Thread: Blade oiling... ?

Thank you FIReSTaRT, you make a good point. I live in an area with super hard water and it's always a pain to clean up after the shave. I'll definitely try the alcohol trick. Any particular alcohol to use?

Ash

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

Those stains could be caused by soap residue or by minerals in the water. Alcohol helps mitigate both (the first better than the second). You may wanna try it as an experiment.

Originally Posted by turando72

Thank you FIReSTaRT, you make a good point. I live in an area with super hard water and it's always a pain to clean up after the shave. I'll definitely try the alcohol trick. Any particular alcohol to use?

Ash

I just use regular 70% rubbing alcohol from the pharmacy. A couple of squirts from the spray bottle on each side, wipe down with a paper tissue. Hard water also doesn't rinse out the soap residue that well, so the alcohol should definitely help you remove it. If oil was helping remove the stains from your spine, chances are that it was by lifting soap scum.

I always use Eucalyptus oil.

It depends on the blade. For example, Hart Steel recommends oiling their blades after each use. Either way, I think that proper tool maintenance is always best, so I recommend using oil.

I would use Balistol, but I wanted something less expensive and more food-grade. I now use mineral oil. You can get it at your local pharmacy as Baby Oil (i.e., light mineral oil with fragrance) or laxative (i.e., heavy Mineral Oil, USP). The laxative type is food grade oil, so it is safer than baby oil. Plus, there are many uses for mineral oil around the house; look it up.

SRP has a "Shopping List for Beginners" and recommends mineral oil too:
Shopping list for beginners - Straight Razor Place Wiki

You could go the more natural route, since mineral oil is petroleum based, and try camelia, almond, flax seed, or vegetable based oils. But, these oils may dry and leave gummy residue if left on the blade over a long time (i.e., storage).

I just apply a thin film on the blade. I see no need to apply oil on scales.

I rinse and dry the razor after use and apply baby oil with a q-tip. Never had any problems with rust spots or anything.

Same here.

I just noticed that I have what seems to be a grey spot on one of my blades. Is this the soap residue thing? How would I get rid of it?

Without seeing a picture, I think I had the same stuff on my blade. It's a water stain or oxidation that could have resulted from, like me microscopic soap residue or storing a wet blade.

That stuff was a pain in the backside for me but it comes off with some elbow grease and MAAS. Just be careful no to use MAAS on any etching on your blade, it will remove the stain as well as the etching.

Cheers,

Ash

Originally Posted by Scookum

I just noticed that I have what seems to be a grey spot on one of my blades. Is this the soap residue thing? How would I get rid of it?

Originally Posted by turando72

Without seeing a picture, I think I had the same stuff on my blade. It's a water stain or oxidation that could have resulted from, like me microscopic soap residue or storing a wet blade.

That stuff was a pain in the backside for me but it comes off with some elbow grease and MAAS. Just be careful no to use MAAS on any etching on your blade, it will remove the stain as well as the etching.

Cheers,

Ash

That little grey spot wasn't there when I bought the razor. What is MAAS?

Yeah, had the same stuff on mine. MAAS is just metal polish, some people also like Mothers but IMHO MAAS is the best and smells nice. Just google it. Strong stuff though(a little goes a long way), if you were to put some on that nice etching, it might dull it and eventually remove it completely.

To prevent it happening you can try Ballistol (what I've been using so far.... A bit messy and stinky but it works!) or try getting some alcohol as suggested above. I need to go get me some from the chemist tomorrow.

Hope that sorts it out for you.

Ash

Originally Posted by Scookum

That little grey spot wasn't there when I bought the razor. What is MAAS?