Are there any razors as good as Gillette’s?

by philg

A Boston-based company is in the news: “Gillette #MeToo ad on ‘toxic masculinity’ gets praise – and abuse; Backlash includes call for boycott of P&G, complaining commercial ‘emasculates men’” (Guardian).

As someone too old and unhip to have a beard, I’ve been a loyal Gillette customer for decades. Now it seems that there is a virtue offset bonus. Gillette will take some of its spectacular gross margin on every blade and use it to educate un-woke men on how to behave.

What about for the guys who aren’t happy to support Gillette’s new crusade? Can they buy a blade system that is actually as good or better? If so, what is it and who makes it? Are there any multi-subject tests to show that one brand is actually better than another? I found this comparison that concluded the Korean-made Dorco Pace 7 is superior to Gillette’s best, but it is just one guy (the Koreans are better at making TVs, ships, and smartphones than we are, so why shouldn’t they also be better at making razors?).

Related:

  • Dorco Pace 7 at Amazon (searching for “Gillette” within the reviews reveals that some people prefer the Dorco and others went back to Gillette)

21 thoughts on “Are there any razors as good as Gillette’s?”

  2. Don’t know which blades are better, but will shave with a rusty steak knife before ever buying another Gillette product. 😀

  4. Shaving Club for Men. I am not a customer. I just see a lot of their ads on various YouTube channels about performance cars.

  5. After 40+ years of using Gillette blades, I tried Wal-Mart’s Equate 5-blade cartridges last fall. Not bad, and very close to Gillette quality. But, in a fit of Amazon-fueled Black Friday sales euphoria, I picked up a Philips Norelco Oneblade rechargeable razor. I love it, and don’t think I’ll be returning to blades any time soon. Waterproof, Li-Ion based, compact. Doesn’t quite shave as close as a blade, but… it’s awesome.

  6. Quit Gillette a few years ago and have been using Dorco 6 ever since (and Cremo shave cream). Works good.

  7. After trying many brands, I settled on Schick Xtreme 3 (fewer nicks and cuts). Some reviewers on Amazon seem to have received lower quality (fakes from China?) when buying the bulk 20-30 packs.

  8. Besides this offensive stupidity Gillette’s products are way overpriced. Why not Schick at $3-4 for a dozen quality razors from Walmart & free shipping with orders over $35? Nowadays Walmart promises delivery the next day or something like that. They did a good job on my last order, arrived when promised, well packed — about the same as Amazon.

  9. I use the cheap disposable razors my wife keeps around to shave her legs. They are pink and one razor lasts for many shaves.

  10. I switched to safety razors about a year ago. The closeness of the shave was just as good as the fancy Gillette razor system I’d been using before, and a pack of blade cost about $5.00 at the drug store, plus I’m not locked into a system,

  12. I’ve tried Harry’s, DSC, and Dorco. Unfortunately none of them compare to my old m3power… the shave was less smooth, pleasant, and effective.

  13. For a cheap shaving cream alternative, try hair conditioner. I have been using the generic “Kirkland” Costco house brand for years. Works great, and easier to rinse out of the blade.

    The only downside that I’ve found is that it’s harder to see where you’ve been, compared to proper shaving cream.

    For blades, I use the cheap disposable handle with blade format from Costco, these also work great, at least for me. They are Gillette Sensor2 plus or similar.

  14. A few tricks:

    1. Disposable razors are positioned at a lower price point even though they cost (pennies) more to make because they have to include a handle with each blade. Usually if you buy the disposable of the same series as the cartridge (e.g. “Sensor 3”, you can transfer the head over to the permanent handle. The heads are identical because it doesn’t pay for them to make 2 different products. The very tip top line (12 blades or whatever they are up to) doesn’t usually come in disposable but I find that there are diminishing returns after 3 blades.

    2. You can prolong the life of a blade by “stropping” it. If you remember an old time barber shop the barber had a leather or canvas belt that he would run his razor over backwards (i.e. stroking away from the edge). You can do the same with our razor. After you finish shaving, run it backward (the opposite direction from shaving) over an old piece of denim or even your arm and the blade will last longer. Part of the effect comes from drying the blade so it doesn’t corrode. At a minimum, wipe your blade dry with a towel after shaving and it will last longer.

  15. I started with gillettes two bladed stuff as a teen then progressed through all the blade increases. Even their 3 bladed stuff feels too wide on my face giving less control. I think the blades are also thinner and more fragile in more than 2 blades. My favorites now are the Gillette 2 bladed disposables without lube strip (eg. https://www.amazon.com/Gillette-Good-Disposable-Razor-Lubrastrip/dp/B002F8M8KA) . The sharpness is excellent and if you dab the water off they seem to last forever. I’ve also tried the Dorcos in various multibladed items as well as their safety razors and both are inferior. In safety razors I found the Japanese Kai brand to be much better.

  16. I switched to Harry’s from Gillette several years ago and have been very happy with them. These days you can buy Harry’s at Target and Walmart.

    My understanding is that Harry’s management have a lot of SWJ in their DNA also, but they don’t preach to me.

  18. I don’t care about the commercial, I care about cost. Left Gillette 5 years ago for Dorco by mail. Good product at fraction of price.

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