Thread: Razor oxidation ramblings

Wish I could say the same for south Florida. Bare steel can rust within a few hours outside during the summer.

Originally Posted by alb1981

Phoenix eh? you shouldnt have any oxidation problems!!! its a dry heat! lol that being said, I live in tempe. I have found that I dont have any oxidation issues as long as my shave den is not in the same bathroom as the shower. I have not seen a speck of rust on any of my razors that are restored and shave ready. When my shaving equipment was in the other bathroom with the shower, I did keep them well lubricated in mineral oil. Since I have switched locations, I have not had any issues and generally do not coat my blades in oil any longer.

thats my story, but ymmv!

Why are we discussing disposable razors at all??

Just a light hearted look at oxidation as it relates to razor blades, sparked by a comment from a snake oil salesman.

Well..... I must have been at the same swapmart / craft show in downtown Phoenix as I also ran into "LONZ". At first I just stood back and listened for about 30 minutes. Finally I stepped up and he gave me the schpiel face to face..... answered all of my questions and the next thing you know....BAM...... I bought a bottle of the snake oil. I have always complained about the price of razors and I figured I had spent 25 bucks on worse things. I got home, installed a new blade, shaved and dropped that bad boy into the snake oil. Now 4 months later..... I am using the same blade and on a scale of 1-10.... I am still getting a 9. Now...... I only shave about 3-5 times a week but still....... I am impressed. Not sure what the Magic formula is but it has paid for itself at least 3 times now. My Brothers and a couple of close friends will be getting a bottle for Christmas.

That's funny, I am glad it worked out. He definetly had a believable marketing pitch. It is nice to see someone try it out and comment on it. My mother also ran across him and purchased a bottle but I haven't asked what her results where. After reading your post I will have to see if she put it to the test as its been about 6-8 months now.

Have a happy Christmas and New Years!

Originally Posted by dsikes

Well..... I must have been at the same swapmart / craft show in downtown Phoenix as I also ran into "LONZ". At first I just stood back and listened for about 30 minutes. Finally I stepped up and he gave me the schpiel face to face..... answered all of my questions and the next thing you know....BAM...... I bought a bottle of the snake oil. I have always complained about the price of razors and I figured I had spent 25 bucks on worse things. I got home, installed a new blade, shaved and dropped that bad boy into the snake oil. Now 4 months later..... I am using the same blade and on a scale of 1-10.... I am still getting a 9. Now...... I only shave about 3-5 times a week but still....... I am impressed. Not sure what the Magic formula is but it has paid for itself at least 3 times now. My Brothers and a couple of close friends will be getting a bottle for Christmas.

I am sorry but I have a hard time believing anything you just wrote. You joined the forum today and this is you first post so to me it feels like you are somehow related to this LONZ.

Even if it is true that oxidation can destroy an edge in one week then why would you ever buy something to prevent it for 25$? Just get yourself some dirt cheap Paraffin oil (Mineral Oil) that does the exakt same thing.

Following quote is taken from Wikipedia: "Prevents oxidation on the surface of polished steel and iron"

You must be awfully bored waiting for that straight razor! I just figure disposable blades should be disposed of. I started straight shaving because I was sick of the cost of cartridges also. You may soon find that one straight razor is just not enough. Good luck!

Pretty much everyone is right on the disposable thing. The platinum/teflon coatings are really to help give the razor a smoother glide and added protection since they aren't dried usually after use (I know I never did). However, the cutting edge is not coated, it couldn't be, otherwise... it wouldn't cut; see what I'm sayin here, the cutting edge will always be exposed steel regardless if it's a knife, chisel, razor, and regardless of coatings to protect against corrosion. If you had a straight that was blued except for the cutting edge, obviously, and didn't dry it the edge would rust but not the parts that were blued. This guy obviously didn't work in the engineering department there. As far as the keeping sharp thing, put some of that on a blade and don't strop for a week and let me know how that works out...*sarcasm*

Good comment PMH. I did not notice the recent join date from dsikes. I like to putter around the garage and just was curious about his product, not necessarily for razors but maybe other applications as well. I started shaving with a de and straight to cut down on the cost of blades and for a bit of nostalgia. Blades for a de are cheap enough to not mess with any type of preservation. I started messing with the olive oil just as a simple little fun experiment and nothing more. It did seem to help but certainly isn't worth the time. The blades did not seem to oxidize but they still dull over time. I have always been able to get a decent shave out of multi blades carts for a good week. I had a beard for most of my life and when I had to shave it off for a new profession my skin was so sensitive that anything other than the expensive multi blade carts just tore me up. I just got sick of the huge expense for those blades and figured there had to be a better way. When I first posted my experiment I had just recently found SRP and hadn't received my straight or de yet and was still looking for alternatives to the over priced multi blades. SRP has opened me up to a whole new world I didn't know existed and now I am actually enjoying the art of shaving. I also must confess, while I do save a ton on razor blades the money I was spending on multi blades has now gone to creams, colognes, strops and probably fairly soon a hone.

To those of you reading my comments, I have no affiliation to LONZ and I am in no way trying to promote his products. I like the fun spirited tone of the SRP forum and my initial post was just for fun and keeping with the tone of SRP.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas season.

Originally Posted by Link8382

I also must confess, while I do save a ton on razor blades the money I was spending on multi blades has now gone to creams, colognes, strops and probably fairly soon a hone.

Welcome to the club.

My reply was in no way directed at you or your thoughts. There might be some truth behind the oxidation idea (To be honest I highly doubt it since the mechanical wear will be much greater during that short period of time) but what I reacted to was the cost of that "miracle" liquid. If people want to try it out just get some cheap paraffin oil instead.

A merry Christmas and happy new year to you and everyone else on the forums as well.