Thread: Storing a razor between uses

Hello all,

I was wondering what I should be doing with my razor between uses? I always make sure to dry off the blade and move it to a dry location (aka, not the bathroom). But should I be putting oil on the blade? And if so, what kind of oil? Will Vaseline do, or should I order a specific type of oil online or from a hardware store or something? Let me know what you think. I would definitely prefer not to have to order something online, as to save on shipping for such a small item. Thanks for your time and for your help!!

Tristan

Though there are more optimum places to store your razor between shaves, the bathroom is always the most common place. If you have a powder room with no shower that would be easier on the razors/strops. It all depends on personal preference. After shaving, I rinse and towel dry my razor then close it and keep it on the bathroom counter top. I do have a stainless blade so I'm not overly concerned with rusting. I also shave with that particular razor daily or semi- daily so the regular stropping keeps the edge fresh and clean. My strop lives just outside the bathroom to keep her away from changing temps/humidity. I hang it in the bathroom only long enough to get through the shave and then it goes back out to it's hanging spot. Some people swear by oiling their blade nightly to protect them. Like I said, it's all personal preference. As long as you dry the blade after shaving, you may want to do a a few laps on the strop to help clean, dry the edge for you. Anything past that I think is overkill. No reason to worry too much about the small stuff. Good Luck!

Depends on the humidity I guess. Vaseline should be just fine.

I wonder about using a towel to dry the razor afterwards. I guess I am paranoid about impacting the edge of the blade, but is there any need to worry about the edge when drying the razor with a towel or cloth? Are some towels better for this (ie microfiber or chamois or terrytowel) or does it really not matter??

Rocket,


For my own razors I rinse in the hottest water the faucet will deliver and wipe the blade with a stropping motion on a cotton terry cloth towel, pinch the spine and wipe in the towel grasped between thumb and forefinger to make sure it is dry, wipe the tip and shank, and I'm done. The razors in rotation are stored on a shelf in my bathroom; there is no evidence of any rust, but I have a dry house with forced air heat so my conditions may be different than yours.

ps, and only some of my razors are stainless steel.

Thanks for all the input. I will try a bit of vasoline on the edge between uses because my house tends to get a bit humid, and it probably wont hurt anything. I just wonder about these things because I want the blade to remain sharp for as long as possible after a good honing, and I keep hearing people mention oil on their blades between use and I wonder how important that is. Thanks again.

Tristan

This is what I do: After my shave I wipe the blade very carefully with toilet paper, and let the razor dry in an open position for a while. It is so dry here in Canada at the moment that it doesn't take long. Once it's dry I take some heavy mineral oil (pure, with no water added) and wipe it on the blade with a bit of tissue. Mineral oil would probably work better than Vaseline, probably for no other reason than it wipes off easier when you pick that razor up for the next shave. As for the storage place, there seems to be differing opinions on this. IMO I do not like storing my razors in the bathroom because a) I don't like having them in the most humid room in the house, and b) I have kids, so that would be a recipe for disaster.

I dry my blade on a towel and store it in a wooden cigar box with the rest of my blades. No rust at all since I started using the cigar box. I don't need any oil or anything else. Plus cigar boxes are cheap...

I think that it kinda depends on how many razors you are storing and with what frequency you shave with each. I have 8 currently and I use all of them except one that is going to be sold. I dry with towell, finish clean up, me and the shave den, dry again with tissue, oil lightly with sewing machine oil, 2-3 drops max, fold and store in my razor holder.



This is kept in the shaving den and no showers done there.

If you have only 1 or 2 and use them both you probably could skip the oil, but why?

Mark

I usually dry the razor, then let it air dry some more while i do the needful. Then strop it, put some mineral oil on it.