Thread: Oh no! I think I might have ruined my new Dovo Gentleman!

Hey guys,
This is my first post on here and I am very new to straight shaving in general but, after shaving a few times with my Dovo Gentlemen I started seeing black spots on the razor. In an attempt to remove them I used some metal shining product on it and left it for few minutes. When I washed it off my razor it had permanent dark stains on the chrome surface. I know this was very stupid but I thought that If I can't remove them I will at least make the whole razor this way. Now I realized that I might have messed up my beautiful Dovo Gentlement for good! If anyone knows a way to get it back to normal, please let me know.
Thanks,
Stephan
P.S. I will upload some pictures of the razor tomorrow and will find out the name of the product I used, if that helps.

Originally Posted by Strekoza

Hey guys,
This is my first post on here and I am very new to straight shaving in general but, after shaving a few times with my Dovo Gentlemen I started seeing black spots on the razor. In an attempt to remove them I used some metal shining product on it and left it for few minutes. When I washed it off my razor it had permanent dark stains on the chrome surface. I know this was very stupid but I thought that If I can't remove them I will at least make the whole razor this way. Now I realized that I might have messed up my beautiful Dovo Gentlement for good! If anyone knows a way to get it back to normal, please let me know.
Thanks,
Stephan
P.S. I will upload some pictures of the razor tomorrow and will find out the name of the product I used, if that helps.

Ohhh my friend how I feel for you, I did the exact same thing.

For your benefit, I will share my shame, and the ensuing wisdom provided:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/begin...er-ruined.html

Enjoy!

The dovo gentle man is carbon steel not stainless The spots you originally saw are what happens to carbon steel if you leave it moist for too long. And the Black color you have now is called the patina.

Just use a standard chrome polish available from an auto parts store. I have a holts one I get in halfrauds in the uk.

Make sure once you have the black off you clean and dry the blade to get the chemicals off tho.

Carbon steel is a bugger with anything that's not PH neutral. Anything acidic will turn it black, anything alkali will turn it white and pit it. The patina actually protects the blade but it looks ugly. You can polish it off with a little Chromium oxide powder, or use a mildly abrasive chrome cleaner like the holts. Do not use anything that claims to work without needing physical effort! It'll be a chemical that burns the surface in come respect, and while that's fine on chrome and stainless it's no good on carbon steel.

Autosol may also work. http://autosol.com.au/metal-polishin...bon-steel.html

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Originally Posted by Strekoza

Hey guys,
This is my first post on here and I am very new to straight shaving in general but, after shaving a few times with my Dovo Gentlemen I started seeing black spots on the razor. In an attempt to remove them I used some metal shining product on it and left it for few minutes. When I washed it off my razor it had permanent dark stains on the chrome surface. I know this was very stupid but I thought that If I can't remove them I will at least make the whole razor this way. Now I realized that I might have messed up my beautiful Dovo Gentlement for good! If anyone knows a way to get it back to normal, please let me know.
Thanks,
Stephan
P.S. I will upload some pictures of the razor tomorrow and will find out the name of the product I used, if that helps.

Yeah it's black patina from the citric acid in that product. Autosol should clear it up your just going to have to test it as it might remove the gold if it's not a very deep etch.

You should be careful with other metals as well. If your using an abrasive with metal particles, wire wool, or wire wheels this is good to know, as particles of metal embedded in the steel will cause corrosion.


Magnesium (Magnesium will corrode)
Zinc (Zinc will corrode)
Aluminum (Aluminum will corrode)
Bronze (carbon steel will corrode)
Brass (carbon steel will corrode)
Copper (carbon steel will corrode)
Stainless Steels 300-series (carbon steel will corrode)
Titanium (carbon steel will corrode)

So don't get lazy and pull out a brass wheel, or use a copper brush to remove the patina.

Go slow with something synthetic like a toothbrush. And just let the autosol work at it's own pace.