go-to when I have a 1-day whiskers, and with a few more passes, it can easily tackle a 2-week beard.

If you like Derby, then stick with them. Just try the palm-stropping or corking if you think they need to be treated before the first shave.

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I've read about corking, but never tried it. It's definitely worth a shot, since I really like Derby blades aside from this one issue. And even if I come across a new brand I like better, I'd hate to waste my stock...

So how does one "cork" a blade correctly?

docjude said:

Out of all the blades I have used, I've found Personna Israeli Reds to be ridiculously consistent.
Rapira PLs and Astra SPs are pretty consistent as well.

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I have a pack of the Israeli Red Personna blades "on the docket". I'll probably give them a try after I'm done testing the Lord Platinum Class.

Vintage Modern said:

So how does one "cork" a blade correctly?

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There are different methods, but here is how I did it.

I took a cork from a bottle of Johnnie Walker Green. You can also use a piece of styrofoam, or an art-gum eraser. I took a DE blade, and I ran it through the cork deep enough that it covered the cutting edge of the blade, but not so deep that it cut off any of the cork. I ran it through two or three times, always in the same direction. The cork will self-repair and you won't be able to see the slice when you're done.

I tried this mostly on blades that had already been used once or twice. It got the blades squeaky-clean and removed any soap scum, and theoretically, it aligns the edge of the blade, but you'd need a microscope to actually see that.

I never noticed a lot of difference with the performance of the blades whether I corked them or not. I tried it for a couple of weeks and came to the conclusion that it was more trouble than it was worth.

It might be the trick you need to take the bite out of that first shave. Try it and see, you've got nothing to lose.

I am lucky in that Feather blades are always spot on for me. First shave - awesome. I always change them every four days, because I have so many that I don't need to extend them, so I have never got to the point where they felt less smooth. I could give it a try once, I suppose.

Nothing beats Personna Red if you want smooth.

Personal Red are the worst blade made. I'd rather use a Rusty Shark after using it to scrape paint

big70tom said:

Personal Red are the worst blade made. I'd rather use a Rusty Shark after using it to scrape paint

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My absolute favorite blade. And many other shavers' too.

I'm sure it is. I know one thing for sure, there is NOT one blade that is perfect for everyone. I've been reading these too long to think there is one answer. A person's skin type, hair type, pre shave ritual, soap, angle, razor, pressure, etc all contributes to the shave, and with that many variables there are just too many possible solutions.

Personally I don't like the Reds. At all. The Personna Med Preps are good,
but neither are anywhere near what I'd call smooth.

I'm glad Reds are so amazing for you. Congratulations

Of course it's a YMMV thing. But I think most will agree that the Reds are smooth. Maybe not very sharp, but smooth.
I personally didn't like Personna Meds, so here you go. I also don't like Astra, which many people like very much.
Just curious, what blades do you consider smooth?

I also find the Personna Reds to be smooth from the very first stroke and sharp enough to be very efficient.

GSBs are always smooth right out of the wrapper, as well.

I've never felt that Feathers or Voshkods were particularly rough on the first shave, but the second one always does seem to be smoother.

I never could tell the difference between 1st and 2nd shave.

I was in the habit of palm stropping my Astra SP and Feather blades to get a smoother first shave, since I noticed a difference between the first and second shave. I dropped the practice with the Polsilver SI, it seems to be as smooth on the first shave as on the subsequent shaves.

It looks like there are some good suggestions here...

I happen to have samples of many, but not all, of the blades mentioned here laying around. I intend to give each blade a good week, unless the first shave is worse than I would get with a Derby. I may even shave with a (corked) Derby blade for a week between tests just to compare. This way I'm always only comparing two blades at a time - my current "best" blade and a challenger.

I get a slight bit of roughness on the first few strokes of any Personna, but other than that, their all pretty well ok.

Vintage Modern said:

For anyone who notices that "rougher 1st shave" with certain blades, which ones, in your experience, don't have it?

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IMO, the first shave is rough due to microscopic burrs left on the blade after grinding. Those blades that have "coatings" seem to be smoother since the coating covers the burrs.

There has been some talk here about stropping the blades but there is no proof that this action will knock off the burrs before shaving that first time. All I can say is try stropping then shaving to see if that smooths out your first shave.

Grandpa Pipes said:

IMO, the first shave is rough due to microscopic burrs left on the blade after grinding. Those blades that have "coatings" seem to be smoother since the coating covers the burrs.

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+1 ... I have always preferred coated blades for this reason. When it comes to Derby ... they use 5 different coating material on their blades, which might explain their extraordinary smoothness.

I've noticed that in the last couple years, drugstore blades have gone to mostly stainless steel, whereas they were almost always Platinum-Chrome before that for as long as I can remember. Most drugstore blades are made my ASR, regardless of what house-brand appears on the package. I'm assuming that ASR dropped the coatings as a cost-saving measure, and assumed that most people wouldn't notice. Well, *I* noticed, and I definitely wish that they'd bring the Plat-Chrom blades back.