Thread: Rust in a Odd and hard to Reach location

I am normally really good about cleaning my razor after every shave. I rinse it off with hot water and then use a towel to dry/polish the blade. Once that is done I put it back in its case and off I go. This morning while drying off the blade I noticed the orange warning signs of rust, but the location was rather difficult to get to so I need advice on how to clean that area and prevent rust from getting there.

The location: at the pivot point of the Blade and the scales.

Any help/advice is appreciated.

Thats a common area to get rust, and the best way to avoid it is to make sure you dont get the pivot wet. When you rinse the razor, only rinse the blade and nothing else.

In terms of cleaning the area out, I'd take some twine and spray a length of it with WD40 or something, and then run the twine around the pivot area to clean off as much of the rust as you can.

The WD40 should help keep water out of the area too. You dont need to saturate it, but that thin coating of oil should help things.

If the twine is too thick, you can use dental floss as well I believe.

As well as keeping the razor dry, you can put a pack of silica gel in with the razor when you store it. This should help reduce the incidence of rust as well, as it sucks the moisture out of the air.

Originally Posted by chrbia1

I am normally really good about cleaning my razor after every shave. I rinse it off with hot water and then use a towel to dry/polish the blade. Once that is done I put it back in its case and off I go. This morning while drying off the blade I noticed the orange warning signs of rust, but the location was rather difficult to get to so I need advice on how to clean that area and prevent rust from getting there.

The location: at the pivot point of the Blade and the scales.

Any help/advice is appreciated.

Try using some dental floss with metal polish to get in there and clean it up.

Yep, the pivot is a common area for rust since it's the hardest area to get to. When you're using and cleaning your razor, you have to be absolutely sure that no water gets into the pivot. When rinsing the blade, make sure that you don't tilt the blade upright so that water can run to the pivot. I use one of Lynn's tips where he said that when rinsing the blade, cover the pivot are with your palm and use your fingers around the tang to prevent anything from creeping up or splashing any higher than the blade.

Is there an oil that I can use to make sure that this doesn't happen again?

Originally Posted by chrbia1

Is there an oil that I can use to make sure that this doesn't happen again?

A drop of mineral oil and or tuff-glide in the pivot is
a good thing. This is the first thing I do on
a new razor even an OLD rusty Ebay razor while
it is dry. Wax free dental floss and MASS or Simichrome
will get it off if it is not too bad. Lightly oil
after polishing. Pull oil across the hinge pin
area with a dry tissue to remove any 'grit' that
rust creates. A drop on one side work the blade
a couple times then pull the extra oil with a dry tissue
from the opposite side.

If the dental floss does not want to go under because
the scales are tight that is a good thing. Waxed floss
is OK too but wax can confuse things... might
be OK for steel if it repels water. Some waxed dental
floss wax does not.

Ribbon from your gift wrapping box can work well too.

This is why I wipe my blade rather than rinse, take nifty's advice it is good! Use the dental floss trick and then either mineral oil or tuf-glide.

+ 1 on what Stubear said...you only need to wet the blade, anything beyond tang will get you in trouble

Also, +1 on silica gel and dental floss idea...make sure dental floss is wax-free (it works better IMO)

Originally Posted by Stubear

Thats a common area to get rust, and the best way to avoid it is to make sure you dont get the pivot wet. When you rinse the razor, only rinse the blade and nothing else.

In terms of cleaning the area out, I'd take some twine and spray a length of it with WD40 or something, and then run the twine around the pivot area to clean off as much of the rust as you can.

The WD40 should help keep water out of the area too. You dont need to saturate it, but that thin coating of oil should help things.

If the twine is too thick, you can use dental floss as well I believe.

As well as keeping the razor dry, you can put a pack of silica gel in with the razor when you store it. This should help reduce the incidence of rust as well, as it sucks the moisture out of the air.