Thread: Questions about rust on blades

I am rather new to SRP and have been shaving with a straight since September 2008. I have become quite a fan of the art and am looking to enhance my knowledge in straights. I recently purchased a large quantity of straights at a yard sale from an old retired barber. He and his father and grandfather before him were all barbers.

The problem I have is while going through the razors I found that some of them seem to have been exposed to dampness. The scales are in decent shape but some of the blades have spotting where others have actual rust.

My questions are two fold. I am going to attempt to remove the spots but am unsure what I should use to clean them up with. Secondly Are the straights with rust useless? I can take pictures and post the if anyone would like to see what I have. Any help is appreciated.

Best regards,

Richard

For very light rust, I use a green Scotch-Brite pad and gun oil. That can also give you a better idea of how bad the rust is. Sometimes, with luck, the worst looking ones can turn out to be really nice.

Pictures would help the restore gurus give you better advice. I'm sure they'll be along soon.

Originally Posted by KingRichard1127

I am rather new to SRP and have been shaving with a straight since September 2008. I have become quite a fan of the art and am looking to enhance my knowledge in straights. I recently purchased a large quantity of straights at a yard sale from an old retired barber. He and his father and grandfather before him were all barbers.

The problem I have is while going through the razors I found that some of them seem to have been exposed to dampness. The scales are in decent shape but some of the blades have spotting where others have actual rust.

My questions are two fold. I am going to attempt to remove the spots but am unsure what I should use to clean them up with. Secondly Are the straights with rust useless? I can take pictures and post the if anyone would like to see what I have. Any help is appreciated.

Best regards,

Richard

It may be better to post in the Workshop forum but I will try to help….

What you do to remove the tarnish is highly dependent on how advanced it is… patina, pitting, rust, and crumbling (not necessarily in that order) but crumbling is the worst and patina is the least. Also depends on how far you want to go with the restore, just clean and start using or polish to look like new with new scales or restore to as original as possible. This can be as simple as polishing with MASS or other metal polish or sanding with wet/dry sandpaper or you may send out a more valuable piece to one of our competent restorers.
But whatever you do, DO NOT place the razors in solutions like bleach or other household products. Most contain acids that will start to dissolve the steel.

Yes it is a good idea to post photos so we can better help.

Originally Posted by smythe

Yes it is a good idea to post photos so we can better help.

Yes, pics would be nice and a big+1 for everything else he said.

Good advice so far but definitely need pics to advise further.