Thread: Help with razor care

Originally Posted by mysterygoo

However, it isn't exactly keeping as well as I would like. One day I opened it up to find tarnishing where the blade rests against the scales, near the tip, and along the top ridge. -Ben

Apparently you're not the only one with this problem as I have seen this on many blades I bought on ebay.
All the above advice is very sound, you see there's many ways to look after your razors.
The one thing to avoid the particular problem you mention is: do not entirely close your razor till a few hours after you dried her. It is very hard to remove all wetness between the scales. Only a couple of hours after drying or the next morning when I shave again I put the razor used last back in its box.

I only had that problem with my first razor and quickly learned to not let it happen again. I shave in the morning after a shower and since my bathroom is humid afterwards I leave my razor in my room. I tend to keep my razors dry when I use them, but my roommate gets his so wet I'd have thought he shaved in the shower. We both just rinse our razors with really hot water, dry gingerly and thoroughly and then leave open in our rooms. I now use camellia oil one my storage razors, as they patiently await restoration, and will oil my shaving rotation about once a month, if I remember, but I don't really find that necessary. I never thought of using desiccant packs, but that might be just the ticket if it's too humid where you live.

I put those gel packs (silicone in a tea bag) in my razor boxes, store the razor out of the bathroom, try to only rinse the blade after a shave and dry them the best I am ale with some toilet roll.
If I think a blade won't be used for a while I put a very small amount of gun oil on it.

Question - I have an electric dog clipper made by Whal, in the case is a bottle of very thin clear "clipper oil" is this good stuff for our carbon steel blades?

Some good advise above. Here is what works for me in middle Tennessee. A plus is that it is simple and quick.

First, I don't use oil on the five razors in my active rotation. I also don't rinse with water during the shave, I wipe the blade.

After the shave I do rinse the flats of the blade with tap water as hot as it will get and wipe again (I doubt what you use to wipe makes any difference, as long as it is dry). I then dip the blade in rubbing alcohol and wipe one last time. I let the razor dry with the blade opened just above the scales overnight and put it up in the morning (I currently shave at night).

The alcohol will displace any residual moisture and leaving the razor open allows the inside of the scales to dry. I've had no spotting or rust issues at all.

If you have youngsters, you would want to leave the open blade in a more secure location than I.

A hair dryer works well (come on guys, we all have them!). One sobering thought with the ERN - does it have celluloid scales (as opposed to later plastics or other materials)? If so, the celluloid could be breaking down. This gives off gas that corrodes steel badly. If, despite all your efforts you are getting a fine coating of rust on the blade within 24 hours, it may be this. If so, the only answer is to junk the scales and put new ones on. I lost a DublDuck Satinwedge to this simply by being ignorant of the signs - be careful!

Originally Posted by blueprinciple

A hair dryer works well (come on guys, we all have them!).

Are you a bit of a girl?

On a more seriuws note: a dry towel is really all you need if you keep the scales and pivot area dry.

Originally Posted by blueprinciple

A hair dryer works well (come on guys, we all have them!). One sobering thought with the ERN - does it have celluloid scales (as opposed to later plastics or other materials)? If so, the celluloid could be breaking down. This gives off gas that corrodes steel badly. If, despite all your efforts you are getting a fine coating of rust on the blade within 24 hours, it may be this. If so, the only answer is to junk the scales and put new ones on. I lost a DublDuck Satinwedge to this simply by being ignorant of the signs - be careful!

They are celluloid scales, but I doubt they are decaying, as the scales are in great shape. What are the signs of celluloid decay?

Vinegary smell of the scales, cracks that you cannot relate to any damage. Perfectly dry blade starts to rust.