Thread: First Straight Razor

As the title stated I just got my first ever straight razor and I just got it back from being honed to shave ready and they told me to put mineral oil on it after every few shaves. I tried to look over the site, but I could not find any mention of this practice. Is it something that is important to blade maintenance?

I believe that the use of oil it to protect your high carbon steel razor from rust. This can also done in a number of other ways but it really depends on your humidity and style. I keep my razors in a box that is air tight and absorbent, this keeps them safe in my area but I have low humidity. If I was in a area where the humidity was high I think I would coat them in oil just to be safe.

Originally Posted by Zaph

As the title stated I just got my first ever straight razor and I just got it back from being honed to shave ready and they told me to put mineral oil on it after every few shaves. I tried to look over the site, but I could not find any mention of this practice. Is it something that is important to blade maintenance?

Welcome to SRP!

Just out of curiosity, what type of razor did you get and where did you get it honed from? I usually only oil the blades that I'm not going to use in a while. If you only have one razor then I don't think the oil is necessary as long as you dry it off after a shave and store it someplace dry.

Hello, Zaph,

Welcome to SRP. You will like it here.

A light coat of mineral oil is applied to the blade to prevent rust, especially in humid areas.

What I do following the shave is to dry the blade thoroughly, strop the razor 15 laps on canvas and 30 on leather, and then add that light coat of oil to the blade. Since my modest collection contains several razors and I return to the same razor several days later, I play it safe and use the oil.

Even if I had one razor, I still would still strop and oil it after each shave just to be safe.

Thanks for reading.

Regards,

Obie

Congrats on your firts straight! You should have a great time. Be sure and let us know if you need any help!

As for the mineral oil... It really depends on a few things; Steel, humidity, and storage.

Some steels spot very easily, for instance Thiers Issard, and need to be dried fully after each use and oiled frquently.
Other considerations are humidity and storage. High humidity areas will need to be oiled and generally take a good deal of care in preventing rust and spots. It is usually a good idea to keep the razors in some sort of box, or outside of the bathroom even. I built a little "dehumidor" out of an inexpensive cigar humidor. I simply removed the humidifier, and stuck some silica gel packets in there.

I live in a relatively dry area of the USA and still have some trouble with spotting if I am not careful. So, just to be safe I oil after each use, but only after the blade has air dried in the open position for a few hours. I generally use balistol oil and camelia oil. WD-40 also works just fine. a drop spread around with a piece of TP or your thumb is all you really need. Very light coating is all you are looking for.

Thank you for all of your replies. I live in Columbus, OH and during the winter there is virtually no humidity, although during the summer it is fairly humid so I will just oil during the summer months.

The razor I got was a Christmas gift and it is a vintage Cosmo made in Germany. I got it honed at a place called Columbus Barber and Beauty Supply Company. It was a reasonable 20 dollars to get honed to shave ready.

Zaph,

I'm among the few who attempt to float upstream: I don't oil my razors unless I'm going to put them up for a long time. The ones in the rotation get rinsed in very hot water after the shave and then towel dried - that's it - and it has worked to keep my blades shiny and corrosion free. Oiling certainly can be done to give the shaver assurances that his razor(s) won't rust, but it also means that the blade will have to be wiped clean before stropping to avoid getting the strop eventually oil soaked.

So, on the one hand you have this, and on the other hand you have that.

good choosing, good shaving,