Thread: Beginner's Tips: October 2013

Hi Guys,

The tip for this month is that under no circumstances, nada, never, don't do it, stop, should you ever get water into the scales or handle of your razor when shaving.

We get a ton of questions on the forum about why is my blade staining and how do I prevent this and will I be able to clean these spot off my blade. This comes up often enough that I thought a beginner's tip would be in order.

I can't tell you how many blades I get in every day for honing that have rust in the hinge pin or dark stains all over the blade. This is normally caused by either a blade not being thoroughly dried when put away or by thinking all the water has been dried from inside the scales when that task is nearly impossible.

I have noticed that many people who use running water to rinse the suds and whiskers off the blade when shaving stick the scales under the water or stick the tang of the blade under the water close enough to where the water runs over the scales of the razor. When done, the razor is dried off, closed into the scales and put up until the next use. In some cases, it can take only hours for the water left in the scales to start rusting the razor itself. This process normally starts off as a dark color staining which can either show as spotting or sometimes with larger areas of discoloration. Although this does happen frequently with plastic scales, it happens a lot with wood or scales of natural materials as the water imbeds itself into the pores of the natural scales and is extremely hard to dry off either manually or just by letting the scales air out for a short time.

The easiest way to prevent this is to simply pay close attention to not getting any water on any surface other than the blade of the razor. Another way is to not use running water at all and just use a towel or a sponge to wipe off the blade when shaving. Sounds simple right? Should be, but..........

If you do start getting stains on the blade and if you catch them early, you can normally remove them with some substance like a Maas Polish and a light wiping of the blade. You can also use a dremel or buffer to remove them but remember that in any case, if you have gold wash or etching on the blade, the removal of the stains will likely remove or lighten the gold wash or etching.

Have fun

Good stuff.

I rinse only the blade and try to keep water away from the scales and tang.

Part of my prep is folding a couple squares of TP up...after my shave I wipe the blade on a towel, then the TP. I'll then stick another piece of TP in between the scales and run it back and forth...remember to get the little area between the scales on the other side of the tang!

A couple laps on the strop to make the the edge itself is dry and clean too!

Just to be safe I'll leave the razor partially open, just enough so that the blade is exposed.

Originally Posted by kwlfca

Good stuff.

I rinse only the blade and try to keep water away from the scales and tang.

Part of my prep is folding a couple squares of TP up...after my shave I wipe the blade on a towel, then the TP. I'll then stick another piece of TP in between the scales and run it back and forth...remember to get the little area between the scales on the other side of the tang!

A couple laps on the strop to make the the edge itself is dry and clean too!

Just to be safe I'll leave the razor partially open, just enough so that the blade is exposed.

I do basically the same thing. First I wipe the blade (stropping motion) on the cloth I used to soak my beard, run hot water over blade to rince and heat it up, dry with a dry towel (stropping motion) then strop on felt. I then use TP to dry between the scales, let the razor air dry for several hours with blade out. Been doing this for 5 years, so far so good.

May I add, if you are considering using a dremel that you read up a bit on the forum first.

And, if you decide you're ready to use the dremel, remember safety and which way the wheel she is a movin'. And keep it slooow and monitor the temp of the blade. You don't even want that thing getting warm, imo.

<faceshield down>

I think wet fingers during honing is another culprit for rusty tangs.
When in doubt, a good WD spray in the pivot is a good idea.

After drying mine off with a piece of toilet paper I leave it out on my dresser for a night with the fan on, then the next day place it back into its cigar box with a few packs of silica gel. Has worked for me for about a year. I did have a scare before I made my cigar box case, my razor started getting dark spots. So I polished it and started making sure to get between the scales, around the hinge pin while drying, and leaving my razor out to dry for a few hours at minimum but typically overnight before putting it awayaway.