In the shaving world the Dutch brand Philips now is known for its electric razors. Being Dutch I am well familiar with the name and the Philips products. Or so I thought. For little did I know that they made bakelite DE razors as well. Philips was in 1923 the first factory in the Netherlands to process Bakelite. The name Bakelite however was a protected trade mark so Philips had to call its products by a different name. They came up with the 'inspired' name "Philite" which was patented in 1930. Phenol, urea (not urine! ), formaldehyde and suitable filler were the basic ingredients for the Philite press powders. So apart from various houseware and industrial appliances apparently Philips made DE razors as well. If I am informed correctly they started making DE razors somewhere in the late twenties and continued production until the late thirties. In Dutch second hand sites the razors are still reasonably common. Enough chatter. Time for some pics! Sometimes the razor came with a box (which looks to me like a coffin, but that's me) Yes, you are correct. The second razor with the box is black while the first one is brown. Those are the two available colours. Let's take a closer look at this three piece razor: If you take a look from the front, you'll see you can look right through the razor. The blade is supported by the teeth in the bottom plate. And unlike most other DE razors, the blade fits completely in the head (apart from the edges, of course!). Still, it doesn't feel large or unwieldy. Also, not all razors were branded "Philite", possibly because some were sold seperately in gift kits. See the underside of these bottom plates: Well, that is all nice, you say. But how do they shave? I can be short about that: they shave excellent, in my view! I get consistent smooth shaves. One has quickly become my go-to-razor. Each shave an almost effortless BBS. I read on another forum that someone called it the Buffer. Because the lather builds up inside the razor and eventually exits on the other side, you can indeed buff to your heart's desire. I do sometimes. Interestingly though, they do not all shave the same. As I said: one has become my daily shaver, but the other three, while leaving me as smooth as the first one, are a bit more rough on me. Therefore if you are interested, pay attention in March, for two will be PIF-ed. [edit: => *click* <= ]
I love this sort of post. It is always great to learn about something I never knew existed. One more tiny check mark in my, " Not as ignorant as before, " column.
I have it on good authority (read it on the internet!) that Bakelite can be polished to it's original sheen using Brasso polish.
True, true. But I don't think that in our modern society we still use real urine (or in the 1920's and onwards): Friedrich Wöhler's discovery in 1828 that urea can be produced from inorganic starting materials was an important conceptual milestone in chemistry. It showed for the first time that a substance previously known only as a byproduct of life could be synthesized in the laboratory without biological starting materials thereby contradicting the widely held doctrine of vitalism. Synthetic is often cheaper than 'the real deal' (I guess because its quality is at a more constant level). And then again: I'm probably wrong. Because I'm good at that.
Cheaper? I make it for free!! My liver forms it by combining two ammonia molecules (NH3) with a carbon dioxide (CO2) molecule. (Says Wikipedia) You can have 25 grams of the stuff from me for free - every day! Enough for a razor or two.