Strange Goop / Light Rust

Howdy all,

I purchased my first straight razor, a Dovo Black Star, from the BST section over here. It arrived wonderfully packed yesterday, but when I inspected the blade I noticed it a strange goo coating the lower part of the blade. It felt like the residue that is left behind when you remove a price tag / bar code from plastic or glass. I contacted the seller who told me he had only used the razor three times, and shipped it with mineral oil on the blade.

I tried to run the blade under hot water to see if that would work, but as I wiped off the water I discovered it had not. (I was wiping the razor and spine, and doing a super light towel strop to clean the edge.) I then let it sit for 10 or so minutes as I poked around online looking for a good cleaning method. I wound up deciding to have a go with regular dish soap and very hot tap water. That took it right off, but there is still a little bit of junk left very close to the edge, as I was neurotic about cleaning that close to the edge with the sponge. I then removed the water in the same way.

Low and behold, I have now noticed slight rust spots on the blade as pictured below. Is it possible that these came from my use? I have trouble believing that is possible. I've used carbon steel knives my entire life and have *never* seen one rust that fast.

So questions:
1) Any suggestions for cleaning off that last bit of junk?
2) Is the rust my fault?
3) Do you think I should contact the seller about a possible partial refund?

Thanks!


http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...n/DSC_6120.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...n/DSC_6119.jpg

Soaking in water was probably not the best thing, but the rust on the edge should come off with a good stropping or a light honing. If its actually just a little rust. BTW the honed edge is more prone to rust than the finished steel since it is raw and not mirrored. Hope this helps.

I should probably clarify that I meant I was running it under water, then I dried it off. It was run under water and dried off twice.

EDIT: Also, how would the rust come off with stropping? It's on the blade so it never touching the strop. (Or so I thought.)

You might try just some WD40 on a piece of tissue paper, that might solve both of the problem really easily...

If its just some light surface rust a pencil eraser should do the trick.

It is hard to tell from the pictures, but that gunk looks a lot like the soap gunk that builds up on my razor and brush handle-which is also metal (I have very hard water where I live).

The way I get rid of it is to use warm water with dish soap. Use a container that is deep enough to completely submerge your blade. Add the dish soap after the water and swirl it around otherwise you will get a large head of soap that is a nuisance to work around.

Submerge the blade in the soapy water and using a Q-tip, I rub the gunk off. You don't need much pressure and dunk the blade as needed to help break up the stuff.

Thoroughly rinse when done.

This should go without saying, be sure to completely dry the blade, pivot area and the inside of the scales when done.

Hope this helps.

~Robert

I've also found a slurry of Bon-Ami-mixed between my fingers and rubbed on the blade under hot water will remove the "gunk". I had a similar problem with a new Dovo"silver steel" Prima.