Thread: Drying the Straight Razor

Has anyone heard of the following drying method for a straight razor:
After cleaning and wiping the blade dry, the blade could be placed in a cup of powder (baby, talc) for a few minutes to absorb excess moisture. The blade is then removed, dusted off, oiled and stored.
Comments on this? If makes some sense; I do not think there could be any damage to a blade. Stropping before the next shave should remove any excess powder, but I had not seen this before.
Thanks for your input.

I find drying the blade with toilet paper, air drying it a bit and storing it properly works fine.

I have never heard of anyone using this method and to be honest, it sounds like a lot of extra work. Personally, after carefully drying the blade with a soft towel, I use a piece of TP paper to dry between the scales and pivot, then strop 10 linen and 10 leather. And just be sure it's dry, I leave it out to air dry for 3o minutes to an hour before it gets put back in its holder. Just curious, where did you hear of or see the method your questioning?

Hey guys, Here is how I have been drying my razors. This is a little prototype contraption I dreamt up and built for drying my razors last year. Go easy on me , it’s not perfect, I put it together with junk stuff laying around the shop on a Saturday. Frame on this one is Purple Heart. I have been working on some sketches and hope to have a better looking design with some auto controls such as auto on off switch/timer and possibly some type of integrated humidistat for kicking on automatically if needed. Anyway, it works like a champ so far. I of course still wipe my blades but it’s just that little extra insurance. Basically it circulates air with a rapid fan from the bottom. (not rocket science I know Presently it will dry a blade, if left wet, in about 15 min or less. Just thought I would share. Best Regards Kenny

Very Cool (Ah,hot) Idea Ken

I think the "powder-and-oil" idea will give you a razor coated in oily powder. You can't "dust it off" perfectly. It'll be a mess, very soon.

charles

I saw something like that on "how it's made" when they showed how a Straight razor was made... Dunno if it's necassary for daily use, I just wipe the blade off, run a towel through the scales to ensure they are dry inside, strop 20 canvas, 20 leather and put her away..... works fine for me



Edit: Guess I spoke too soon ..I just noticed rust on the pivot of my Dovo 6/8 So maybe what I do isn't good... (Although my other razors are fine with it)

ReardenSteel,
Saw it on a television show called, "How It's Made". McGyver74 noted it as well. It is specific to how the blades are made, but the powdering process is applied to a newly made, ready to ship razor.

I have not heard of this idea before, but IMHO it seems like a bad idea. Typically when you add a powder to a potentially wet situation you end up with a paste. The effort you then have to use to get rid of the paste would have probably been better spent just getting rid of the initial moisture instead. Any powder that did not get removed would tend to attract moisture and hold it there to cause further damage. Anyone who's ever left sawdust sit on their table saw for too long may agree. Personally I go with the toilet paper method with special effort on the pivot pin, then a touch of mineral oil to protect. I also store my razors in a pouch i made from a gun storage sock, so far so good. Of course living in the second driest state in the nation doesn't hurt either.

It really blows my mind the amount of effort a lot of guys put into drying their razors. Not pointing at anyone in particular, just something I've noticed from all the drying razor threads I've read. Kudos to you all for the ingenuity and hard work you put in.