Thread: Daily storage

Chopkins,

For my 'daily' razors, after careful drying, I wipe them over with Sentry Solutions TufCloth, then store them in an air-tight Tupperware like box.

Probably over-the-top, but it has kept my blades in tip-top condition

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

For the past, what is it now, ten or eleven years of shaving with straight razors (never when travelling, I don't wish to explain the presence in my hand luggage of an implement capable of slicing through the flightdeck door) I have reached a couple of conclusions......

Straight razors come from a bygone age, but don't belong there. It really is a gentler, finer way to shave; I will get round, one fine day, to counting how many more strokes of the blade the same result takes with a double-edge safety; I bet it's times five.

Remember, way back when, straight razors were common, but there was no television, or for that matter central heating. In the evenings, while listening to the radio, you could occupy your time with other activities simultaneously: polishing your shoes (I live in England, where, disgustingly, no one ever seems to do this), knitting and embroidery, fancy that?!, putting your hair in rags, and razor stropping. It's the shoe polishing and razor maintenance I do. All the time in the world. I cannot figure out, watching other people's procedures on YouTube, why they seem to think a razor has to be stropped within one minute of shaving with it. In the morning rush. In a steamed up damp bathroom!

Here in the North of England, 1839-1939 the knocker-upper would walk the streets at dawn with a fifteen foot wooden pole to a). put the street lamps out and b). rap on the upstairs windows to get everyone out of bed! Imagine getting washed, having some breakfast and getting down to stropping the blade - or more - in the half light. As if.

If you want to keep your razors as new, maintain in the evenings, keep the strop out of the bathroom (well away from your wife's hairspray, creams, powders and general muck, plus the children's toothpaste and I shudder to think what else). Always make sure after use that the scales are every bit as dry as your razor is. Damp scales murder carbon steel razors. If I am going to use the same razor the next day, well very soon anyway, I lastly wipe it over with a piece of quite new chamois leather - you can smell a trace of the oil it was tanned with still there. If I am not going to use the razor for a week or more, kind members here have recommended a scant smear of mineral oil as the best protection, with Baby Oil being the most recommended of those available. Cheap too! Remember they have to put two whole babies through the press just to make one bottle.

if storing for a day to a week or two i use Sentry Solutions tufcloth if longer say months i use renaissance wax polish but for day to day you cant beat baby oil

Originally Posted by eleblu05

if storing for a day to a week or two i use Sentry Solutions tufcloth if longer say months i use renaissance wax polish but for day to day you cant beat baby oil

After applying baby oil, or wiping with a Tuf-Glide / Smooth-Kote impregnated Sentry Solutions: Tuf-Cloth is all that is needed prior to the shave is to run through hot running water or do you need to wipe the blade before shaving?

I'm wondering about increased skin irritation from the 'protective' coating...

Personally I only oil razors that are not used in the current daily rotation between two razors each month.

I don't know about the lubricants other than mineral oil, but that one is perfectly safe to remain on the blade during the shave.

Skydiver,

WRT TufGlide on blade

I strop my razor in the usual way, then dip the blade of the razor in hot water then carefully wipe. Personally, I have not had any adverse reactions from any residue of the TufGlide, bit with such things YMMV.

To be on the safe side, stick to mineral oil as Utopian has said.

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

I keep mine in a coffee cup (about half a dozen or so in one cup) tang upwards.

I just make sure that the razors are dry and keep the cups out in my bedroom. No oil or anything else. I've never had any problems with them.

Do you have to wipe off the razor before stropping, or is the amount of mineral oil on the razor okay for the strop?

I don't wipe it off before I strop and I haven't had any problems.