Blades For EJ DE89 Razor

dave79

dave79

Messages
753
Location
England
Had some time to kill and decided to have a trawl through a load of topics all about which blades users of the Edwin Jagger DE89 razor prefer to use, as I just got one. Also I thought it would be a good resource for anyone else starting out with the DE89 as it seems to be a popular starter razor. Give them a starting point for building their own blade sampler pack if you like. It was somewhat unanimous that this razor works best with a sharp yet smooth blade.

This list is in no way conclusive of course, and is based on 12 threads I found, where I gave a point to every blade recommended by the poster. Some blades only got a very small number of votes, even as few as a single one, so I didn't count them as I wanted to make a top ten, or near enough. The points tally ended as follows:

1. Feather = 135
2. Astra SP = 124
3. Polsilver SI = 46
4. Gillette 7 o'clock Yellow (SharpEdge) = 42
5. Red Personna (IP / Platinum Chrome) = 36
=. Derby = 36
7. Gillette Silver Blue = 28
8. Personna Med Prep = 25
9. Shark Super Chrome = 23
10. Gillette 7 o'clock Black (Super Platinum) = 20
=. Personna Lab Blue = 20
12. Gillette 7 o'clock Green (Permasharp Stainless) = 14

Make of it what you will, interesting to note the whopping gap from the top two down. Derby blades were the most divisive, with almost as many professing their dislike for them in the DE89 as those who do like them in it. Reminds me of reading Smash Hits magazine as a youngster, and Madonna being voted both 'best female' AND 'worst female' in the very same poll. So Derby is a real Marmite blade in the DE89!

A lot of Feather fans out there, whilst some marked them down for only lasting 3 shaves for their more expensive price, and were of the opinion that other blades performed almost as well for less money and last longer.

Also some say that the Personna's Med Prep & Lab Blue blades are virtually the same. If you were to combine their scores then, they'd actually be up in 4th place.

Don't flame me, I'm just collating info that is already out there but dotted about in different topics!
 
dave79 said:
Had some time to kill and decided to have a trawl through a load of topics all about which blades users of the Edwin Jagger DE89 razor prefer to use, as I just got one. Also I thought it would be a good resource for anyone else starting out with the DE89 as it seems to be a popular starter razor. Give them a starting point for building their own blade sampler pack if you like. It was somewhat unanimous that this razor works best with a sharp yet smooth blade.

This list is in no way conclusive of course, and is based on 12 threads I found, where I gave a point to every blade recommended by the poster. Some blades only got a very small number of votes, even as few as a single one, so I didn't count them as I wanted to make a top ten, or near enough. The points tally ended as follows:

1. Feather = 135
2. Astra SP = 124
3. Polsilver SI = 46
4. Gillette 7 o'clock Yellow (SharpEdge) = 42
5. Red Personna (IP / Platinum Chrome) = 36
=. Derby = 36
7. Gillette Silver Blue = 28
8. Personna Med Prep = 25
9. Shark Super Chrome = 23
10. Gillette 7 o'clock Black (Super Platinum) = 20
=. Personna Lab Blue = 20
12. Gillette 7 o'clock Green (Permasharp Stainless) = 14

Make of it what you will, interesting to note the whopping gap from the top two down. Derby blades were the most divisive, with almost as many professing their dislike for them in the DE89 as those who do like them in it. Reminds me of reading Smash Hits magazine as a youngster, and Madonna being voted both 'best female' AND 'worst female' in the very same poll. So Derby is a real Marmite blade in the DE89!

A lot of Feather fans out there, whilst some marked them down for only lasting 3 shaves for their more expensive price, and were of the opinion that other blades performed almost as well for less money and last longer.

Also some say that the Personna's Med Prep & Lab Blue blades are virtually the same. If you were to combine their scores then, they'd actually be up in 4th place.

Don't flame me, I'm just collating info that is already out there but dotted about in different topics!
Click to expand...
The Derby is a real marmite blade in any razor! :) P.
 
I started off with Astra SP's and I haven't gone back to them yet but do think they were a good blade.

Have been through a pack of Polsilvers and liked them too (a lot actually).

And I don't think you can go wrong with a Gillette 7 O'Clock Black, Yellow or Green. I recently used a whole pack of Greens on the bounce.

I can't pick a winner between any of them. Never tried feathers though - many people consider them super sharp and as a relative newbie I thought I'd learn the craft using other smoother blades first
 
FWIW I agree with your analysis as far as my experience goes. I use Derby in my DE89, the Ford of blades. Cheap and cheerful. I don't think that there is anything fundamentally wrong with Derby blades if it is made purely on price.
 
Edwin Jagger now supply a pack of Feather blades with all their razors, having presently been Derby ... perhaps this could also influence these figures?
 
Derby blades although not the sharpest perform better in some razor than others
For instance, I used one in my 39C and 34C and got excellent results.
When paired with my DE89 the shave was too mild and the shaving angle had to be much steeper to get a satisfactory result.
 
SpeedyPC said:
I would highly recommended a Gillette Nacet this blade behave like a perfect balance sword ready for combat at any time, so you won't have to worried about tugging too soon or the blade too sharp may give you irritation too soon.

Give Gillette Nacet ago with you're EJD89 and you won't be sorry.
Click to expand...

I can't believe I forgot Nacet in my post! Easily as good as any of those others i mentioned
 
I've now tried the Polsilver SI and liked it enough to buy 8 packs from the BST. I think I prefer it to the Astra SP.

One question: What do the numbers 1-4 etched onto the corners of the Polsilvers mean? I guess that it's to count the number of shaves per blade easily but I could be wrong. So after each shave I'm rotating the blade so the number shown on the bottom right corner as I replace the blade is the number of shaves I'll have had after the next one. It's showing 4 now so I'll switch it out after the next shave. Is that the idea behind the numbers?
 
I'm not sure that is the meaning behind the numbers but it sure is a good use for them!

Also, I concur with Gillette Nacets. They're my favourite blade as it stands - pretty smooth and very sharp out of the box. Not that 'rough sharp' you have starting off with Feathers. :)
 
As far as I know, the numbers are used only for quality control. That doesn't mean you can't find a good use for them, and keeping count of shaves sounds like a good purpose.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom