Thread: I forgot to bring this up

Originally Posted by aeon

I use 95% rubbing alcohol after every shave on all of my razors to help clean off any excess shaving cream (I don't rinse my razors under water)

Interesting - may I ask why?

One upside to living in Edmonton is that it's so bone dry that moisture literally evaporates in front of your eyes....

Originally Posted by Ryan82

Interesting - may I ask why?

One upside to living in Edmonton is that it's so bone dry that moisture literally evaporates in front of your eyes....

I've never rinsed under water because i'm so paranoid about water getting into the pivot and into the scales and such. I know, if you are careful it's totally fine and is, mostly, a fear without base, but after all the time spent on restoring these razors (and the desire to keep my new razors looking new), it just seems like something that could be a careless way to cause damage.

So, because of my fear of my razors swimming, I just wipe with a damp cloth, and there is usually a small amount of residue left on the razor, so the alcohol takes care of that bit of dampness and residue. I usually follow that up with a wipe down with an old eyeglasses cloth before heading to the strops.

Overkill? Yah, absolutely, but isn't everything about straight shaving overkill? hah

But ya, at least we are not worrying about moisture in the air rusting our razors. It would take a storm of the century here to feel any humidity.

"All rubbing alcohol is 95%Ethanol."

Actually, here in the U.S., rubbing (isopropyl much more common than ethanol) alcohol can be obtained in strengths from 70-99%.
That most commonly found locally in drugstores and the like is either 70 or 95%.

This may not be the case for other parts of the world.

I too, have been using a combination of 95% isopropyl alcohol with some baby(mineral) oil added. I dip the blade into this solution after rinsing the soap residue off. Then open and close the blade a few times to ensure that the hinge pin is coated. Then the blade is left open to dry. I do dry the scales off with a piece of tissue. So far have had no ill effects, and have been using this method for several months now.