Gillette Rubie Plus Razor Blade Review
Initially I had reservations about using Gillette DE razor blades when I started traditional wet shaving using a safety razor, my plan was to escape Gillette as I was mad at them for charging so much for cartridges. As it turns out Gillette makes quite a few DE razor blades, and the Gillette Rubie Plus is one of them. (I have also seen the package labelled as Gillette Rubie Platinum Plus, which is also on this particular blade itself).
I have been quite happy overall with the different Gillette DE razor blades. There are so many, and it appears to me that there happen to be slight differences between them all which explains the selection.
The last 2 DE razor blades I tested were not very sharp, so I was hoping the Gillette Rubie Plus would change the pace a bit. Sharpness is not the only criteria for me, but overall I do prefer a blade with somewhat of a sharper reading.
100 Rubie Double Edge Safety Razor Blades
- Rubie Razor Blades
- 20 Packs of 5 Blades per Pack for a Total of 100 Blades
- Highest quality blades made to fit different double edge safety razors
- Each blade is individually wax paper wrapped
Fresh out of the pack the sharpness measured 50, which is not very sharp. This is actually the least sharp Gillette blade out of the package that I have tested so far, there have been 8 others. You can click this link to see a Razor Blade Sharpness Comparison Chart with the other blades tested so far.
I was not overly concerned as many blades sharpen up with use, however I do tend to like razor blades in the mid 40’s or lower. (Remember, a lower reading is a sharper blade).
Note that I shave my head as well as my face and have a pretty thick growth – except for the top of my head. This means that one of my shaves might equal two of someone that just shaves their face, or even more if they have a thinner beard.
The first shave was very ordinary. It was not bad, it was not great, I shaved. Some people can make any razor blade work for them, I tend to have a wide range of experiences. Some blades I rave about and I am reminded why I use a DE, some blades are awful and I would throw them out half way if I wasn’t collecting data. The Gillette Rubie Plus was somewhere in the middle, but I did not find it quite sharp enough or overly smooth.
After the first shave, the sharpness increased to 45. You will notice in the other razor blade reviews as well that most blades so far tend to sharpen up with use, and this is another example of about a ten percent increase in sharpness. Perhaps there was still hope for this blade.
The second shave was quite a bit different than the first shave, and in a very positive way. It sharpened up enough to cut through my growth a lot better than the first round. I would say the second shave was great.
After the second shave the sharpness increased again to 41. This confirms, in my opinion, why the second shave was substantially better as shave one was shaving in the high 40’s and shave two was shaving in the low 40’s.
Initial Sharpness = 50
Average Sharpness = 45
Edge Retention = 0.82
Smoothness = 3/5
Overall Subjective Rating = 3/5
Platinum Coated. Made in Russia.
I have run into this before where the first shave is not that good, but the second shave is great. Many people use each DE blade several times, and don’t mind toughing through one inferior shave to break in a blade.
I personally usually only use a DE blade twice, and because of the price of DE razor blades in general I don’t plan on using them any longer. Based on this, it does not make sense for me to go through an inferior shave when I can use other blades and get a great shave for less than ten cents (per shave, not necessarily per blade).
As always, your mileage may vary and my review is mainly to provide the sharpness data relative to other DE razor blades.
Check out more Razor Blade Reviews or look into how the Razor Blade Sharpness Testing works.
Have you tried the Gillette Rubie Plus Razor Blades? Be sure to leave your overall rating, the community appreciates your vote!
