Hey guys,
What do you suggest for preventing your razor from rusting?
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Hey guys,
What do you suggest for preventing your razor from rusting?
Camiloa oil (Spelling)
There are many things. Dovo makes Sterol and there's tuffglide and A.J Russell makes no rust.
What about plain vanilla mineral oil, or Johnson's baby oil? Just as good? Bad for the razor??:confused:
No WD40? Have I found something it can't fix?:D
I use mineral oil or Camellia oil. Sometimes health food stores or supermarkets carry Camellia as "Tea Seed Cooking Oil", usually close to the olive oil. Some Chinese food stores also have it.
Cool Care Plus - not only does it do rust prevention, it lubricates, and it acts as virucide, fungicide, bactericide and tuberculocide. Spray it on and ten minutes later wipe it off with a dry towel.
FWIW, when I was in the military it was considered incorrect to use WD-40 on weapons. The reason being is that after the propellent evaporated a loose film was left to dry on the metal that allowed moisture/humidity between the film and the metal, trapping the moisture next to the metal. So the proper lubricant was the order of the day. May be wrong, I cant prove it one way or the other, its just whats been beaten into my head over the years.
Im pretty sure that WD40 can also damage most scales. At any rate, WD40 was never designed as the cure all its considered to be today. It was orrigionally a water repellant. You'd spray it on and when it dried up the film would repel water.
I definately agree. When I was in the AirForce I maintained all sorts of weapons both aircraft and ground, rifles, pistols, automatic weapons, etc. Anyone that brought WD40 into the shop was beat about the head and shoulders. It works great for removing stuck bolts but doesnt help with rust protection. I have had to clean rust off things "protected" by WD40. What we used was CLP or Break Free.
Bob
FWIW
I have used WD-40 for over a year on my razors with no ill effects to date...
I however don't spray it on the razor I use a small piece of TP then just wipe the blade. The only thing that I could see being bad is that it could cause skin irritation if you didn't wipe it off first....
Many of the police Dept's and the military discontinued use of WD-40 back in the 80's because there was a notion that it could penetrate a primer pocket on a round and cause a misfire from a dead primer. Whether this was ever proved I still don't know......
I use sewing machine oil because it is super cheap, formulated for high-carbon steel *and* non-metal materials, and it is easily available and doesn't harden up.
Don't use just any oil.
Paper shredder oil is really bad. I used that once and within a couple of weeks it had turned to gum, ugh! It was difficult to remove, what a mess.
Vegetable oils can do the same thing.
Tuff glide is OK, but fairly expensive and it has a strong odor. I don't know about long-term preservation with Tuff Glide as the carrier solvent evaporates quickly leaving a dry lubricant. In a moist environment you *might* get corrosion, I don't know.
I just purchased a razor made in 1851 and it is remarkable how little corrosion it has. It also had no oil on it. It was just stored in a musty dry attic for a century. The horns scales were eaten up by bugs, but the steel still looks good. Dry is the key.
Dovo also makes other products that are great at preventing corrosion!;)
Guys remember you are putting this on your face and all the ones mentioned leave a film thats what the are meant to do. They do work though. Stick with the natural oils. I would stay away from Tuff Glide I have seen it leave a stain on a razor that was stored awile more then once.
How long will natural oils prevent rusting? Lets say the razor is stored away in a cool place, like a computer desk drawer
It depends on the exact oil actually. Vegetable oil might go sour quite fast, which may or may not create problems down the line. Mineral oil is stable and you can find food-grade mineral oil.
My longer blades are kept in a cool (but slightly humid) place. I tend to give them a wipe, a full inspection and a new coat of mineral oil once a year. There hasn't been a trace of new oxidation on those blades.
Thats what I use. Spray a tiny bit on to a cloth and give the blade a quick wipe before I put it away. Its working so far..! :)
Also, make sure the blade is totally dry before you put it away, and that the scales have no water droplets on them either. Check in between the scales for stray lather/ water and wipe it out with some tissue.
I use a hair dryer and then put the razor away with out any oil. If there is any oil left on the blade I want it to be able to evaporate away. However if I am going away for a long time or for a blade that needs work I will give it a liberal coating of vasaline. Doesn't seem to do any damage, but can stain some scales.
Plain old mineral oil will do just fine, and will cost a lot less. Sewing machine oil is a good example, so is unscented baby oil. Probably the best choice is food grade white oil (often sold as honing oil).
As a police firearms instructor and armorer I can tell you that WD40 will not protect against rust. It will also attract dirt. As a geek with all sorts of useless information, WD40 was a government project for NASA. WD stood for Water Displacment and the 40 was simply attempt #40. Just some useless FYI I thought I'd share with you and the forum.
Mineral Oil is cheap and works well and you can find it in the pharmacy on the shelf. The only thing WD-40 is good for is cleaning your hands in the shop after working on your car.
bj
Ditto, I use mineral oil.