Thread: Cleaning and Daily Razor Care

Howdy all

Hope you all are having a good morning.

I'm sure someone has asked this before. But how do you clean your razor properly after each shave. An what would you put on the blade inbetween shaves.

Thanks for the help in advance

basil

Hello, Basil:

After the shave, I rinse the blade under hot water, dry the razor thoroughly with a towel and then a Kleenex tissue, apply a light coat of camellia oil on the blade, shank and tang. I leave it partly open on the counter for a couple hours and then close it up and put it away in the razor rack.

Regards,
Obie

+1 on Obie's advice. I also strop my razor 10-15 laps on the fabric and leather sides of my strop to dry it as well as remove any accumulated gunk on the edge of the blade before appying oil.

I remember reading somewhere that baby oil work as well. Would you recomend this or should I get a bottle of the camellia oil you mentioned?

I rinse the razor well while rubbing the blade between thumb and forefinger. Then I wipe the blade with a dish towel. Next I dip the razor in a 0.5% solution of mineral oil in isopropyl alcohol, rub the blade between thumb and forefinger again, and finally dip the razor in the oil/alcohol solution again. The razor is left open to dry for a couple minutes and then is closed and put away.

Because the oil is very thinly coated on the blade, I don't need to wipe it off prior to the next shave. I just strop a couple laps on leather to remove oil from the bevel and spine, strop on linen, and then strop on leather again. I do it in that order because I figure the oil should be transfered to the leather rather than the linen because the leather benefits from the oil.

Originally Posted by jhenry

+1 on Obie's advice. I also strop my razor 10-15 laps on the fabric and leather sides of my strop to dry it as well as remove any accumulated gunk on the edge of the blade before appying oil.

Gentlemen:

Oh dear, I forgot to mention stropping in my initial post. A senior moment, what? Thanks for my good friend Jhenry for the reminder. I also strop the razor 15 strokes on canvas and 25 on leather before applying the oil. I knew I should have had my porridge this morning.

Regards,
Obie

I personally, just dry it off really well - 10-15 on both linen and leather and let it sit in the open air for a few hours before putting it away.

If I recall, "the Pastor" had a great idea and if you use preshave oil, he was putting that on the blade. Never tried that myself but he does store his razors in the bathroom.

Randomly. For my strop can I use mink oil. Or neatsfoot oil to condition it or do I need to use a specific strop care item.

I use those items to condition my leather soccer cleats so I wa wondering if it would work the same on the strop

Hello, Basil:

For my strops, I use the oils from the palms of my hands. I feel that's all I need.

Regards,
Obie

I rinse the razor off, wipe it clean, strop it and store it away from the bathroom. That works well for me.

For my strop, I'm with Obie. I just rub it with my hands to condition it, usually before and after each use.