I’m continuing to work through blades in my collection, and this time, it’s the Dorco Platinum HQ Red.
Dorco is an interesting story in the shaving world. Or at least I find it interesting. It’s a South Korea-based company that largely makes razors for other companies around the world, and sells some products under either its own Dorco brand, or through its Pace brand. If you’ve ever looked at or bought a Dollar Shave Club razor (and I did for years before I switched over to using safety razors), you’ve used Dorco razors and blades. And when it comes to their double-edge blades, they make three…or four…different blades: the Platinum HQ Red Stainless, the Prime, and the Titan, (and also the Platinum HQ Blue Stainless, though I can’t figure out what’s different about it except a catalog number and the color of the packaging).
This blade also came to me in the mild sampler pack from Razor Emporium back in February 2025, and that site rates it as a 3 to 3.5 for aggressiveness (1 being mild, 5 being aggressive). That rating puts it in the same area as the Bic Chrome Platinum, the Rockwell, the Gillette Silver Blue, and the Gillette 7 O’clock Black Super Platinum and Super Stainless Green. This means that it should give a good shave, but probably will be less efficient than a Feather or Nacet.
These medium-aggressive blades don’t excite me, and I don’t know why, especially given some of the successes I’ve had with them. But I was prepared to encounter a just okay shave this week.
Maybe it’s the razors I have that I’m using as my primaries: the Rockwell 6C has proven itself over and over as an outstanding razor that has the flexibility of the 6 plate options, and I love the consistent comfort and ease of the Henson AL-13 mild. These two seem almost incapable of delivering a bad shave–they might be just okay, but they’ll be reasonably comfortable and close with a few passes. (I can throw the King C Gillette in there as being good, but it doesn’t deliver great shaves quite as often).
This is a blade that doesn’t turn up too often in the Wicked Edge subreddit, at least not in SOTD posts. It does show up relatively frequently in Mail Call posts, where people show off their latest acquisitions. So it seems that people get this blade and probably take the same attitude that I did: “Oh good. A 10 pack of blades. Never heard of these. Maybe I’ll try them after I’ve used all of the Gillette blades I’ve got.”
I really look forward to my Sunday shaves. First, I’m usually dealing with an extra day of stubble, so it feels good to get that off of my face. Second, I love everything about the Proraso white products–the smell, the feel, the quality of the shave and the balm on my neck after the shave. Third, it’s the start of a new week of shaves, which means a fresh blade and usually a switch to a different razor. I’m still really enjoying the ride and loving the experimentation that it brings.
The Rating
Shave #144. I’ve said it before, and I’m certain I will say it again: I love the Proraso white products. They deliver a consistent, wonderful shave, and as I’ve said before, I’ve really got the lathering of the soap dialed in and get a very nice thick and rich lather for my shave, and I’m sure that’s part of the success of these shaves. Looking back on the shaves I’ve tracked, my Sunday shaves are consistently slightly better than the rest of the week’s shaves.
Today’s shave was a surprise because I didn’t know what to expect. I haven’t seen a lot of people talk about this blade, and I figured it would be a good but not great shave. But it exceeded those expectations. I will come back to this some day.
Comfort: 5 out of 5
Quality/Closeness: 4.75 out of 5
Overall: 4.875 out of 5
