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I have around 17 SRs in a regular rotation. I was looking through some photos of when I did the initial restoration on some of my razors and they seem to have lost a bit of the bright shine that I was able to achieve with some polish and elbow grease. They are by no means tarnished to any great extent...just not as bright and shiny as when I did the initial restore. This got me wondering. How often do you polish your razors?
I am personally not bothered if they develop a bit of patina over time. I will generally polish my restores to as close to mirror as possible, and then I will take good care of them. They may need a gentle buffing in 6-12 months time (at times of honing), but nothing major on a regular basis.
I would not worry about patina until it is time to hone. Then you can decide to polish or leave the patina.
Typically after a razor passes the test shave I give them a good coat of renwax and they seem to be pretty good. My problem is I have too many to easily rotate through them, especially since for the most part I only swap razors out once a week, and my favourites I use more often.
I never polish mine. The tendency to over-polish as-beginning is forgiven by the eventual return of the patina! :D
Are we talking full on power buffer wheels or just cloth rag and maas/flitz?
If I decide to sell a razor, and if it has water spots, I might do a dab of semichrome with a q-tip, follow up with a paper towel. Or, when I first get one, if it has any grunge that I want to get rid of, same procedure. Other than that I don't mess with them.
What means "polish"?
Yeah, I'm with Jimmy..... only if I'm selling or just bought a razor that needs some cleaning. Otherwise, a bit of tarnish give the razor character and makes it look used. Then again, I rarely shave with *nice* razors.... I always use my "junkers', razors that would never sell.... pitting, missing gold leaf, wonky scales and so on. They are good razors, just not pretty.
My wife bought me a plaque to hang on the wall in my..... uuuhhmmm.... junk room?!?! It simply states: "IT'S MY MESS, AND I LOVE IT!" I suppose she's right.....
I'm not even bothered by a little bit of rust around the pivot.... I dry it on the forced air heat register and as long as it doesn't get worse.... I don't worry about it.
Like many of the others have said, After the restore I leave mine, and look after them the best I can.
All my razors have a heavy coat of oil on them. The rotation has heavy mineral on on them & the collection has a heavy preservative oil on them. The blades are all, 98%, as shiny as they were from day one.
The rotation blades are sitting wrapped in a handkerchief & coated with mineral oil; I wipe it off, strop & shave. Then I wipe the razor dry, strop to dry the edge & re-mineral oil & wrap.
This way the blades stay shiny. :shrug:
never don't need to , if you dry your razor properly it will all be good Tc
For me I don't use any power tools. I just use a cotton cloth and some Mothers Mag and Aluminium Polish.Quote:
Originally Posted by EdwinHMcBride
I do the same as you. After every shave I dry my razor carefully, strop on newspaper to ensure the edge is dry and then oil the blade and pivot. It does help to keep the shine.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hirlau
I give them a look before honing and use Mothers if they need it. Nothing but wiping dry after shaving, but I live in dry Colorado YMMV. I use tp to dry my razors after use and I'll bet that there is a mild abrasive effect in the paper because they keep their shine pretty well.
Patina good
Rust Bad
There is a difference
Patina comes from years of loving care
Rust comes from neglect
Polishing with MAAS before honing on personal razors is a ritual for me, I rarely hone my own razors since I have large collection that I rarely use.. :hmmm:
I personally stopped oiling my own stored razors, if they are in long term storage they get wrapped in VCI paper after a Ren Wax
But Yes a light polish which has a wax for protection before I hone them for myself
The only time I polish is if I find a water spot. Otherwise, I strop a little on fabric (20x) and leather (40x)after using, air dry and lightly coat with mineral oil. I usually don't hone except to refresh.
I never polish my razors. If it's an Eboy special they get cleaned, polished, and honed and then that's it. New razors are never polished. I keep them oiled so they don't need polishing. Of course if there is a mishap then that needs to be corrected.
Actually from time to time depending on the material I will polish the scales with some cape Cod Cloths.
From recent experience, it seems to me that the patina actually does protect the blade to some degree. I sometimes polish away an annoying stain, but otherwise I leave it alone.
I polish up used vintage blades when I get them to restore them before honing. On brand new blades I do not polish them just hone and go. Never had the need to polish, touch wood, any after they have been put into use. I just dry them well before storing them and so far that has been working out fine.
Bob
I'm not terribly neurotic in caring for my razors, as they are tools first and foremost. That being said, If I notice a spot that doesn't come off with rinsing and drying, I have at it with a bit of newspaper. Usually does the trick and takes literally ten seconds.
What is this? Never heard of such a thing :D :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Pithor
Never have polished my razors. They are what they are. When I look at them I try to visualize where they came from and their histories. Why would I destroy their patina? However, if you like nice shiny objects, polish the hell out of them. After all, they are your razors!
Between the micro wood fibers and the ink newspaper is a wonderful polishing tool.Quote:
Originally Posted by trondsi
In fact it can be used as a strop. Yes it can! :tu
I'm on the other side of that coin. I think of it more like classic cars or motorcycles. I don't want to drive a junker so I keep them polished. About once every three months. I'll just use some metal polish on lint free cloth. My biggest concern being sanitation.Quote:
Originally Posted by Johntoad57
Absolutely! Newspaper is a wonderful product. Years ago we used newspaper to polish windows after washing with soap and water. And a newspaper strop is part of my post-shave routine. Also good for wrapping fish guts!Quote:
Originally Posted by cudarunner
It's also the best way to get the fireplace going.Quote:
Originally Posted by Whizbang
But I really have to try this newspaper stropping thing :)
The flooding in Missouri has turned the hill I live on into an island. Knowing I would be "traveling" a few days I packed the dopp kit but forgot my strop. Looks like I got wind of using newspaper as a stropping medium at exactly the right time.
Thank you, my friends!
If you used the same blade each day would you oil it everyday?
I only have a couple that I polish, some nicely restored vintage blades. Most of my razors have their original patina and the rest are slowly developing their own!
For the first time in 5 years, I polished my T-I Oakwing today to remove some water stains. This razor came with a highly polished finish, so the marks bugged me a little. Thankfully, I located my Simichrome which made the work very easy.
I take care to dry my blades completely after shaving, and our climate is fairly dry, so I typically don't have to deal with the need for polishing unless it's a vintage score from the bay or elsewhere.
I do............. never polish tho.Quote:
Originally Posted by Augustagj
I use the same 5 razors for over 45 yrs. 2 of them are used and 1 is the usual goto. Once I get them shaving at the baby butt level I just dry thoroughly until next use. I dont screw with it once it can split atoms. Don't fix it if it aint broke. I just strop a bit on leather with cro-ox and then a fifty strop on veg tanned leather. Done this my whole shaving career and get excellent shaves. polishing just never crosses my mind
Mine get polished after they get honed, which isn't that often. (My razors last a long time between honing).