Thread: Is this rust? If so, how do I fix it?

Hard to tell from the picture but if you take a white tissue and wipe across it and it has a reddish tint it may very well be very light rust. To me in the picture it looks like water stains or what I call oxidation. I get this even though I wipe my razors down after each use and oil them and every so often use Flitz metal polish which pulls those oxidation stains off.

Yes, hard to tell from a photo, may be hard water stain, may be rust. Water was between the scales when stored. Do store your razor in the open position.

The etching on those razors is very thin and any abrasive polish will remove it. If hard water, a Qtip dipped in vinegar will dissolve it, rinse and dry well, try the least abrasive course first. If not, you will have to polish, try a dap of metal polish and a Qtip.

More importantly, it is probably also on your bevel and edge.

Euclid has a good point, folding the razor up while still wet may be part of the culprit.

At the end of the shaving session, rinse the blade off with hot water and carefully wipe it off with a bar towel or toilet paper to dry it, taking care not to deform the edge. Then leave it out opened to dry for an hour or two (or all day). Then store it away as is, in a silicone sleeve, or, as I do, dip it the alcohol-mineral oil solution I mentioned above. Oiled like this, the "rust" will stabilize and no longer be an issue. The alcohol-oil solution also acts like a solvent, dissolving any soap scum traces that might still be lingering there.

If anything, a little bit of oxidation gives the blade character. Rather than risk to efface the etching further, I would just leave it as it is and dry it out properly after shaving, oiling it as needed.

I know the water at my house is pretty hard. Its caused damage to my shower handle a few times, but thats another story. And I know for a fact I did store the razor while the scale was wet. I saw it, I knew it was probably a bad idea, but I was in a rush to go and I did it anyway. I'll try the white tissue test once I get home from work to see if its actually rust. But there is a good chance that its hard water stain as well.

If the stuff is on my bevel and edge, does that mean I have to get it rehoned again? The 12k super stone I ordered just arrived, would that be enough to fix it, or would I need to go all the way back down to a 1k and reset the bevel?

Originally Posted by Brontosaurus

A little bit of iron absorption is good and good for you. Just make sure your tetanus shot is up to date. If anything, it proves that the razor is indeed made of carbon steel, which isn't a bad thing in terms of ease of sharpening.

After the razor has dried (after shaving), dip it in a solution of 4 pts methyl alcohol to 1 pt USP mineral oil (avoiding the scales as the alcohol will attack them), leave it out opened for 15 mins. or so until the alcohol has evaporated. Then store it away until the next use. Afterwards, you'll be surprised how much this apparent issue has become a non-issue.

Or just rub some mineral oil over it with your fingertip to make the "rust" go away. Really, it's nothing.

Rust will not cause tetanus.

Depends, Look at it with magnification, to see if the rust or whatever is on it has eaten or damaged the bevel and edge. If it has, the 12k can touch it up, with the proper technique.

Read the first 3 threads in the Honing Forum and the Library section if needed.

First, determine what it is, then see if the edge is damaged before you do any honing.

So I did the tissue test and no red came off at all. I put it under a microscope and I'm fairly certain that it is water stains. The abrasive metal polish I used on it got most of it off to the point that you can only see it when you shine light on it.

Prior to this incident I was already planning to refresh the edge anyways. I've been using this razor to shave my head a lot and I've put a good amount of use on it that I feel like I needed a 12k touch up. Since a few months back I've already had to use a diamond paste on a leather strop to keep it sharp every couple weeks or so. I've done that enough that it never gets back to the same sharpness that I had after you helped me rehone it back at the beginning of the year. I really appreciate that by the way, Euclid440.

I bought a 12k naniwa super stone, a mount, and some chromium paste. I already had a diamond paste from before.

So here is the plan so far. Today is kind of my friday night as far as my days off goes, so this is my project for tonight. Hopefully I get it all done in 1 night, haha.

1. flatten my 12k stone on a 3M 400 grit sand paper. I bought a single ceramic tile to do this on. I'm using reverse osmosis filtered water to soak and wet the stone. Its not distilled but hopefully its not so hard that it ruins anything. going to use the pencil mark grid test to make sure the stone is flat. Then I'm going to round the edges on the stone.

2. Put on Lynn Abrams 12k stone instruction video and follow it verbatim step by step.

3. strop the razor on the diamond paste how ever recommended times the video says.

4. strop the razor on the chromium applied linen side as directed.

5. strop the razor on a regular leather strop 60 passes.

6. mess everything up and ship it to straightrazordesign to get everything fixed proper.

hopefully I never get to step 6. fingers crossed. I kind of remember what you showed me last time euclid440, so I figured nows a good a time as any to see how good of a student I am.

I'm probably going to move at an extremely slow pace, so if any of you guys some something I missing or wrong with my plan, let me know. I'll be checking back here periodically. wish me luck.

Edge may still be fine, given the oxidation as shown, although I agree with Euclid that viewing it under a decent achromatic loupe (~10x) would help determine this. If the blade was stored away dampened, and that is the culprit, then from now on it is important first to rinse the blade completely, then wick off the excess moisture with a towel or tissue, and then strop the blade afterwards, around 5-10 laps on cotton (to further dry the bevel and edge) and then 30-40 laps leather. And as far as stropping goes, that may be all one needs. Leave out opened to dry completely before storing it away.

I'm positive that I did store the razor damp one time. I didn't think that was enough to cause problems. But after that time I didn't go back to use it for quite some time. I just let the face hair grow out for a long time. I was really busy at the time. Prior to that, I always did the 7 laps after each shave on the cotton side. than 20 times on the leather side.

heres what I'm working with tonight.

Whatever that loupe is, did you verify that the edge has deteriorated? The oxidation as shown in the first post didn't seem too severe, just cosmetic, but if it was stored away damp for a spell, who knows... What troubles me here is the strop as pictured--looks like mold on the leather side. I store my razor and strop outside of the bathroom, in a dry location. Use electrical tape if you're taping the spine. Gotta use a clean strop without mold like that (if that's what it is). Otherwise, if it's pasted like that, use it to clean the edge a little. Might be all that's needed. Less of an approach is sometimes more in some cases.