Razor Care - Extreme Staining

Good morning

I'm seeking advice regarding the ultra staining properties of my razors. I have a dovo astrale and a filarmonica 4/8 doble temple. Both good shavers and both easily stained, a bit worse with the filarmonica.

To give you an idea, the razor is clean and shiny before honing, but after a 20 minute honing on coticule, when I remove the tape from the spine, you can see a light dark rectangle around the place the tape was. It is not tape residue, the only way to take it out is with some metal polish cream.

I do oil the blades after every use, but I would expect the blade to handle 20 min with water on the hone without staining it black. I am very rigorous when drying, if the smallest particle of water stays on the blade, within a day its a small dark crater.

I live in a desert hot and dry environment.

Any advice?

Thank you all

Sounds like you might have some minerals in your water? You could try distilled water to see if you still get the blackening.

You could try polishing the spine prior to taping. This would slightly minimize the steel exposure. Also, I've gotten in the habit of first pushing tape down on a towel then pulling it off before putting it on the spine. This makes it much easier to remove and limits tape residue. Any residue left on the blade can easily be removed with another layer of fresh tape, just tapping it on the blade.

Have two high carbon blades that do that,I ren wax them prior to honing,no more stains.

Some steels are "special"

Thanks for the replies,

Ren Wax?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Diegok

Thanks for the replies,

Ren Wax?

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yep,amazing stuff Renaissance Wax - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nu Finish car wax also works. Not as well as renwax, but it ain't half bad either.

Diegok,

Was the stain where the tape was ?

Some tapes contain poly-sulphides, and will react with carbon steel, leaving a grayish colour.

GSSixgun and others recommend a certain 3M tape (can't remember which :(), which is known to be razor safe.

I have had a similar staining when I had some rubber bands holding my Dovo Best closed. When the bands were removed, you could see a stained area where they had been :(

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

That is definitely not normal. Could be the tape, could be the water. Change one at a time if you want to know for sure which is causing the issue.

Interesting, would have never suspected the tape itself. Anything specific to look for on the tape?

I have had the same issue as Russ describes. Can't remember which brands of tape, but they were just cheap electricians tapes, probably 'no-name' tapes. It's a bit of a job finding out just what is in the tape, as the backings and adhesives cover a wide range of chemicals, including acetates and sulphides.

That was a long, long while ago though. Since using the Scotch £M tape I have had no more issues. It lasts longer (thicker), sticks better and is quite wear-resistant for tape. It does leave a very tenacious sticky residue at times though, but oil or wax soon sees this off.

Sometimes it is the water itself. Well water can differ significantly in pH value and mineral content to mains water, mins water can contain a lot of chlorine, and water softeners can also add undesirable things, like too much salt in the water. In this case it is the tape holding the water to the blade along with a little associated 'creep' of water at the edge of the tape that causes the staining. Sometimes adding a little carbonate (Baking Soda/Bicarb/Bicarbonate of Soda/Sodium Bicarbonate) helps, especially if the water is very acidic.

Regards,
Neil

Use Eezox. It's now on every one of my razors. It's also the best rust remover I've come across. It's a Clean/Lube/Protect gun product that I swear by. It's dry to the touch after application, but it's there, trust me. And it won't damage wood, horn, or plastic scales. Check this corrosion test to see how it stacks up against other products.

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Thanks for all your help.
Indeed it was the tape.