Thread: HELP! Should my razor be rusting this fast?

Originally Posted by Utopian

I do something unusual and dip my blades in isopropyl alcohol containing 0.5% mineral oil. The alcohol dries the blade completely as it evaporates and the oil residue protects the blade.

Some exchange w/ Utopian, to clarify some of the process for making the mineral oil/alch solution. 'Not knowing any better, took home a bottle of plain isopropyl from the supermarket, added plain mineral oil from the health/beauty products section of the same store (labeled as lubricant/laxitive ?) .005 x 32 oz of alch = .16 oz mineral oil to add. Since the thread spoke of anything less than 91% alch/oil should work, I added 1 tablespoon (which is about 1/2oz). 4 days of shaking the jar, I still had the salad dressing look, with oil globules floating. Some was no doubt in solution, but not all. The lovely bride uses denatured alcohol for an alcohol lamp because Isopropyl is usually only 70% alch. The rest is water. Denatured is mostly alch w/ some poisons added to keep folks from trying to drink it or convert to booze. They don't list the percentages, but it's supposedly a much higher concentration of alcohol.

'Took some home tonight from the home improvement section - about $12-13/gal, and a tablespoon with some agitation left zero globules. 'Not being one that knows when to quit, I added a 2nd tablespoon of oil and agitated. Still no globules. That would be 3 & 1/8% oil. I'll quit here.

One big benefit to Utopians method is that he doesn't have to wipe oil from the blade before stropping or use. That's a time saver. I hope the extra tablespoon of oil doesn't change that, or I'll remix with a single tablespoon & call it good.

UPdate:
Now this gets good. I was seeing no globules with the denatured. That's 'cause they were on the bottom, unlike the isopropyl - which were on the top. 'Nice physics experiment. oil floats on water, but alcohol, clearly floats on oil. At least any overage of oil will not get in the way, and as Utopian said - worth case - shake like vinegar and oil salad dressing. This will be interesting to see how this differs in coating the blade from the Isopropyl. Either way, I'd rather not use a solution that's 30% water.

pinklather,

I am going to do some experimenting with stabilising the mineral oil/alcohol mix using some sufactants and detergents I have lying around.

The idea is to form either an emulsion, or preferably a micro-emulsion.

The concern is whether the surfactants/detergents will have a negative effect on the steel.

I will let you know how it goes

Have fun !

regards

Russ

WD40 is just mineral spirits with a machine oil. The spirits will carry the oil into tight places hence the penetrating part. The mineral spirits should evaporate out.

Originally Posted by Glenn24

Ok, I tried WD40. Easy to apply, it's easy to sray the pivot, it seems to protect very well (no corrosion signs after letting the razor sit in a humid bathroom for a few days). But is STINKS. It seems to stick to the metal, it leaves a small film behind when you wipe it off. Which makes me beleive that you'd put WD40 on your strop when you're ready to shave....

So for long term storage, i'd say it could be an interesting product to use. But for a razor you'd use regularly, I'd say forget about it.

BUT, it could be interesting to use in the pivot if ever you spash some water there by accident, you know you'll be removing every little microscopic drop that's there because of the water displacement properties of WD40.

Originally Posted by Utopian

Yes, I've been making/using this myself for about 8 years. It's approximately one part mineral oil to two hundred parts alcohol. It takes several days for the oil to dissolve and if you put too much in it won't all dissolve, but that's not a problem--you just shake it like oil and vinegar dressing.

I dip and wipe to remove soap residue, then I dip again and let it air dry with the razor open. Evaporation only takes a couple minutes. I have never seen any ill effect on any etching or metallic part. I don't dip the scales so this does not protect the pivot area. I rely upon not getting that area wet in the first place. I suspect most scale materials would be unaffected but I've never been in the mood to experiment with finding out which they are.

Do you leave the razor open when air drying? I tried camellia oil and it is seaming like the oil is beading and the 70% alcohol is taking a long time to dry. Is my alcohol too old? Is camellia oil that bad for this application?

Thank you,
--Shoki