Storing razors -- to oil or not to oil? That is the question.

I read different approaches to storing SRs. Some say just keep them dry and you don't need to oil the blade/edge. Others say a drop of oil won't hurt, its cheap insurance. Some keep their SRs in air tight jars, others store them in the bathroom, some use tote boxes or cigar boxes...all with or without gel packs. Some say it depends on local climate and humidity levels.

I understand when we say storage that means different things to different people. Is "storage" one day, one week one month? Are there different approaches for different time periods of storage? What is your preferred method of short and long term storage?

I clean them and oil them every single time. I keep a log on each razor with the date they get used, so I may use it after a day or a month, regardless, my process is the same.

I have razors that have been stored for over 2 years & others waiting in rotation for daily use. I live in South Florida with high humidity.
All are coated with mineral oil only, not a spot on any.

It does not take but about 20 seconds to coat the razor, so why not? :shrug:

I will only oil my razors if I am going for a month or so. Other than that they get cleaned and dried after the shave and put back into one of several cutlery boxes I have converted to hold them. These cutlery boxes are not kept in the Bathroom and our climate is not a problem re: humidity with the house being heated in winter and AC'd in summer. It is a YMMV thing.

If I lived where humidity was a big problem I'd probably store them in some sort of dry box.

Bob

Use.....clean with water.....run across the barber hone a few strokes......strop on pasted strop.......linen or nylon strop.......then plain leather strop......then Ballistol to the pivot pin and lightly coat the blade too. Voila, like Hiralu stated, why not!!!! Never a issue as well.

Proper rinsing then drying with tissue, especially between the scales, few laps on the linen strop to clean and dry, then into a treated razor sock and into the razor chest. Never use oil....

I dont typically oil my blades.
But if I do, its a very light coat of baby oil. And that's if I'm putting it up for some time.(more than a month)

Like Bob H, my house stays pretty much the same temp. year round. And when I'm finished shaving, I store my razor(s) in the open position, in a flower frog, for at least 24hrs. then its stroped, and inspected before I close it, and store it till the next shave.
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Along with having holes in it, it's sitting on a wicker shelf, no more than three feet from a furnace register so there's lots of moving air around them

I take about five minutes to fill a shot glass full of Q-Tips for cleaning inside the scales. I use a pair of pliers to smash the heads of the Q-Tips so they fit easily inside the scales.

The razor in my current rotation which I use every other day stays untreated. The other rotation razors get treated with Sterol. Long term storage razors get coated with a silicon preparation made for long term knife and gun storage.

I only oil the ones that don't see much use. The humidity is low here so I don't worry too much as long as they are properly dried and stored. However I have had blades develope rust over long storage so most of what I don't use often gets coated with oil. I use Whal clipper oil.

My wife has some of that thick baby oil. Unscented. Not quite a gel but not runny. I wipe down blades with that before I store them long-term.

My weekly rotation 'storage' is a wipe down with a rag and then 50 laps on leather. Don't have to worry about humidity out here.

I don't cost my razors in oil, however they are the only part of my gear I don't store in the bathroom because of the humidity. I made the mistake once of keeping a razor in the bathroom when I moved and the humidity caused some rust to form. I just run mine down with running alcohol and put away in a fabric pouch/razor roll.

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I am lazy by nature and I don't routinely lube my razors. OTOH, I do rinse, dry with tissue, check inside the scales and dry if necessary. I always strop 20 round trips on leather and then put it away. On occasions where I've left the razor on the counter I may end up with a water spot, but no rust.

When I do lube my blades I use a Silicone gun cloth impregnated with Birchwood Casey R.I.G. (rust inhibiting grease) that I've applied with a q-tip. The stuff is magic, and I've been using it on guns/knives for 40 years.

There is one thing to consider. The blades that have a mirror type finish sometimes oil will bead up and leave some of the blade not treated. over a long period of time this could lead to rust spots. on these blades i use R. I. G. . this is a type of grease gunsmiths use to prevent rust and it's not that hard to remove when you get ready to put the blade in rotation.

Yup, a lot depends on conditions.

Here in So. Cal, I do not oil my rotation. Razors that are in long term storage, I oil with Ballistol, a drop on a Qtip and wipe the entire blade and edge. I keep a small plastic squirt bottle filled with Ballistol on the bench.

