Thread: Razor care/Oiling a razor

Hey all! With respect to razor care, after one finishes the shave and rinses and dries the razor, what's the appropriate next step before putting the razor to bed? As you can see by the title of my post, I'm assuming oil is an option...is that a practice many of you do? If so, how often and what type (will baby oil work)?

Its my experience that rinsing the razor with hot water and drying with toilet paper is more than enough. after i dry it i always give it a few passes on leather then put it away. just make sure to dry well and store in a dry place. if your going to put it away for an extended period of time than maybe some oil but otherwise its a waste of time in my opinion.

I dry the blade off and then dry the pivot area with a can of compressed air. If I'm not going to be using the blade for a week or longer, I use a Q-tip to wipe baby oil on the blade.

It's something I plan on doing as I ordered some Camellia Oil to go with the new razor. Though I've been wondering what other types of products might work as well. Baby oil or maybe some CPL(Clean, lube, protect) that I use on my firearms?

I think the larger issue with any different type of oil will be your ability to remove it all before you go to strop the razor so you don't ruin your strop.

I had this question not too long ago. An easy recommendation was to apply a little petroleum jelly (vaseline) after each use. I asked if it was overkill to do that each time, not that I would have a problem, but I simply didn't know if it was NECESSARY. This was the response I got:

I have purchased maybe 1500-2000 razors off Ebay now, and only one or two were even close to sharp. Most I could run my finger down without cutting. These razors weren't thrown into their final resting place after the last shave that dull. Moisture thru the years did that.

Now, you might think that I'm being extreme. And, I would think so too except for an article I read written around 1950 based on microscopic studies of the edges of razors. Even when not stored in especially humid areas, they found that moisture degraded the blade significantly even between shaves.

By the way, your blade probably has moisture trapped in the grooves in your bevel, and these are probably not reached by stropping because the gunk/water is in the valleys of the bevel. So, even if you store it in a very dry area, that might not be as significant as you think.

In other words, put vaseline on the blade after every use in my opinion.

Since that point forward, I simply smear a little vaseline on the razor each time after I use it (and dry it off). You could also use baby oil too, which is readily found in most drug stores. I simply use the vaseline option based on the response I had gotten above.

Instead of smearing oil on my blade, I just apply baby powder to dry it off. Is that enough?

I am not a chemist so I'm limb-walking on this one. CLP is excellent on modern day plastics, metal and with a carbon steel razor, no problem. But how it would react repeatedly with bleed offs on casine and older celluloid handles I would be a bit cautious. Plus some of the modern firearm lubes, particularly dry lubes, actually adhere to the metal molecular structure. What affect would this have on honing? While many of our razors are 70+ celluloid is very unstable and does break down faster than modern plastics. Thus, even with good old vaseline, like the old Brill-Cream - a little dab will do ya. IMHO, a drop of oil in between the washers from time to time would do moe better to prevent corrosion/tarnish coupled with wiping down and stropping after use.

Originally Posted by elsmooth

Hey all! With respect to razor care, after one finishes the shave and rinses and dries the razor, what's the appropriate next step before putting the razor to bed? As you can see by the title of my post, I'm assuming oil is an option...is that a practice many of you do? If so, how often and what type (will baby oil work)?

Mineral oil is the best bet.... baby oil is mineral oil with fragrance and is OK.

I like the idea of having some 'extra' oil in the pivot area. Vaseline
can be used too in small amounts.

In general a light coating of oil will survive hot water, shave lather
and a basic wipe so it is not always necessary to apply oil.
Still, It is OK to oil and is a good habit.

Anything (like alcohol) that degreases the blade risks
rust.

Tissues with lotion may do a fine job. Read the package,
lotion can be an emulsion of mineral oil, vegetable oil,
wax and even silicon oils any of which can be ideal.

I guess it really depends on the humidity in your area.
I never use any products on mine and have never seen any ill effect because of it.
The only razors I oil, is the ones tucked away for long periods of time. That means months.
A proper drying and stropping after use is all I use. Oh, and I never store any razors in the bathroom.

I use mineral oil. All my razors have wood scales, a also rub the oil into them. I have noticed that if I apply too much oil, that it beads up like water on a treated windscreen. So after a shave, I dry the razor thoroughly and soak a piece of TP with mineral oil and wipe the entire razor down really good, scales and all. Just before I use the razor, I soak a piece of TP with 91% alcohol and give the blade a good wipe, taking good care not to get the alcohol on the scales, just to give it a good clean and disinfect.