Thread: severe rust after 3 days

EDIT: See my post #36 for what I believe happened (hint: only myself to blame). Original post intact as follows:

just bought my first straight razor ... a Thiers-Issard Spartacas. I shaved about three days straight with it ... lightly coating in mineral oil each day. Then I put it in its case for three days after coating with mineral oil. After these three short days it is severely rusted ... I can see deep pits in the cutting edge and on the spine. It is far too bad to shave with or even for me to begin to attempt to clean it up. The rust pits are deep, and have gone far beyond cosmetic damage. This was in a motel so I don't know if the maid maybe splashed water on it while cleaning ... or left puddled water around the razor in its case ... but it was dry and rusted when I pulled it back out.

I am really shocked that such an expensive item can so deeply corroded in such a short period of time.

I contacted the dealer I bought it from who ignored my questions on how it could have corroded so quickly and offered to restore it for over $70. I really don't want to sink an additional $70 into something so delicate especially since I live in a very humid place. Is this type of quick severe rusting normal in straight razors? Did I buy the wrong brand? a bad steel? could mine been some sort of quality defect from the factory? Could I have been duped with a cheap counterfeit knockoff? Any help or advice appreciated. Thanks!

Welcome to SRP. Sounds quite unusual. Please post some photos of the blade. Close ups preferred.

Only thing I can think of is you may have been encapsulating the water with the oil? Also, the oil you used may be to blame.
Carbon steel rusts, cheap or expensive. I live in a very humid climate and apply TufGlide to my razors once, then wipe it off.
I do not reapply and have had no rust issues for years.

Welcome aboard,,,,,,,,
Sorry to hear about your problem,,,, get us some good photos of it tonight & we will get you pointed in the right direction & answer some of your specific questions after we see it.

yes ... I should have done that. Thanks for the reply!

thanks for the reply! you can see the photo in my previous post. It is fairly hi resolution so you should be able to zoom in.

I had three customers come to me to hone their Theirs Issard. All three were new to straights and had a similar problem. I removed any light rust and water spots with 2500 grit wet dry sand paper. Polished with mothers. Honed and left it on the bathroom counter for five days. No rust. I can only guess that you are not getting the razor fully dry. I also recommend not storing in the leather case. Better to have air circulation.

I dipped a q-tip in a new clean bottle of mineral oil and slathered the blade and pin with it ... then wiped off excess with clean dry tissue.

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Only thing I can think of is you may have been encapsulating the water with the oil? Also, the oil you used may be to blame.
Carbon steel rusts, cheap or expensive. I live in a very humid climate and apply TufGlide to my razors once, then wipe it off.
I do not reapply and have had no rust issues for years.

Wow, that's unreal. It almost looks like the maid spilled drain cleaner or something on it. I can't see water rusting it that extensively in 3 days.

If I didn't know better it almost looks like celluloid rot. Whatever did that it's a chemical reaction type thing. Something in that oil you used or something came in contact with the blade to do that.