Thread: cleaning lady left my dovo in a puddle

I've only been at this game a couple of weeks. This morning (Sunday) I discovered that my idiot house cleaner had soaked my (two-week old) ebony-handled Dovo. For all I know it had been sitting like that for three or four days, at the very least since Friday. Black marks/watery-looking stains all over the blade. Seems possible (though difficult) to scratch some of it off with a finger nail, near the spine where I don't mind applying pressure with my fingers. But no idea if it's possible to get rid of the rest. Is it gunk from the ebony? Rust? or what? So I'm begging for advice from the more initiate on two questions:

(1) Is it still usable? If so, how can I (or someone else) clean it up?
(2) Should I fire the cleaning lady?

V grateful for any wisdom...

Welcome to SRP. You could try getting some of the gunk off by using a metal polish such as Maas or Flitz on a Q-tip and a paper towel. I would worry about the scales warping. You may have to send it out to be honed again. If you go to 'member services' in the classifieds here you'll find guys that restore and hone razors.

Your cleaning lady is an example of the way to hell being paved with good intentions. I don't know if I would fire her but I would let her know that my shaving gear is off limits.

It should still be usable provided the marks don't go too deep. Your best bet is to hunt through the classifieds for a restore pro and see what magic they can work, though you will likely lose any gold wash or light etching. As far as the cleaning lady goes... If she does a good job, I would keep her. But I might also ask her to pay for the restoration as it was her mistake.

it should be able to be saved. i use mothers mag and aluminum polish and get good results with getting out stains.
do not fire the cleaning lady, she probably does not have a clue to what she may have done.
good rule of thumb, do not leave straights around so others can get at them easily or warn everyone to "keep yo cotton pickin' hands offin my blades"

So, am I too understand she soaked it in some kind of cleaning solution. Do you know what she used? I don't think I'd fire her either. It's near Christmas, and jobs are tough to come by. Sounds like she had good intentions, misplaced as they are. I'd go with the Maas cleaner, available on Amazon, or you can try Mother's mag and aluminum polish available wherever auto parts are sold. I used that myself on my razors. It sounds like a chemical reaction between the steel and the cleaning solution. It should clean up. If not, you may need some pro help. Let us know. Rich

P.S. If you haven't yet, you need to rinse it off with fresh water right away and let it out to dry. If she used some kind of Acid based solution, you need to soak it in a baking soda and water solution to neutralize it for a minute or so, then let it dry out.
In any event, you need to get what's ever on it, off.....

Black marks are harmless, they are in fact protective on carbon steel. If you don't like the way they look, you can take them off with metal polish and a soft cloth. Proper stropping will take them off the edge itself.

Rust, (the red stuff) is more of a problem and needs to be removed immediately.

This is all terrific and reassuringly consistent advice. Thank you. And it was quite right for Old_School to chastise me for inappropriately venting at my cleaning lady. After all, who am I to criticise her lack of knowledge; I'm only one step away, posting in Newbies Corner.

I think the plan is:

(a) soak in baking soda / water [action since complete] and dry out
(b) clean with maas
(c) send off for honing
(d) visit Geo F Trumper's on Curzon St for a shave in the meantime [I live in London]
(e) Offer pay rise to cleaner if she can learn to strop better than me [which shouldn't be hard].
(f) Review Newbies Corner posts every day.

Cheers.

Originally Posted by Straightface

(a) soak in baking soda / water [action since complete] and dry out
(b) clean with maas
(c) send off for honing
(d) visit Geo F Trumper's on Curzon St for a shave in the meantime [I live in London]
(e) Offer pay rise to cleaner if she can learn to strop better than me [which shouldn't be hard].
(f) Review Newbies Corner posts every day.

Don't be too hard on the cleaning lady, just store your razors better next time.

Umm... are you sure about a? Haven't tried it myself, but generally hicarbon steel and water don't mix very well. Do you know this is a working method? EDIT: Ok, zib suggested minute or so. That might be safe.

Was the edge damaged? Why don't you clean it up and continue shaving with it?

Originally Posted by Straightface

(e) Offer pay rise to cleaner if she can learn to strop better than me [which shouldn't be hard].

Get her to learn to hone and you'll be set.

What you need is a time machine

http://straightrazorpalace.com/489641-post41.html