Silly beginner question - mineral oil.

Hi

There is something that has been concerning me and that is using oil on my straight to keep it in good condition especially at the pivot near the tang. My razor is a Dovo All Steel which is completely made out of stainless except for two brass looking washers at the tang pivot. I have not used any oil at all so far as I am not sure what to use although have been taking good care to dry the razor well and leave it in the open so air can get to it.

Now they say you should use a little mineral oil to lubricate the razor and prevent against pitting etc but now the only mineral oil I have is the bottle of 10W/40 sitting in the garage for my motorbikes. I dont relish the idea of putting that on my straight so what oil do I buy? They sell this 3in1 oil over here in the uk in alot of places and that comes in a handy little tin with a small spout that looks perfect for applying to a razor.

3-IN-ONE Multi-Purpose Oil | Household Oil | Lubricate Bikes, Guns & More

Now will that be ok on my razor or do I have to buy special mineral oil for the job, also I am aware that alot of the guides for straight shaving are US based and I guess that what Americans call mineral oil might be something else than what they call it here in the UK. ;)

I used to use a bit of vegetable oil when I was dead broke. It did the trick short term, preventing rust and such.

Do you have any Organic or Natural stores near you, such as a health food store? Camellia oil is the substance I use now, and is readily available at many organic places, because of its great properties as a hair conditioner.

Straight Razor Designs also has a bottle on their website, but the shipping may be a bit much just for a small bottle. Check out your area. It might be a fun excuse to grab a coffee or tea and do some razor related hunting on a Saturday.

I believe in the UK Mineral Oil is labeled as Paraffin.

So far I have avoided getting anything, including oil, near the pivot pin. If that
area is kept dry and clean, I don't think oiling it should not be necessary. The
area can be kept dry and clean with pipe cleaners and dental floss among
other things.

I use a mixture of Camilla and Ballistol. I use an applicator like the one below. I do the pivot point from time to time because rust there is a pain to fix and requires de-pinning sometimes. 3 in 1 oil here in the US is a petroleum based product which should not be used because it can be harmful to some scales.

Attachment 67154

Thanks that would make sense I guess I should look out for some Parraffin oil or Camellia oil as described above although looking at the post above I might be ok for a while. I have trouble here keeping water away from the pivot on my razor as I dip the blade upside down (so blade has no chance of contact with sink plug/bottom) into the sink and give it a shave to remove the lather while shaving. The hot water boiler is a bit dodgy and the water runs cold before it starts to run hot so rinsing it under the tap while shaving isnt an option.

I have a dovo silver steel. I use safflower oil on the blade after each shave and on the pivot about once a fortnight. Seems to do the trick.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by thebully

Thanks that would make sense I guess I should look out for some Parraffin oil or Camellia oil as described above although looking at the post above I might be ok for a while. I have trouble here keeping water away from the pivot on my razor as I dip the blade upside down (so blade has no chance of contact with sink plug/bottom) into the sink and give it a shave to remove the lather while shaving. The hot water boiler is a bit dodgy and the water runs cold before it starts to run hot so rinsing it under the tap while shaving isnt an option.

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I use a petroleum based mineral oil (3 in 1) and haven't had problems, but I don't have a breadth of experience. I'd be interested to know what scale materials it harms. I apply the oil with a Q-tip just to the blade. I don't treat the shank/pivot/tang.

I use plain old Vaseline (petroleum jelly). This came on the recommendation of a reputable vendor and blade honer. Takes about 10 seconds to apply and it does an excellent job at sealing the blade against the corrosive properties of water. I simply wipe down the blade before I use it.....then shave......then put a little Vaseline back on it when I am finished. Cheap and works like a charm!

I tried mineral oil on the pivot pin once . It made the blades so loose , I had to re-peen the pins , and it permanently stained the bone scales on one of my razors . I never used that stuff again . All I do is make sure I don't get water on anything but the blade , and when I'm finished with the razor , I rinse the blade with hot tap water , wipe it dry with 2 cotton balls , one after another . The first cotton ball gets off most of the water , and the 2nd one gets it good and dry . Then I let them sit open for at least 24 hours , before I put them away . I've been doing it like this for the past 4 years , and my razors are doing fine . The only time I do use mineral oil is if I'm shipping a shave ready razor to someone , and I only put a very light coat on the blade .

I am not sure about the UK but baby oil is sold every where in the US and is like $1 a bottle, this is mineral oil with a scent. I have put oil on the blade in the past but if you are using it regularly you should be fine. I keep oil on my rainy day blade, I don't bother doing it to a razor i use every other day.

If I know that I won't be using a blade for awhile I'll use baby oil on it. Otherwise, I just wipe the blade down after use and use a can of compressed air( like you use to clean a computer keyboard) to dry the pivot and indide the scales. Havn't had a blade rust on me yet.

I apply a few drops of gun oil/lubricant (Tuf-Glide) to the pivot pin. It is lighter than mineral or baby oil.

As for the blade--I apply a drop of Camellia oil to both sides of the razor and store it in its coffin/box. When I use it again I wipe the oil off and shave.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by thebully

I have trouble here keeping water away from the pivot on my razor as I dip the blade upside down (so blade has no chance of contact with sink plug/bottom) into the sink and give it a shave to remove the lather while shaving.

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Don't know why I didn't think to mention this earlier...but you could always wipe the blade with your finger. I wipe the blade with the spine along the crease of my first joint, the tip toward the blade edge. This prevents me from getting cut, clears the blade, and shows me how much stubble is being removed (useful for me as a newbie on XTG passes and cleanup passes), all without getting water on the pivot.

When I'm done shaving I dry the blade immediately with a soft terry cloth towel, and q-tip on a thin coat of Sewing Machine oil.

thebully,

+1 on mineral oil (baby oil) - all the supermarkets & chemists will have it.

You can get Ballistol from :

Ballistol Oil Environmentally Friendly Lubricant From Natural Resources

Ballistol Oil for Straight / Open Razors and Tools

and Amazon.co.uk: ballistol

Camelia oil :

Oils for various wet shaving-related purposes

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