Thread: Razor oxidation ramblings

Ok guys, my wife and I were at an outdoor swapmart/craft show in downtown Phoenix a couple weeks ago and came across a booth with a vendor selling a shaving product. Now I am very new to straight razor shaving, so new that at the moment I am waiting for my razor and accessories to arrive in the mail. With that being said I am very excited to try out the traditional art of shaving and I am soaking up info like a sponge.

This vendor had a small plastic bottle containing a blue colored watery liquid. Inside the bottle he had a Gillette fusion 5 blade soaking in the solution. The vendor Lon Myers (LONZ great american shaving secret) said he worked apx 30 years for I believe he said Proctor and Gamble and had learned a thing or two about keeping blades sharp. He claimed that a protect-ant was applied to the blades of disposable razor blades and once it wears off, (shortly after the first shave) it begins to oxidize and dulls the blade. He claimed if you can prevent the blade from oxidizing you can get at least 6 months out of one disposable razor blade.

Immediately I began pondering what he was saying and found this hard to believe. I immediately thought if that were true straight razors wouldn't need stropped prior to each shave because if dried off they don't oxidize that fast. Then I pondered the blue liquid and thought, "I wonder if that is the pump saver solution sold at Home Depot for airless paint sprayers". Lon wanted $25.00 for his product which came with a plastic bottle for soaking your razor. I wasn't going to pay $25.00 for some snake oil but it did get me thinking for quite awhile.

After several days, thoughts related to razor oxidation still rattled around in my head. I started researching pump saver solutions and non-toxic solutions to prevent metal oxidization. Well I guess my wife had some rattlings of her own because out of the blue she said " I was thinking about that oxidizing stuff and if you dry your blade off with a hair dryer and soak the razor in a small cup of olive oil it would probably do the same thing". Wow what a simple approach, why didn't I think of that. To be fair to me, my wife does have a chemical engineering degree.

So begins the great american anti razor oxidation experiment. I started with a fresh blade on Sunday 2/19/12 and I am on my third shave today. I normally stretch out a Gillette fusion 5 blade for a week but it is generally shot by the 5th day (I am just cheap, ok frugal sounds better). I am 43 and have been able to grow a full beard since I was a freshman in high school. My beard is not the toughest in the world to shave but it is not as soft as a twenty something either. So back to the olive oil story, well as of day 3 I can say I am still getting a pretty darn good shave, maybe there is something to this.

Since I can't wait for my straight razor and my Castle Forbes shave cream to arrive I have been playing around with some sample shave creams. I first tried The Art of Shaving sample pack, it was nice and did leave my face nice and smooth with just my Fusion razor but it wasn't anything to get super excited about. Next I tried some Kyoku unscented shave cream. It doesn't lather real well (I wasn't using a brush and only applied some sparingly to my face), I didn't care for the smell of the unscented but it did leave my face very smooth afterward. For clarification, I am not trying to rate the shave creams I sampled, there is plenty of better qualified reviewers on this site. I am trying to document my results with the oxidation experiment and felt it necessary to mention I used some better quality creams that what I normally have used in the past.

I will let everyone know how it progresses and we will see how it goes by the end of the first week. I just wanted something for the rest of the group to ponder. Also I have not checked out Lon's website but if any of you are interested it is www.lonzworld.com.

Link8382

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!

Disposable razors usually have a coating of either platinum or platinum/teflon combinations or some other concoction. These don't oxidize they simply wear off and you are left with a poorly crafted stainless blade which shouldn't rust anyway. I don't see how his scheme would work unless his solution is some lube that replaces the worn off coating.

Good observation, that makes sense. Then no matter what blade is soaked in, it shouldn't stay Sharp for very long.

Just a one time experience but the only time I ran a hairdryer over a blade I was wet sanding I saw rust forming immediately as the steam evaporated.

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 oil any longer.

thats my story, but ymmv!

I live in a humid area and when I finish shaving I towel dry the rssor, let it rest straddled across a dry shaving bowl and let it air dry during the day. I haven't had a rust problem.

Many of us do coat a blade with some type of oil as a rust safeguard. I do think it is important if one lives in a humid climate. However, I too lived for seventeen years in Arizona (Prescott) and didn't use any oil and never had a rust problem. If you do use oil, I wouldn't recommend a veg oil ( olive or any other cooking oil ) as if left on a blade to long they will thicken and you will have a gooey mess on your hands. I like to use either mineral oil or a good gun oil. Very Best, John

A lot of interesting comments. I bought some razor oil from SRD to keep my new blade it top shape but the olive oil is an experiment on disposable blades. I am not a huge fan of disposable blades and hate the expense of the 5 blade cartridges. I haven't seen any type of rust or corrosion from the hair dryer possibly because the protective coating hasnt wore off yet.

Originally Posted by Link8382

A lot of interesting comments. I bought some razor oil from SRD to keep my new blade it top shape but the olive oil is an experiment on disposable blades. I am not a huge fan of disposable blades and hate the expense of the 5 blade cartridges. I haven't seen any type of rust or corrosion from the hair dryer possibly because the protective coating hasnt wore off yet.

cartridges are at the core a stainless steel and finished with a platinum/teflon coating as mentioned. because at the core they are stainless you shouldn't see any rusting anyway. some de blades are not stainless and they would rust. straight razors are mostly high carbon non stainless and that is why you would want to be more careful with them especially since they are not disponsable; however, you can always buff out any oxidation with a little metal polish unless you let it progress to the point of no return. even then i have seen some impressive restores bring a rusty nail back to a museum masterpiece.

i guess my point here is every blade has it's own characteristics based on what it is made from and cartridges should not so much be influenced by rust, or not enough to worry about it. i have used a fusion blade for over 20 shaves leaving it wet at the end of the shave with no problem and a very comfortable shave. one thing i noticed made the most difference is the quality of prep and shave technique. using quality products and making sure your prep is good and lightly stretching your skin during the shave goes a long long way to prolonging your blades no matter what type they are. i would focus on that over any anti-oxidation solution to soak blades in.

one additional technique I have learned helps prolong cartridges (or any blade really) is to strop it before and after each shave. to strop a de or cartridge simply rub it the opposite direction across your palm or on a soft microfiber towel or even a small piece of leather, just make sure it is dry first if rubbing it on leather otherwise it will damage the leather after awhile. i use a micro fiber towel since it also helps dry at the same time. doing this i don't think you will notice an improvement using snake oil.

Shave prep may very well be an important key to a longer lasting shave out of disposable cartridges. That should be fairly easy to evaluate and prove.