Blades were clean and razor sharp, just as if I went back in time to get them fresh off the shelf. I only bought a single pack of 5 because I found an old Durham Duplex razor in a box of my late father's stuff I got after my mother passed away and I was curious about how people used straight razors. These blades (and the fact the that the Duplex has safety guards), made it a pretty easy task. A little more labor intensive than my electric Norelco, but I'm glad I learned how to do it.