Thread: Straight razor boxes, lots of them, how to store and organize?

I'm looking for a way to organize empty straight razor boxes so I can find them quickly.

I tried dividing a large cardboard box of about straight razor height into smaller sections, loosely alphabetizing the sections, and putting the boxes in there vertically, and that worked for a while, but when sections got full and tightened around the boxes, whenever I pulled a box out to look at it, the box would separate from its lid and disappear.

I've since outgrown that, so now I have hundreds of boxes and no easy way to get to them quickly.

It would also be nice to organize all the half-boxes that I don't want to throw away because maybe some day I'll find the other half for a razor that needs a box, but they're either short lids without a box, or longer half-boxes without lids, so they're even harder to store.

Any ideas?

Throw away all the half boxes and any that are in poor condition. They really are worthless, IMHO. Get an appropriate size box for each alphabet entry you have razor boxes for and sort or not sort. If they are worth keeping and using some day, then they are worth a little time sorting through for the one you want. Make a list of what you have for each box.
I come to the realization once in a while that the stuff I've been hoarding is really just junk, as interesting as it may be, but not worth keeping. If someone really needs it they can pick it up from my boulevard on garbage day.

Hart, thank you for your excellent advice, most of which I took. For the record, I own 217 empty razor boxes, now categorized alphabetically in six cardboard boxes that are about a foot long, 5 inches wide and 6 inches tall, and divided in half by a piece of cardboard so the razor boxes don't fall over. I also ended up with a bag of orphaned half-boxes and lids which I lacked the moral fortitude to toss, but what matters is, I can finally, reliably find what I'm looking for.

Wow, 217 razor boxes. That's a record in my book. Are you referring to the ones that hold several straight's that straight razor sellers would carry around with their inventory of straight's to sell?

Just regular boxes like this:

starling. Just regular boxes like this:


Oh, ok, coffins. I take those & I put them in larger boxes with the razor inside. It also helps them to keep the elements away being double boxed like that. I have some razor oil & applicator I got from SRD which I coat them with so they don't rust. I also use Tuf-Glide on the pivots. If you have any like Dubl Duck's or Otto Deutsch Hans & some others which are greatly prone to cell rot, I keep them far away from the rest of the herd so no others get contaminated from them.

I use 1 gallon freezer bags for razor boxes. Americans in a few, Germans in a few, one for Wade/Butcher and Wostenholm, one for 'other Sheffields', and one for 'other'. Narrows the search down a lot.

Originally Posted by sharptonn

I use 1 gallon freezer bags for razor boxes. Americans in a few, Germans in a few, one for Wade/Butcher and Wostenholm, one for 'other Sheffields', and one for 'other'. Narrows the search down a lot.

Good idea Tom. I might just do the same.

I've seen people make "shadow boxes" out of razor boxes.

I purchased a razor stand that has a groove for the razor to sit in and on the top a magnet to hold the tail of each razor in place. I out grew the 8 spots so I got a piece of wood, grooved it on my compound mitre saw, got some nice trim, stained and glued it together and bought a strip of magnetic tape at Home Depot and glued it to the trim across the top. Have 15 razors in it and they don't move because the groove and magnets hold them in place. Cheap, looks good and really holds the razors firm. Can see each one standing tall.