Review: Muhle Rostfreie Rasierklingen blades

[filobiblic]

Doesn't that sound more like a feather than a personna?

That's funny that you say that Eggy... My initial thought was that it is a Feather. Different package though, and not sure Feather Shaving Co is making any razor blades for anyone else...

 

[stillshunter]

That's funny that you say that Eggy... My initial thought was that it is a Feather. Different package though, and not sure Feather Shaving Co is making any razor blades for anyone else...

…and I don't recall experiencing that feather feeling of utter fear as I try figuring how to tape that flap of skin back to it's rightful place...

 

[Drubbing]

These ain't Feathers...

An honest review? A bit meh for me. But work commitments mean I've had to shave 2 evening in a row, and just got quick shaves done. So I'll rest judgment til later.

I think probably made by Personna, but only because of the same reasons as everyone else, the containers, the lack of glue. They're probably a bit sharper than Reds, but not as sharp as Astras or Supers.

 

[JugV2]

I threw one of these into my R41 on Sunday afternoon.

I hadn't shaved in two days so I had a lot to cut.

The blade and packaging are simple and well done. No wax or blobs of adhesive which has been mentioned already.

I haven't used the R41 in a long time so I was cautious of course.

Very good audio feedback from the blade. It felt very sharp on the skin and if I had never used an R41 before (or any open comb) I would have been concerned about cutting myself. Pfft.

The blade felt a little scrapy instead of slicey - what I mean by that was that despite there being no tugging sensation during the shave, it felt like I was scraping across the skin. Until I adjusted my angle with the razor and then it was beautiful.

Sharper than a Gillette Black, louder than most any other blades with regard to feedback, yet smoother than most other blades I have tried.

I'd put this up there just under a Feather for sharpness.

I did a two pass shave and have still got a smooth face from it. I normally shave every day but this blade in the R41 would reduce that to shaving every two days.

Very sharp and noisy and I suspect it would have good legs. Taking a stab at who made it, I agree with Drubbing probably Personna as it feels like the Volvo of blades. Functional, effective, but nothing spectacular.

 

[Drubbing]

I'd put this up there just under a Feather for sharpness.
.

That's just crazy talk. The two days off has sucked you in. I get a great shave with anything after a layoff.

 

[JugV2]

Time will tell on this one. I will shave again tomorrow. I will give it a week in the R41, and then put a new one in the Progress to get some more feel for the blade.

 

[stillshunter]

The blade felt a little scrapy instead of slicey - what I mean by that was that despite there being no tugging sensation during the shave, it felt like I was scraping across the skin. Until I adjusted my angle with the razor and then it was beautiful.

Did you go shallower or steeper - closer to the roof or the floor? Also I had a cracking shave with the R41 this morning, almost too good, so wondered can you shave daily for a work week with this beast - or does it take its toll?

 

[JugV2]

Did you go shallower or steeper - closer to the roof or the floor? Also I had a cracking shave with the R41 this morning, almost too good, so wondered can you shave daily for a work week with this beast - or does it take its toll?

I went shallower, I held the razor closer to the head and tilted so get a shallow angle and it sung through the hairs.

With regard to shaving daily with it, it's not an easy answer - depends on your facial hair growth, your blade, your style...best to try it and see. I will go every second day with the Muhle blade but with say a Voskhod I would easily go every day.

 

[Drubbing]

Thanks to Monsta and Muhle for this, but these aren't for me. Not sharp or smooth enough. I had to work too hard to get a fair to good result. Which leads me to think they probably are made by Personna. Perhaps a tad sharper, but not near sharp enough for me.

I'll PIF these on to anyone who likes them.

 

[JugV2]

I had a second shave today with this and got the same result. I did feel like I was forcing it to shave me against its will this time however.

 

[Nick the Knife]

Third use of this initial Muhle Blade was done in conjunction with Redtip SS, CRSW Bergamot & Bay (which lathered like a demon!) and an Omega 10005.

The second use hadn't been great and this third one was much the same. Again the blade showed hallmarks of being smoothish but not overly sharp. I found a very slight tugging in sections and also that rather than obliterating stubble in one pass I had to 'diminish' it via several passes, which I put down to the sharpness just being a tad below par.

With a blade that I know is top tier sharp e.g a PSS, Gillette Silver Blue - I can often do just a single pass shave as it'll wipe everything out to a very usable level but these blades weren't even close to being able to do this.

IMHO this isn't a huge surprise as everyone seems to concur that they're made by Personna and IIRC none of the modern blades made by them have a reputation for being overly sharp, however they always seem to attract good feedback on their usablity/smoothness/non-irritating post shave feel.

I'll be interested to try a few more of these with different razors but at present I feel they're a slightly above average blade. Definitely below something like a Astra SP, but above your Shark SS's of the world.....pretty much the same niche as most of the other modern Personna's I've used.

 

[Pjotr]

Oh dear, Mr Muhle's not going to be happy.

 

[Nick the Knife]

Oh dear, Mr Muhle's not going to be happy.

I wouldn't see why that would be the case. I mean ASSUMING these are rebadged Personna Platinum's (and I suspect they're almost certainly the exact blades, I can't imagine Personna recalibrating their manufacturing line etc just to minisculely alter the characteristics of their blades) Muhle obviously was:
1) Satisfied with these blades to carry their branding
2) Not crazy enough to think that they'd be any different from regular Personna Plats.

