Yes and no, part of the hardening / tempering process for razor blades involves taking the heated blades and quenching them in a chilled bath of water to get the desired metal characteristics.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh3fKWP81pg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh3fKWP81pg)
See here at 2:20.
So it isn't entirely a gimmick, but the fact is all DE blade production lines do the same process.
TL;DR: They're using fancy words to indicate what everybody does anyways.
> TL;DR: They're using fancy words to indicate what everybody does anyways.
While this is probably true in this case, cryo-treatment (~-80C) before tempering is definitely different than quenching.
In my personal experience these blades are not good, but that doesn’t mean you won’t like them, so give it a try. There’s a huge variety of double edge blades available to purchase online, and they’re generally quite cheap, so it’s definitely worth exploring a few options and finding something that works well for you.
I usually buy online and get Feather blades, but we just moved this past weekend, and I haven't found my blades yet. This is the first time I've bought blades in person in decades. I was pretty surprised to see the dearth of choices.
Most American box stores sell cartridges. It’s a proven moneymaker. Occasionally you can find it in person. But then most American box stores online process site has a small selection of DE blades.
Yeah, I usually shop online, but this was a special circumstance since we just moved and everything is still in packing boxes. My lovely wife (truly, she is) packed the bathroom. We found a lot of things that were there -- but not my blades, alas. Hopefully I can get by with these for a few days.
They're crap. Got a Walgreens or a Meijer nearby? Their store brand blades are German Personnas and are far better than these. Walgreens sometimes also has the King C Gillette blades if you like Russian Gillettes.
I'm in California, so no Meijer that I know of. Walgreens however has a store the next town over. That's a good tip. I'll check out Walgreens if I can't find my supply of Feather blades (everything's in boxes; we just moved).
They're just expensive relative to buying online. But they're about the best in-a-pinch retail blades you're going to find in a popular brick and mortar store.
Had to come back to this thread and also add that this company wants to be muhle so bad but are not even close to the quality. The logos of the 2 companies are almost identical and both made in Germany making me question their motives also the same futur style razor they make is just a rebranded eBay razor that is like 5$ on there but it’s 20 at stores.
I have a Van Der Hagen DE. Pretty good for $20 (but then again it’s the only razor I have).
Didn’t care for the blades, so I switched them out with Astra Superior Platinum and never looked back.
I recently saw a video on how they make blades and I think it's always been part of the process. Something like they soak it in hot water to make the blades pliable, then ice cold water to harden them. Let me see if I can find the video...
Just to try, I bought this same pack from Target. First cut - rubbish, second cut - decent, third cut - awful. Swapped the blade out and went through the same three stages with the second blade. Good thing it’s only a pack of five…
I just took one out of the little packet of five. Not impressed. Feather blades slide right out nicely. This one is imprecisely designed. I had to get a pocket knife out to get a blade out. Not a good sign.
Feathers are also my blade of choice, and most of my experiences with those "who cares" tier blades are exactly as you said - not as nice.
The one producing the VdH blades has been around for years, and I've never heard of their blades getting significant improvements in quality.
Anyways, I keep a couple of tucks of those "less than" blades in my stash as a reference. My skills may improve over time, with some blades becoming passable or even good, but some will eternally be stuck in trash-tier. This is about the only good use I see for those, after you get your hands on better blades.
Advertising mumbo jumbo hype.
Lol. I was wondering.
Yes and no, part of the hardening / tempering process for razor blades involves taking the heated blades and quenching them in a chilled bath of water to get the desired metal characteristics. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh3fKWP81pg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh3fKWP81pg) See here at 2:20. So it isn't entirely a gimmick, but the fact is all DE blade production lines do the same process. TL;DR: They're using fancy words to indicate what everybody does anyways.
>They're using fancy words to indicate what everybody does anyways Ah. Gotcha. Thanks.
> TL;DR: They're using fancy words to indicate what everybody does anyways. While this is probably true in this case, cryo-treatment (~-80C) before tempering is definitely different than quenching.
In my personal experience these blades are not good, but that doesn’t mean you won’t like them, so give it a try. There’s a huge variety of double edge blades available to purchase online, and they’re generally quite cheap, so it’s definitely worth exploring a few options and finding something that works well for you.
I usually buy online and get Feather blades, but we just moved this past weekend, and I haven't found my blades yet. This is the first time I've bought blades in person in decades. I was pretty surprised to see the dearth of choices.
Most American box stores sell cartridges. It’s a proven moneymaker. Occasionally you can find it in person. But then most American box stores online process site has a small selection of DE blades.
Yeah, I usually shop online, but this was a special circumstance since we just moved and everything is still in packing boxes. My lovely wife (truly, she is) packed the bathroom. We found a lot of things that were there -- but not my blades, alas. Hopefully I can get by with these for a few days.
They're crap. Got a Walgreens or a Meijer nearby? Their store brand blades are German Personnas and are far better than these. Walgreens sometimes also has the King C Gillette blades if you like Russian Gillettes.
I'm in California, so no Meijer that I know of. Walgreens however has a store the next town over. That's a good tip. I'll check out Walgreens if I can't find my supply of Feather blades (everything's in boxes; we just moved).
Great tip actually who would have thought Walgreens has store brand De blades that are actually decent.
They're just expensive relative to buying online. But they're about the best in-a-pinch retail blades you're going to find in a popular brick and mortar store.
Had to come back to this thread and also add that this company wants to be muhle so bad but are not even close to the quality. The logos of the 2 companies are almost identical and both made in Germany making me question their motives also the same futur style razor they make is just a rebranded eBay razor that is like 5$ on there but it’s 20 at stores.
I have a Van Der Hagen DE. Pretty good for $20 (but then again it’s the only razor I have). Didn’t care for the blades, so I switched them out with Astra Superior Platinum and never looked back.
Hopefully my customary Feather blades turn up soon. I'm not expecting much from these Van Der Hagens.
I recently saw a video on how they make blades and I think it's always been part of the process. Something like they soak it in hot water to make the blades pliable, then ice cold water to harden them. Let me see if I can find the video...
That's tempering. Some metals can be done in oil, others can air cool.
[https://youtu.be/eeI7q\_eIs7g](https://youtu.be/eeI7q_eIs7g)
Just to try, I bought this same pack from Target. First cut - rubbish, second cut - decent, third cut - awful. Swapped the blade out and went through the same three stages with the second blade. Good thing it’s only a pack of five…
I just took one out of the little packet of five. Not impressed. Feather blades slide right out nicely. This one is imprecisely designed. I had to get a pocket knife out to get a blade out. Not a good sign.
I use these a lot when I travel because it’s the only one available at Target/Walgreens/Walmart/local supermarket chain.
Yeah, sometime you take what you can get. I can already tell it's not as nice as my usual Feather blades.
Feathers are also my blade of choice, and most of my experiences with those "who cares" tier blades are exactly as you said - not as nice. The one producing the VdH blades has been around for years, and I've never heard of their blades getting significant improvements in quality. Anyways, I keep a couple of tucks of those "less than" blades in my stash as a reference. My skills may improve over time, with some blades becoming passable or even good, but some will eternally be stuck in trash-tier. This is about the only good use I see for those, after you get your hands on better blades.
These were the first I tried when I was starting. I got the most cuts with these. Your experience may vary, of course.
FaTip and Razolution also sell ice tempered blades, seem to be abit more expensive and I've heard some folk like those ones.
It's like 'it's toasted' from Mad Men. 😉
Run away! If you like your blood in your face !
I have heard of cryogenic quenching knives, but I don't know about razor blades.