Help with razor care

Hey all, fairly new shaver here. I bought an ERN Crown & Sword off eBay, and I am very happy with it so far (it is my profile picture).

So far, I have been pleased with the closeness of the shave, and the daily procedure of shaving with it.

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. I have almost all of it off with Never-Dull wadding polish that I bought from Meijer. I couldn't find any Maas. Which should I be using???

Also, I just discovered some rust inside and around the pivot. How can I clean this up, and what should I be doing differently to prevent this rusting and tarnishing? I dry it very carefully after every shave, and I store it in my sock drawer (as advised by others...)

I really appreciate the help

-Ben

I try to keep water out of the pivot area if at all possible. During the shave, I wipe the lather/stubble off the blade on the palm of my hand or a towel (I don't rinse the razor with water). After the shave, I rinse the blade only and dry carefully. Granted, it's not that humid in NV, so your situation might be different. Other members will wipe the blade down with an oiled cloth after a shave to protect the metal. I'm sure some others will chime in with suggestions...

It is pretty humid here in Michigan; I live only a few miles off Lake Michigan. I will try to keep water away from the pivot.

But about the rust that I can see... Should I try and work some oil into the pivot, to keep the water out?

ill add in my 2cents here.

i get my razors wet, all wet all over. so thats for starters and then i dry/clean. hard to keep water off the pivot no matter what you do at some point its gonna get in there.

- shave, rinse the blade etc etc.
- take some toilet paper and wipe down the blade. make sure i get all that soap scum off of it. you will find more by the edge just move in a direction from spine to edge as you wipe that off
- fold the toilet paper again (thicker) and stick it down in the top of the pivot that will help the top part of the razor in the scales which alot of people have problems with.
- with the razor at 90degrees, i blow into the scales ( ALWAYS FROM THE BACK SIDE) to blow out most of the water. now you can stick the toilet paper down in there also and it will absorb the water
- i leave the razor open (90degrees) laying on the molding in the bathroom to finish the drying. it will be dry in a couple hours.
- later that day or sometimes i just leave it over night doesn't really matter as long as more water won't get near it, i will close it until next use.
- thats it


now some oil on the blade will help but that leaves oil on the blade which i personally don't due cuz it ends up on my strop and i don't really want that. plus if you remove it before each shave, just seems more pain then i wanna do. it probably doesn't hurt anything but i like more draw on my strop, so i keep the oil off.

let me suggest using something else to keep your razors in if you like. a small box ( i use a cigar box, you can get one at any cigar store if you don't smoke cigars). on the top inside of the box i taped 2 of those silicon packets that absorb water. they usually come with a new pair of shoes or something. to help absorb any leftover water. also, i put some of that foamy bottom of the kitchen drawer/ rug no slide stuff in the bottom of my razor box so that the razors don't slide around when im moving the box. it works real well.

anyways, that should keep most of your problems clear. nothing will keep it perfect and you will have to take some polish to it at some point. i do this when its needed but always just before i need to hone the razor. that way if i mess up the edge slightly while polishing, im gonna be honing it anyways so it doesn't matter.

~J

ps. that rust that you see that is around the pivot. if its sticking out onto the shaft of the blade you can rub it off with polish. its rust but its not deep and it will come off easily. if its in between the scales down in the pivot, then the only way to really remove it is to remove the scales and take it off then repin. also, before you remove the scales, try some polish on a Q-tip and get it down in there.

All of the above sounds like good advice. You can also get those moisture absorbing packet things - the "do not eat" things in vitamin bottles. I can't remember the name. Throw one of them in a wooden cigar box with you razors (after letting them air dry open for a while).

Jordan

Thanks for the pointers, guys. I found the perfect box to store it in! I used to play cards a lot, and I have an old fur-lined wooden box that the razor fits in perfectly diagonally.

I ended up polishing as much as I could with the wadding along the blade and around the pivot. Then I poured mineral oil on the pivot and worked the joint several times. I wiped the rusty oil away and repeated until the oil remained clean. Then I washed, dried, and re-oiled the razor. Hopefully it will keep from now on.

Thanks for all the help,

Ben

I get my razors wet while shaving all over too. I wipe them off with a shaving towel. Then i dry them a bit with a hair dryer, especially in the pivot area. Finally, after some bad experiences with staining and rust, I always oil my blades with Camelia oil. This is the oil that has been used for centuries on Japanese swords. I have not had a problem since I started using this process.

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Originally Posted by netsurfr

I always oil my blades with Camelia oil

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If you're a CheapSkate like me sewing machine is a cheap ($1.87/8 oz at WalMart) alternative, it works well. Since old sewing machines have rubber and celluloid parts it's formulated to not effect those materials, hence your scales are preserved.

My razors get all wet too. I don't try to stop it. I just make sure to dry them extremely well and then I put them in a drawer with those silicone beads to absorb moisture.

mine get wet too, just dry it good i use a little mineral oil on a cloth and put a drop in the pivot work it back and forth then put it in a box with the dry packets and you will be good to go.

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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

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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 :cry::cry::cry: simply by being ignorant of the signs - be careful!

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Originally Posted by blueprinciple

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

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Are you a bit of a girl?:D

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

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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 :cry::cry::cry: simply by being ignorant of the signs - be careful!

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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.