Thread: maintenance of my razor...

Hello


Another post from me ;-)

It's been one week that I am into straight razor shaving. I enjoy it very much as it offers mostly benefits. The most obvious disadvantage of straight razor shaving is taking care of the razor. A mach 3 is being tossed into the bin after 3 times of use, but you can't do that with a 150 dollar razor (well, you can, but I'm not rich).
BTW, this is also one of the main reasons why I wanted to jump into straight razor shaving. I just think it's stupid to throw away a piece of steel every week. Mother nature certainly does not like that.
So, the razor needs care and maintenance. Such as? Well, here is what I am doing after every shave:

1) rinse the razor under the sink
2) wipe it with tissue paper that I soaked in after shave (removes oil&grease and kills bacteria, at least that's what i think)
3) strop the razor (about 20 passes)
4) let it dry at open air for about 5 minutes
5) oil it. some cutler ("knife guy", lol) gave me an organic oil for that purpose. he said it's not harmful at all (i.e. you could drink it, hehe) and it prevents the razor from rusting.
6) put it back into the box


Now, is that proper care of the razor?

thx for hints!

BTW: is there by any chance some forum member from Switzerland/Germany/France who does razor honing? I am reluctant to send my razor over the atlantic for honing...

I don't use anything but a rinse under the tap, Kleenex tissue to dry and the 20 round trips on the strop. I don't let it sit following the stropping but wipe it with a silicone gun cloth treated with a rust preventative. If what you're doing is working for you it is fine IMO.

I do something very similar, but I let mine dry open overnight. I also blow between the scales, or stick a corner of the TP I used to soak up any stray water drops.
I've found a stray spot here and there that can only have come from water drops inside the scales so now I've become kinda paranoid about it.

I wipe, use rubbing alcohol and then strop. the idea is to get the razor and especially the edge as clean and dry as possible before putting it to bed. There's different ways to do that.

+1 on the advice offered in the previous posts. I would substitute rubbing alcohol for aftershave and add stropping your razor 15-25 times on both the fabric and leather of your strop before oiling it.

Jut my 2 cents...

Originally Posted by shiznix

Is there by any chance some forum member from Switzerland/Germany/France who does razor honing? I am reluctant to send my razor over the atlantic for honing...

I understand your reluctance to ship your razor across the world. Across the continent is bad enough. Although I'm sure there are many members who hone in the countries you listed, Bart from Belgium is supposed to be great at honing. Pretty nice guy too, from what I hear...

When I shave I take extra care not to get water in the pivot. Give it a rinse under hot water with spine side up. Wipe it off with a towel then tissue making sure to dry between the scales. Let it sit out open. My next trip to the bath room I put it in a wooden box with desicant packets.

If you have a small bathroom don't keep the razor in there. If your mirror steams up when hot water is on or you shower it is to humid to store the razor.

My 2 cents

Silver2

+1 to all the above advice!

One thing just mentioned in the last reply, but something you didn't mention...At least in your choice of words is...hot water. Make sure to use the hottest tap water possible when you rinse in order to heat the steel. Once you dry the razor then strop it, the remaining heat will help dissapate any remaining moisture. Another important thing mentioned in one of the other replys was making sure to wipe inside the scale. I wound up with several water spots on my first razor because of this.

According to your list, it looks like you have all the bases covered and shouldn't have any problems. Welcome to SRP and happy shaving!

your doin ok , I would go steps 1 2 3 2 4 , I wipe mine over with some alcohol on tissue paper an thats it put it away , the alcohol cleans and evaporates quickly taking moisture with it , also protecting the pivot from a soaking while shaving as others have suggested

Originally Posted by shiznix

Hello


Another post from me ;-)

It's been one week that I am into straight razor shaving. I enjoy it very much as it offers mostly benefits. The most obvious disadvantage of straight razor shaving is taking care of the razor. A mach 3 is being tossed into the bin after 3 times of use, but you can't do that with a 150 dollar razor (well, you can, but I'm not rich).
BTW, this is also one of the main reasons why I wanted to jump into straight razor shaving. I just think it's stupid to throw away a piece of steel every week. Mother nature certainly does not like that.
So, the razor needs care and maintenance. Such as? Well, here is what I am doing after every shave:

1) rinse the razor under the sink
2) wipe it with tissue paper that I soaked in after shave (removes oil&grease and kills bacteria, at least that's what i think)
3) strop the razor (about 20 passes)
4) let it dry at open air for about 5 minutes
5) oil it. some cutler ("knife guy", lol) gave me an organic oil for that purpose. he said it's not harmful at all (i.e. you could drink it, hehe) and it prevents the razor from rusting.
6) put it back into the box


Now, is that proper care of the razor?

thx for hints!

BTW: is there by any chance some forum member from Switzerland/Germany/France who does razor honing? I am reluctant to send my razor over the atlantic for honing...