For razor being shipped, I oil the edge with Ballistol, on a QTip, wrap in paper, pack in a Zip Lock bag for protection and in a cardboard box stuffed with shredded paper. With instructions to wipe the edge with tissue and shave, no stropping for the first shave.

Any opinions on Tuf Glide?

Tuff glide is good also, just about anything will work though, I use Balistrol, RemOil, renwax, or alot of times just good old WD 40. It's pretty much up to you,,as most if the time you will clean the blade prior to use. Tc

Yea it works, pretty much, any oil will work.

Depending on the application and the term of storage, make sure it is easy to come off, water soluble is nice for short term.

For long, long time storage, can’t beat RIG. A dab will do a lot of razors.

Like Hirlau I am in South Florida and humidity. I do oil but not because I have had a problem, but more because it is what I read when I began using straights. It seems to be doing a good job. I use Hilco wipes sometimes and the oil from SRD other times. The SRD oil will bead on polished blades at times, but the Hilco lube does not. Not an authority, just relaying my experiences.

Ballistrol is perfect to protect the edge of my razors. I highly recommend its use. I'm in SoFla and never had a problem.

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Originally Posted by BanjoTom

Ballistrol is perfect to protect the edge of my razors. I highly recommend its use. I'm in SoFla and never had a problem.

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Great stuff isn't it Tom! I would not be without it now.

Use oil only on a few 'special' razors that I have pull away, other that I rotate are rinsed and dried. I also leave the spines taped.


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Ok I,m curious, why do you leave the spines taped? Tc

After every use, I clean my SR and dry. After the dry I dip the in a solution of 50% alcohol and 50% hoppes gun oil (any mineral oil or the like will do). I dip all the way down to the pivot. Run a thin cloth or paper towel thru the scales and set it aside to air dry. After the alcohol evaporates, you will have a thin coat of oil covering 100% of the blade. The you can put away for next rotation. When I use it again, I spray the blade with 90% alcohol and wipe off the oil
And strop as normal. All of my razors are antiques but all of the blades look new and always will. Hopes this helps.

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Originally Posted by ControllerBob

After every use, I clean my SR and dry. After the dry I dip the in a solution of 50% alcohol and 50% hoppes gun oil (any mineral oil or the like will do). I dip all the way down to the pivot. Run a thin cloth or paper towel thru the scales and set it aside to air dry. After the alcohol evaporates, you will have a thin coat of oil covering 100% of the blade. The you can put away for next rotation. When I use it again, I spray the blade with 90% alcohol and wipe off the oil
And strop as normal. All of my razors are antiques but all of the blades look new and always will. Hopes this helps.

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Seems like a lot of work to an old guy like me. :shrug:

I switch off between my cutthroat straight (Dovo Bismarck) and a Rolls Razor about every 2 weeks. I get the same great, close shave with both of them, but like the technique change every so often. When I store them, I coat them with razor oil as I do store my blades in the bathroom.


Steve

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Originally Posted by tcrideshd

Ok I,m curious, why do you leave the spines taped? Tc

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Great question.

My regular blade just gets wiped dry then put away. It doesn't have any signs of corrosion, but it does have a tiny water spot or 2. I've easily removed the hard water spots in the past using Mothers polish, but have decided to leave them alone lately.

My other blade hasn't been used in over 6 months, is only coated lightly with mineral oil, and is spotless. All blades are stored in my closet, in my homemade SR holder.

I have other blades that I need to restore, but they are just stored in my closet with no coating.

haven't used oil on a regular basis just some occasional Ren wax and then dry and strop before storing in a cedar box. haven't noticed any rust. I seem to be in the minority, maybe i should start.

I live in Florida, so I dry, strop on linen, and oil my razors after every shave. I use gun oil because I have it at the house. As stated before almost anything will work.

I also use Eezox Premium Knife Care. I use the regular one for my firearms and works like a champ.

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Originally Posted by hrfdez

I clean them and oil them every single time. I keep a log on each razor with the date they get used, so I may use it after a day or a month, regardless, my process is the same.

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WOW :-)! A log of when you used you razor. Never thought of that.
I am a big fan of Ballistol. I add some to my Smith's Honing Solution & use it on my Ark's & Coti. That stuff is great for about anything.