Thread: Rookies first polished razor w/ pics

Alrighty gentlemen,

I have been shaving for about 1.5-2 months now. I feel like I take pretty good care of my razor. Rinse it with water after the shave, wipe it dry, sterilize with rubbing alcohol, leave out open to dry for 2-4 hours, strop, box it, and put it in a drawer in my bedroom. However, I started to notice a little corrosion after probably the 3rd shave or so. I didn't know if it had happened since my purchase or if it had always been there so I started to freak out a little. I let it go for a while but after a few more spots of corrosion started to show up I didn't want to run the risk of my brand new toy rusting out. So I nabbed some Mothers polish from our shop at the house, it is actually a non-abrasive aluminum polish, I used this because it is what we happened to have in the shop. I know polishes can be expensive and didn't feel the need to go buy brand new stuff specifically for my razor before giving what I had a shot. I had this because we (Dad and myself) have a barn primarily used for machining (that's Dad's department, not mine), but we also do woodworking, car stuff, and just about everything in there. The way I said that makes it sound like it's our source of income, it's not, it's just a typical man-cave where we do our hobbies and a few side jobs at.

Anyway, sorry for rambling about that. I gave polishing my Dovo 6/8" half-hollow a shot, and I think the results turned out quite nice. There was some corrosion on both sides of the blade near the edge and 2 spots on the spine. I put the "before" pictures before the "after" photos and arranged them so that each image following the "before" is the same side "after". I set it on my desk when I was done and couldn't resist taking a picture because it was sitting there looking so pretty!

For the actual polishing itself, I just used a piece of leather that we use to polish other stuff. We have the buffing/polishing wheels, but I thought that was a little extreme since my razor didn't have a mirror finish on it to begin with. I just dabbed a little on the leather and got to work, wiped clean with a clean cotton rag, dabbed more on the leather, wiped clean, and repeated for both sides and the spine until I was happy. It turns a nasty gray/black color after a little while, when it reached that stage is when I would wipe it off and reapply. I went in small circles going clockwise for a little bit then counter clockwise. Below are the pictures, I hope the pictures are large enough to see the corrosion.

I hope this post helps somebody somewhere who isn't sure about polishing their razor. It's not rocket science, but I would imagine that it gets a lot harder when using buffing/polishing wheels and trying to get that mirror-like finish on a blade. I wasn't concerned with trying to get a mirrored finish on it either because like I said earlier, this specific razor didn't come with that kind of finish. It was also my first attempt at polishing a razor so my goal was to just get rid of the corrosion and prevent future rust, I think I have achieved it well for my first time. I might try to bring a mirror finish back to life if it starts to fade in the future on other razors that I will acquire. Needless to say, I reached my goal for this polish and am happy. Sorry for the long post, I hope everyone enjoys the read!

Happy shaving!

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DAAAAAAMN!!!

Cheers,
Zac