So lets not throw the baby out with the bathwater as at the price point these are at they are quite a reasonable buy and already a number of people have said they really like them. A few others myself included (I think the 1st use was very good but subsequent ones have been very so-so) have generally thought they're relatively average and thats not a bad result.

As stated I'm looking forward to using them in a number of other razors as it's generally acknowledged thought that the results from a given blade can vary depending on the razor it's partnered with. Bottomline is Muhle knows far better than us what they have and would have put a LOT of thought etc into it, so very little if anything we can say could surprise them. IMHO the only one possibly being a placebo effect (positive or negative) due to the Muhle branding (which is generally seen as an upper tier provider) on the blades so that folks feedback doesn't correlate with that which they'd normally give to the actual OEM blades (Personna or similar). Only time (or Monsta) will tell if thats the case.

 

[Drubbing]

I wouldn't see why that would be the case. I mean ASSUMING these are rebadged Personna Platinum's (and I suspect they're almost certainly the exact blades, I can't imagine Personna recalibrating their manufacturing line etc just to minisculely alter the characteristics of their blades) Muhle obviously was:
1) Satisfied with these blades to carry their branding
2) Not crazy enough to think that they'd be any different from regular Personna Plats.

This happens all over the shaving goods industry. Muhle makes razors and stuff for Jagger (maybe DR Harris too), Rooney makes brushes for T&H and M&F. None of these are much, if any different at all from the originals, just rebadged, so said company scan offer a wider range of stuff with their branding.

If they are Personnas, they're a good price for people that like them. If not, they're close enough to compete with those, as they're doubtless a big selling blade.

 

[Monsta_AU]

Okay, It's time to let the cat out of the bag.

These are indeed made by Personna, however they are sourced via the Personna UK entity. I have not been told which factory they originate from, however I am assuming it is Israel. Muhle were in fact very clear that these are manufactured to their own specification. It is relatively easy to change grind and hone angles on most equipment and I would suspect that these are different to other Personna grind/hone. I think they would be using the same steel stock & coatings as Personna do.

 

[filobiblic]

Okay, It's time to let the cat out of the bag.

These are indeed made by Personna, however they are sourced via the Personna UK entity. I have not been told which factory they originate from, however I am assuming it is Israel. Muhle were in fact very clear that these are manufactured to their own specification. It is relatively easy to change grind and hone angles on most equipment and I would suspect that these are different to other Personna grind/hone. I think they would be using the same steel stock & coatings as Personna do.

So from the same factory where Israeli Personnas (also known as Personna Reds, IP's or Personna Platinum Chrome) are made? I personally feel they are similar, although slightly sharper initially.

 

[Drubbing]

If they are a different spec, it's not different enough to really set them apart.

What's likely is Muhle have good distribution channels and can shift good volumes of these allowing them to sell cheaper, with "Euro" branding. The branding is a bonus, as some people will believe these are noticeably different due to brand-induced placebo effects.

Be interesting to see how these fare on the brand specific hype train of YKW...

 

[Monsta_AU]

I have shaved with them (quietly) and I thought them to be similar to the Platinum Chromes. As Filo said, I thought them to be initially sharper but not by a staggering amount.

The thing I am mostly confused about is the pricing as opposed to the basic Personnas. Shaving.ie has the Personna Platinum Chrome for ~USD$20 per 200 pillar, whereas the Muhles are ~USD$49 per 200 pillar. Yeah, they are not the same, but they also aren't two and a half times better either. The pricing may be shaving.ie specific in this case, but I do not know of anyone else (yet) stocking the blades. I haven't exactly gone looking for them either!

It is a smart move by Muhle - these blades are generally providing a solid shave experience which is exactly what most people starting out should be using. Sharp enough but also smooth enough to know when you are doing something wrong. I can see them being packaged into starter kits (Razor, Brush, Blades, bowl of cream) with the Muhle Branding and starting some brand loyalty amongst those joining this wet shaving caper. Some guys will just buy them because that is what they got first time around.

I am pretty sure that competing on a Razor/Blade integration level like Merkur do, Muhle are well in front in regards of the overall shave experience. Since they also do brushes, soaps, creams, stands & lather bowls, it would appear that they are now a vertically-integrated shaving company who will be trying to make some big inroads into selling these 'starter packs' not just to specialist retailers and online stores, but also the pharmacy chains, gift stores for men, department stores. As the whole anti-cart feeling rising up based on cost and problematic shaves will be something they can tap into with some judicious advertising.

 

[Drubbing]

Yes, it's a smart move for them to offer blades in branded kits. Pricing is fair against the Reds, but bewildering against otherwise simialr blades made by the same company. I guess this is why Branding exists...

 

[Monsta_AU]

The price of a product is what people are prepared to pay. People will buy them if they can walk into a store and get them.

In this case, they are decent blades compared to Merkur's offering and cheaper by a large margin. That is all they need to be in the world of market placement.

They aren't competing with Gillette, Wilkinson, Personna or any of the other blade manufacturers. They are competing with Merkur.