# How good are Indian Made Razor Blades? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 20, 2015, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-indian-made-razor-blades/740919 "2015-12-20T14:01:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![botsgotme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@botsgotme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/botsgotme)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-indian-made-razor-blades/740919/1 "2015-12-20T14:01:20Z")
While shopping at the local Indian grocery, I noticed that they sell old style razor blades, of stainless steel. I also noticed that these are price controlled in India-the box says that they cannot be sold (legally) for more than 15 rupees. At any rate, are they fairly good? I’m tempted to buy a few, and try them out. they also carry neem oil toothpaste-what’s the SD on that? Neem is supposed to be a wonder drug of sorts. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-indian-made-razor-blades/740919/2 "2015-12-20T14:07:19Z")
seems like they would be cheap enough to try out without risking a lot of cash ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-indian-made-razor-blades/740919/3 "2015-12-20T14:53:00Z")
The last box of Astra Platinum double edge razors I bought on Amazon cost me less than $0.12 each. I don’t know what the exchange rate is, or how many razors come in a 15 rupee box, but razor blades are pretty cheap if you avoid the double/triple/quattro blade nonsense. 15 rupees a box doesn’t sound like a crazy low price, that’s what, around a quarter per box? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-indian-made-razor-blades/740919/4 "2015-12-20T17:02:31Z")
Neem oil is pretty good at controlling garden pests. So if your teeth are infested by aphids, I’d say go for it. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-indian-made-razor-blades/740919/5 "2015-12-20T19:06:22Z")
eBay is another good place for razor blades. You can get 100 double edge Dorco blades for $8, shipping included. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-indian-made-razor-blades/740919/6 "2015-12-20T22:43:12Z")
We now need recommendations for friggin’ Razor Blades? Asking for advice on cars and paint (money and time, respectively) makes sense. A $1 purchase and 5 minutes invested? Call me impetuous, but I’d just buy a pack and try them. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2015, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-indian-made-razor-blades/740919/7 "2015-12-20T22:47:12Z")
Sometimes Indian or Pakistani blades are prone to rust, but I’d say get a pack and try them. Why not? Neem oil is a common ingredient in Indian toothpaste. It’s supposed to work very well. My dad used Neem toothpaste for many decades—He used to have friends bring them by the box. The traditional Neem toothpaste has a strong bitter flavor, but in recent years, they’ve made it sweeter and more like regular western toothpaste. Traditionally, in India, people clean their teeth with twigs from the neem tree. It apparently works quite well. ---
**Author:** ![Rather\_a\_Vicious\_Gentleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/919ad9/32.png) [@Rather\_a\_Vicious\_Gentleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rather_a_Vicious_Gentleman)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-indian-made-razor-blades/740919/8 "2015-12-21T01:55:07Z")
Veddy goot! ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-indian-made-razor-blades/740919/9 "2015-12-21T06:51:26Z")
Many, many weeks ago, I ordered and received my current supply of blades, which happen to be of Pakistani manufacture. I go through one or two blades a week, shaving about every other day, and they’ve been working out fine. I don’t need recommendations on the blades, but they can certainly be hard to find in stores, or at least they are in my small city. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-indian-made-razor-blades/740919/10 "2015-12-23T04:40:00Z")
Here’s a thread that has some blade recommendations. > **[Quadrupling (or longer!) the Life of Razor Blades – a Shaving Thread: spend...](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=750492)** > > This is a little lengthy. The TLDR version is: this info will save me $7,500 over the course of my expected (God-willing) hopeful lifetime. Instead of spending $8,000 on razor blades in my life I will instead spend only $500. This is mostly for... ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-indian-made-razor-blades/740919/11 "2015-12-23T12:04:51Z")
> [@botsgotme](#): > > While shopping at the local Indian grocery, I noticed that they sell old style razor blades, of stainless steel. I also noticed that **these are price controlled in India** -the box says that they cannot be sold (legally) for more than 15 rupees. At any rate, are they fairly good? I’m tempted to buy a few, and try them out. they also carry neem oil toothpaste-what’s the SD on that? Neem is supposed to be a wonder drug of sorts. If you’re referring to the Maximum Retail Price(MRP) listed on the box, that is not a price control, the price is set by the manufacturer. The legal requirement is simply that the manufacturer should label their product with a MRP. ---
**Author:** ![Carryon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Carryon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carryon)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-indian-made-razor-blades/740919/12 "2015-12-23T23:03:30Z")
I read that razor blades are the second most counterfeited item sold, after batteries. I wonder how good any of these would be? Perhaps that is why people want recommendations? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-indian-made-razor-blades/740919/13 "2015-12-24T02:06:40Z")
> [@Carryon](#): > > I read that razor blades are the second most counterfeited item sold, after batteries. I wonder how good any of these would be? Perhaps that is why people want recommendations? 1. If it’s counterfeits you’re worried about, then what good would a recommendation do you? A recommendation for or against a brand wouldn’t apply to a counterfeit of that brand. 2. Double-edged razor blades are so cheap that it would seem hardly worth the effort to counterfeit them. 3. Double-edged razor blades are such an old and well-established technology that even counterfeits should be relatively decent. 4. If I were to guess, if counterfeit razor blades are a problem, then it would be more likely to be expensive, brand-name cartridge blades—particularly Gillette cartridges—that are being counterfeited. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-indian-made-razor-blades/740919/14 "2015-12-24T03:23:02Z")
I had some Indian-made Gillette 7 O’Clock black box blades (Super Platinum), and they were fine- maybe not quite as sharp as the Russian-made yellow-box 7 O’Clock SharpEdge blades, but that wasn’t shoddy manufacture, but rather the difference between the yellow and black box. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-indian-made-razor-blades/740919/15 "2015-12-24T03:26:04Z")
The quality is fine but it is always a pain in the ass to cobble together that many rupees to buy them. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-indian-made-razor-blades/740919/16 "2015-12-24T03:40:44Z")
Oh, right, because I had to pay for my Toyota in yen. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-indian-made-razor-blades/740919/17 "2015-12-24T04:19:58Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Oh, right, because I had to pay for my Toyota in yen. :rolleyes: [https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=it’s+a+joke+son%2C+you+know+a+joke&view=detail&mid=732F16947B03FF35BF79732F16947B03FF35BF79&FORM=VIRE3](https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=it's+a+joke+son%2c+you+know+a+joke&view=detail&mid=732F16947B03FF35BF79732F16947B03FF35BF79&FORM=VIRE3) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-indian-made-razor-blades/740919/18 "2015-12-24T04:30:12Z")
That chicken is lame. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-indian-made-razor-blades/740919/19 "2015-12-24T04:43:46Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > That chicken is lame. “That chicken” is Foghorn Leghorn and he is one of the most iconic characters from the Golden Age of animation. Have you really never encountered him before? That is like not knowing who Daffy Duck is. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-indian-made-razor-blades/740919/20 "2015-12-24T04:51:19Z")
I know perfectly well who Foghorn Leghorn is. The “chicken” I was referring to is that lame comment you call a joke. You can’t make your joke better by trying to appropriate Foghorn Leghorn’s good will. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-good-are-indian-made-razor-blades/740919.md?page=2)