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In search for the most rust resistant razor blade

Looks like you are a determined fellow.

At this point I believe the only way to get the information you are looking for is to contact each blade maker and pointblank ask them what type of steel they use. Please report back with your findings; I’m sure many would be interested in the outcome.
 
I use to get 7 days from a Med Prep. Never open the razor until it's time to change the blade and never had a speck of rust. None of my blades rust. I didn't realize this was a problem.
Thanks for your input. While searching for Med prep blades, I came upon the “AccuThrive 3”. Is the AccuThrive 3 blade the blade you are referring to?

The AccuThrive 3 blade is a little over 0.01mm thick, which is inline with KAI blades, but has a teflon coating and costs $60 for a 100. $60 for a 100 is almost double the price of KAI. Anyway, I wonder if the AccuThrive 3 is a possible contender for a second quality double edge safety blade on the market.
 
My post shave Blade storage is back in Wrapper, after drying with one square of TP.

No Rust problems.

Last time I had rust problem was with Gillette Blue Blade, they were Rust attractors.
 
Ok, I just ordered a bunch of personna blue. Very few people experienced rust with them, and the few that did may have received fakes. Most people say that the lab blues never rust, and some say that the blues are thicker blades, just like the vintages. The love seems to keep on returning to the blues so I had to order some, which turned out to be 200 of them.
 
Med Prep blades were intended for medical use and are sterilized and certified. Very, very likely exactly the same as any other Personna blade made in the Virginia plant, but more expensive due to the medial use.

All Personna blades (now named something else) are good.

They are 0.004" thick, or 0.01mm, which is standard for DE blades since the 1950s. Some carbon blades were 0.005" thick, but not now. Stainless were always the thinner ones. Original 3-hole Gillette blades were 0.020" thick, but that stopped in the 1930s.

Personna blue and Isreali Personna "reds" are my two favorite blades, 124 and 162 shaves each on the single blade of each type I've used.
 
Which stainless blades are actually uncoated? You have to go back decades to find that. Even if the marketing does not explicitly call out a coating, you can be pretty sure there is some combo of metallic and PTFE coating on modern stainless DE blades.
I found a Gem single edge online that is supposedly uncoated.

Honestly the only other blade that comes to mind at all would be a trad straight edge made of high quality metal.
 
Med Prep blades were intended for medical use and are sterilized and certified. Very, very likely exactly the same as any other Personna blade made in the Virginia plant, but more expensive due to the medial use.

All Personna blades (now named something else) are good.

They are 0.004" thick, or 0.01mm, which is standard for DE blades since the 1950s. Some carbon blades were 0.005" thick, but not now. Stainless were always the thinner ones. Original 3-hole Gillette blades were 0.020" thick, but that stopped in the 1930s.

Personna blue and Isreali Personna "reds" are my two favorite blades, 124 and 162 shaves each on the single blade of each type I've used.
Wow, 124 and 162 shaves on a single blade. If you don’t mind me asking, how did you accomplish such a feat? Are you stropping/sharpening the blades?

0.04in was the standard thickness, but most modern blades apparently shaved off 10% making the blades 0.09in or 0035mm thick. From my limited research, 80-90% of the current mass produced blades are the thinner variety. It’s not like I took any measurements, my numbers are coming from numbers I found scattered throughout the internet.

I would have ordered some Israeli personna reds as well. Yet, The Israeli personna reds are in short supply today. They produce all personna reds in Germany now. The German variety gets some shockingly critical review. Yet the German platinum version gets much better reviews. I bought the comfort coated blue and white packaging with a white wrapper, made in the USA.

The medical websites selling the med prep blade state the blades are non-sterilized. So, the increased price may be a medical thing. Also, the population seems to be spilt if the med prep and the comfort coat are the same blade. Some people find the two to perform similarly, and others prefer one over the other.
 
I found a Gem single edge online that is supposedly uncoated.

Honestly the only other blade that comes to mind at all would be a trad straight edge made of high quality metal.
Is it a vintage, or are they currently producing this single edge gem? Is the KAI not a quality uncoated stainless blade?
 
I found these in my quickie search: uncertain if they're for shaving.

I've only had experience with Feather blades. Have not used KAI. However, I've no doubt they are a quality blade.


Those are 3-facet uncoated blades, but not made for shaving. I think they're made for things like slicing tissue samples in a lab.

The KAI stainless DE blades made for shaving are coated, even if they don't say that explicity. The company does make other blades for medical use.
 

musicman1951

three-tu-tu, three-tu-tu
Thanks for your input. While searching for Med prep blades, I came upon the “AccuThrive 3”. Is the AccuThrive 3 blade the blade you are referring to?

The AccuThrive 3 blade is a little over 0.01mm thick, which is inline with KAI blades, but has a teflon coating and costs $60 for a 100. $60 for a 100 is almost double the price of KAI. Anyway, I wonder if the AccuThrive 3 is a possible contender for a second quality double edge safety blade on the market.
AccuThrive apparently took over these blades, but I still read good things. I've been using PolSilver for the past 4 years or so, but also no rust from any of the Gillette blades, Feather (although they only last 2 or 3 days because of edge longevity) and Wizamet. No rust from any of those. Also Astra - which are usually quite cheap.
 
The KAI stainless DE blades made for shaving are coated, even if they don't say that explicity. The company does make other blades for medical use.
You are right. I thought I saw in a KAI blade description stating “non-coated”. Yet, in my current search, all I’m finding is “coated with a proprietary coating”. In the KAI group websites manufacturing process, they talk about their disposable razor blades, and say that they are coated with hard metal film and a fluorine resin.

On a side not, some descriptions state that the KAI blades are premium stainless while others say surgical stainless. Surgical stainless is usually 316, 440, or 420. This gives me hope the KAI blades may actually be a high grade stainless.
 
Manufacturers often take a casual approach when discussing blade engineering and manufacturing for shaving products. Marketing terms are frequently used instead of accurate descriptions of the blades' construction materials. As products evolve, they can change without updating customers, packaging, or sellers.
 
Carbon Steel like Old Gillette Blue Blades was Rust Attractors.

Modern SS Blade tend not to Rust, if you live vin Wet Humid place, Rust is problem, bigger problems if you The Wizard of Oz TinMan.
 
The "Barber Blades" are more or less generics, usually marked with little arrows, and sold under many different labels. They honestly aren't very good blades, compared with the Comfort Coated or Med Prep. Despite claims on that website, I seriously doubt they are actually uncoated. Many people have the misconception that if the box does not call out a coating, the blades have no coating. This is incorrect, AFAIK. These blades are just basic blades good for a couple of shaves before being tossed.
 
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The "Barber Blades" are more or less generics, usually marked with little arrows, and sold under many different labels. They honestly aren't very good blades, compared with the Comfort Coated or Med Prep. Despite claims on that website, I seriously doubt they are actually uncoated. Many people have the misconception that if the box does not call out a coating, the blades have no coating. This is incorrect, AFAIK. These blades are just basic blades good for a couple of shaves before being tossed.
The “Graham-Field 3171 Stainless Steel Double Edge Razor Blade”, might be the 0.01in thick uncoated personna blade, or maybe they're coated. Some seem to love this blade, most DE shavers hate it. If the above thickness is true, this blade is 2-1/2 times thicker than the lab blue.
 
I just bought some R100 Acu blades made by Acuderm. I think these are the original med prep blades DE shavers loved.
 
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