Thread: Ralf Aust vs Filarmonica vs Dorko vs Other vintages.

Originally Posted by usu

.... If I leave the shaving kit next to the toothbrush, and I don't have to remove the oil, and then dry it, re-oil it and save in a drawer in my room, chances are I'll use it more. Don't know exactly why but my CS razor starts to rust very easy so I have to take a lot of care to avoid it. As for the stropping I do a few passes in the palm of my hand so it's not very much of a problem I think. Maybe I'll get a strop too, don't think it's going to be problem to use it.

Also I'm buying a Wahl cordless detailer so if I'm too focused in my work I'll just remove the beard with that. If I have a little more time I'll finish with the stainless steel razor (This combination at least will save me from having to leather twice), or if I have more time just do the entire shave with either the stainless steel or the carbon steel razor. Don't know if this is going to work, never used a clipper/trimmer before. I can leave feedback if anybody is interested.

Btw, I know stainless steel is not 100% rust resistant. Can I leave it in the bathroom or it will rust? Maybe inside the original box or a bigger one with silica gel?

Allow me just a few comments:

As mentioned before, in your situation there is no real advantage in buying a vintage stainless steel razor, let alone a Gold Dollar - a brand that is known for poor quality control.

Keeping a stainless steel razor in a well ventilated bathroom will probably have no ill effects on the razor, but neither is it a recommended practice.
Until I retired five months ago, I was based less than 1 km from the sea in a location with high humidity where summer temperatures regularly reach 42ºC and above. After shaving and drying the outside and area between the scales of the (carbon steel or stainless) razor that I had used that day, I left the razor in the bathroom to dry for 24 hrs before replacing it. Before placing the razor into one of the razor storage cases in my study, I would treat it with Ballistol oil. As I have >70 razors it would take some time before I would use the saem razor again, but Ballistol worked very well during the storage period and corrosion was never an issue for me. If not Ballistol, closer to the U.S. you may be able to find Tuf Glide in a 4 oz spray bottle that serves the same purpose.

For me, palm stropping works for the initial stropping of replaceable blades of my Feather AC DX razors, but I doubt that in the long run it will perform adequately for straight razors.
Thus I consider a good strop essential.
To minimize expense a simple Herold loom strop might do, but my preference is a French-made Strop-it Supex 77 paddle strop (with exchangeable plattens) and a Norwegian-made 3” Scrupleworks oil-tanned Horween horsehide strop.
Kind of Eurocentric choice and not necessarily easy to find, but I found that these strops worked better for me than anything I picked up from North America or Japan (meaning Kanayama Cordovan strops).

Regarding a bread trimmer, I recently bought a (cordless) Braun BT7220 that comes with two adapters, allowing you to mow down any bread growth down to between 0,5 and 20 mm (adjustable in 0,5 mm increments). A straight razor should make short shrift of a full grown beard, but if time is of the essence you could easily maintain a presentable 3-day stubble with such a bread trimmer.


Good luck....


B.