Thread: Cel rot???

Anyone else notice this small lot on eBay? The "tortoise shell" (actually I think that is faux shell) one is the one I'm talking about.



Looks like cel rot to me. It wasn't a bad deal but it made me think of the old phrase, "invite not evil."

Yup. It’s celluloid.

Real tortoise shell is rare and usually found on older, quality razors and pinned collarless.

Old celluloid tortoise is another pattern susceptible to rot, often the rust pattern on the blade will match the scale pattern. If the 3 were stored together one razor could eat all 3 or cause other celluloid to kick off.

Rusty pins can also be an indicator, it is not unusual for pins to tarnish, but not rust.

Some yellow colored scales are also susceptible to cell rot. Cell rot is contagious and can spread to and destroy razors stored close to infected razor. Only solution is remove and dispose of infected scales.

It looks like the rust may follow the pattern of the scales. It's hard to tell with it all the way open but it looks that way.

Originally Posted by PaulFLUS

It looks like the rust may follow the pattern of the scales. It's hard to tell with it all the way open but it looks that way.

The rust does follow the pattern. I had a tortoise scaled razor that developed cell rot and there was a pattern on the blade from the off gassing and it nearly destroyed the etching on the blade.