Thread: Tarnish on the tang - removal and prevention? Advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hey all - I've done a few searches, and all basically say use some Maas to remove tarnish and baby oil to prevent future tarnish. It's decent advice, and I plan to go out once I finish this post to get some Maas to see if that will clean it up. That said, I still have a few questions, and hope you guys can help.

First off - Will tarnish actually harm the steel over time if I leave it there? Honestly, it doesn't bother me a ton (though I'd rather prevent it if I can) - and if it'll clean off easily should I ever choose to sell, then great. If it's easily preventable however, and I'm missing something, so much the better.

I never get the tang / pivot wet, and rarely the blade. When shaving, I wipe soap on a towel and don't rinse with water between passes. At the end I may use a damp piece of tissue to clean up the blade before drying. Razors are not stored in the bathroom. I've had no issues with stains / tarnish on the my blades (and haven't been oiling them), only the tang where I'm gripping. So I'm thinking it's natural oils from my skin causing the tarnish, is this possible? As well, when I strop, I grip the flat sides of the tang, for me it's a more comfortable grip, so I'm thinking if the cause is oils from my skin, that's when it's happening (placement of the tarnish seems to agree).


Will Maas harm either color inlays on the tang, or the manufacturers engravings themselves (just Maas on a q-tip or rag, obviously any kind of grinding will remove metal)? If I'm forced to periodically polish up the tangs, I don't want to slowly wipe away the markings (or damage / remove color inlays within those markings).

Has anyone had luck with oils outside baby oil? I have both Rem Oil and Break Free clp for guns - would either of these work better? Will any of these oils harms scales?

Thanks for reading - so many of you keep such clean looking razors, and I'm trying to do the same - any help would be great!

It depends what the "tarnish" is. If it's a patina kind of thing it won't harm the razor. If it's rust a little actually protects the metal underneath but over time it deepens and eats into the metal like a cancer and creates pits and eventually under the right conditions the entire razor can turn to solid rust however that takes a very long time and very specific conditions. Usually if it's just surface rust some mass will take it right off. In that photo it looks like you have some minor pitting and that's probably where the rust is.

Unpin the blade, polish the tang with Maas or Flitz or whatever, then give the whole blade 2 or 3 coats of renaissance wax. That'll protect the tang and it also makes the blade waaay easier to rinse. The lather and goo just slide right off.

While you've got it apart, might as well polish and wax the scales, too. I do that with any razor that looks like there could be corrosion in the hinge. I like knowing that everything is as clean and protected as it can be.

I always put a drop of tuf-glide in the hinge hole, too.

Steel that is highly polished and well-protected will stay that way a long time. But steel that has become hazy or tarnished is much more susceptible to further corrosion. If hazy or tarnished steel can be polished with Maas or some other agent then coated with Renaissance Wax, its longevity will be increased. I've had blades restored that developed hazy areas on the tang area. I will let it go for a while, being extra-careful with it, but eventually these areas will require polishing with Maas.

Thanks everyone - I've taken some Maas to it since posting and it shined right up - looks brand new! Guess maybe I should get some Ren wax to keep it that way.