Thanks, but I don't understand. It doesn't say Lab anywhere on that site. Plus, is Personna a single brand, or a generic name used by multiple manufacturers?
You're right. I don't really like calling them Labs for that reason but the name has stuck. They're called Labs because they're sold for lab use although they work great for shaving. They also make what may be essentially the same blade in a "Medical Prep" version that costs twice as much. So that's where Lab came from. The Personna Labs and Med Preps are made by American Safety Razor in the U.S. and Personna is a brand name. However, there are Personna blades made in Israel too. I guess this is probably under some sort of license? Not sure about that. Anyway, the ones linked before at Italian Barber are Israeli Personnas and while I haven't tried them, lots of people like them too.
My top blade is the Personna platinum "reds" (made in Israel). Lord "Super Stainless" is a close second. Recently I tried Treet Classic, the carbon steel blades. First impressions are quite good.
I wish more would go this route. Feather are always a roll of the dice. Sometimes you have a tiny dot, others you wonder how you'll get to the blade through the amazing coating of goo all over the thing. Considering the pricetag they should be handling it a bit better LOL. Personnas, while not my favourite, have always had a great lack of gunk on them.
I found the wax spots annoying when using TTO as well. Luckily the Personna Labs followed by the Reds have edged out others to be my favorite blade.
You read my mind exactly... I will be ordering some listed in this thread. I use a lot of Gillette Super Thin blades which do not have wax. I use Astra blades, but find the wax annoying.
At the risk of offending my SE shaving brothers, I finally found a use for an SE blade: I use it to remove the wax spots from my DE blades! Works perfectly. I used to use the last DE blade, but that's pretty dangerous. Because the SE blades only have one sharp side, they are easier to hold when removing wax spots. But there are several quality wax-free blades, most already mentioned in this thread. I like Kai blades, but they're pretty expensive. The Red Personnas are pretty nice. I, too, am a fan of the Treet Classic blade (but I don't like the Treet DuraSharp). The Bic Chrome Platinums are pretty nice, with an occasional dud. Lately I've been working my way through 10-packs of now discontinued blades (Iridium Supers, the original Polsilver SIs). These are great blades. So, I used an SE razor to remove the spots. Voila!
I'm not trying to derail this so please don't take me the wrong way; I'm simply curious. What do you have against the glue?I mean, are you allergic to the stuff or is it an ethical issue? I've tried the Wilkinson sword blades before and I don't remember them having any glue on them...though it's been a while and I could be wrong.
To me the goo is annoying and unneccesary. I don't have a practical problem with it, it just bugs me. Things that are of no purpose bugs me, no matter what.
Yeah that makes sense. I always assumed it was to hold the paper on and never gave it much thought. I'm sure it went something like this: no glue = no paper = dull\chipped blades -or- no glue = no paper = increased in accident = wantonness = lawsuits
For me, glue/wax on the blades causes my Gillette Super Speed to gum up, much like in the image above. The glue/wax transfers to the inside of my razor, leaving residue and jamming the opening mechanism. This may be due to the low water temp in our house due to young children. The glue is definitely not a requirement for wrapping the blades. All blades are paper wrapped, but not all paper wrapped blades use glue/wax. For example, today my Personna Labs arrived - one of the most renowned blades, and definitely glue free.
Both the Astra SP and Polsilver Super Iridiums were my favorite blades "EXCEPT" for the wax spots..Like Martin I can use a blade with the wax(no alergies), but it bugged me, because I also find the wax spot completely useless and makes it "MUCH" harder to get the blade out of the paper wrapper!!...Another more practical reason I dislike the wax spots is I like to use shims and the was spots make the shims and the blade stick together!!! I see no need for the wax spots and I believe most blade produces feel the same...
