Thread: best way to store a razor...for 15 or so years

As a machinist, when we put items away we would use an oil or grease with Lithium. LPS or similar; for some reason, it prevents rusting. WD-products do not do the job long term.
Is there a health hazard here? Long report from Environmental Chemistry.com:
Periodic Table of Elements: Lithium - Li (EnvironmentalChemistry.com)
Short Form..no
~Richard
Post: There was a thread by a person that placed his blade collection in a safe deposit box and when retrieved, he had lost over half the value due to corrosion.

Try using some Superlube Grease. It's synthetic and it won't harden like cosmoline. You can get it in little tubes at most hardware stores and I believe Harbor Freight handles it. It also comes in a spray can.

What about that oil-treated paper? That's what the razor companies used to use, and when you see a NOS razor that has just been kept in its oil-paper, they come out looking perfect. I know they still sell it , ad its not very expensive.

Use renascience wax, so far as I know it's designed for museum quality steel going into storage, less likely to be affected by temperature than the oil is...

somehow oil seems safer to me than wax, but it's an itneresting question. its' true that wax - like renaissance wax - is used in museum-type situations. but carbon-steel is a special thing. Maybe the best thing to do is renew the oil once a year?

Pure Nitrogen may be a little pricey, but when I did a bit of wine making 15 years ago, I used a nitrogen based gas between the wine and cork to help preserve the wine....similar to this: Private Reserve Wine Saver Franmara Inc 7760

So if one were to use either oil or cosmoline on the blade and place it into a seal-a-meal bag, then toss in 6-10 desiccants and fill the bag with the wine preservative prior to the seal, you may have something that will last.

Beyond this, you may want to consult a company that specializes in hermetically seals items for you.

Originally Posted by bknesal

My closest friends recently lost all their belongings in an apartment fire, so I have been very wary of this lately. If you aren't keeping it in a safety deposit box, then be sure it is in a fireproof safe.

Brent

A fireproof safe won't help too much, they're basically an oven... I had a friend who's house burned down. All his guns kept in a top of the line safe. It basically warped all his guns, and anything composite melted.

I hope your friend took the company to court over it's inability to preserve data on disks...
Not very solid a deal to me...

A little of subject, but I would be more attached to a razor that I watched my dad use as I was growing up. With proper care you won't wear it out and you can keep an eye on it. By then you might hand him your favorite custom. Just my 2¢.

why not just keep them in your collection until you're ready? that way they'll be constantly looked after. seems like a huge roll of the dice to me. especially if your "slam dunk" razor is an antique.