Printable View
I have this razor, a russian Trud Vacha Ekstra, and it shaves fine but on one side of the edge is what appears to be a whitish discoloration of the metal. I've tried Maas but it doesn't change. Can someone please tell me what this could be? Is there any remedy?
Attachment 230622Attachment 230623
Two rather unlikely possibilities:
1. Is your razor made from stainless steel? If so it could be calcium deposited by hard water.
2. Was your razor zinc plated? If so it could be "white corrosion."
Both problems could be remedied by using an acidic scrub like a mixture of vinegar and baking soda. However if it is *not* caused by one of these two causes the acid scrub could darken the blade with a premature patina, so be very careful!
Hard to see in the pictures, but it could be an angle change in the grind on that side.
If this is carbon steel, it could be as simple as a hardening line. That is, about all of the blade that got hard during heat treatment. It seems to follow the edge. Better pictures would help. The type of steel used in these razors would go a long way to help. If this was kept in a leather slip, the leather could have patina'd the steel. Lots of questions...
Thanks to all for the helpful observations, it gives me a list to start checking out. The milk-like stain is only on one side and it does follow the edge as Mike Blue mentioned. The other side is very clean.
If it's a hardening line, I would expect it to be visible on both sides given the very thin cross section of the blade edge. More information and time will tell.
I will look for more information about the steel. Other than this the razor in very good condition and shaves smooth.
This photo shows the stain more precisely.
Attachment 230723
