Thread: Cleaning a Gillette Fatboy

I normally use a citrus cleaner (as above) (cheap)
Then i use a white or cider vinegar soak to loosen the crud.
Then while wet from the soak, I run the razor through all its mechanical paces. That way, I am better assured that the crud is gone and will not be holding stuff I do not want near my face.
Then rinse well under running warm water while running the razor through its paces a few times to get the acidic vinegar out.
An ultrasonic cleaner works well, but costs a lot and you just speed up the processes above.
Just my experiences...
~Richard
Others will have some other 'solutions' also.

You can youtube search and find vids on how to take them apart. I did this myself. Wasnt to bad. The trick is getting back together at the right setting. So that 9 is 9 and 1 is 1. Took my a few trys before i got that correctly done.

If I find one out in the wild I use hot water and Dawn dish soap in my Ultra Sonic cleaner otherwise just regular cleaning is an old toothbrush and Dawn dish soap

I always put some water and dawn dish soap in a small pot then boil it on the stove. Follow up with a tooth brush and you won’t believe the crud that boils out... lol

There are some internal plastic parts, so be careful not to use anything that will attack plastic.

Originally Posted by jmabuse

There are some internal plastic parts, so be careful not to use anything that will attack plastic.

You know what? I was completely wrong! The original Fatboy did not have plastic parts. What I thought was a plastic collar on mine is the end of a blued metal collet. What I thought was a red plastic index pin is a red-colored metal spring.

Later Gillette Adjustables had a bunch of plastic (baseplate, handle) but not the old Fatboy. Sorry I got it wrong!

Scrubbing Bubbles in the aerosol can works really well in cleaning up a crusty DE razor. Make sure you get the kind without bleach. Get the razor wet, foam it up, and let it sit for 5 minutes or so. Take a toothbrush and scrub it up. Rinse it really well and let it dry. After that, you can use some polish like Maas to shine it up. It's always worked for me. A plus is that it also sanitizes really well.

Oops. I just saw that you are in the UK. I don't know if Scrubbing Bubbles is available there.

Originally Posted by Geezer

I normally use a citrus cleaner (as above) (cheap)
Then i use a white or cider vinegar soak to loosen the crud.
Then while wet from the soak, I run the razor through all its mechanical paces. That way, I am better assured that the crud is gone and will not be holding stuff I do not want near my face.
Then rinse well under running warm water while running the razor through its paces a few times to get the acidic vinegar out.
An ultrasonic cleaner works well, but costs a lot and you just speed up the processes above.
Just my experiences...
~Richard
Others will have some other 'solutions' also.

Are you referring to an ultrasonic cleaner used for cleaning pistols? I was wondering about this since I recently (yesterday) purchased another Gillette Slim. I have not received it yet but as always, I’m concerned about cleaning/sterilization before use.

US cleaners are such as used with water and some detergents etc. to remove gunk from many different items. Even the little ones 500ml for contact lenses can work for a razor head. A 1 litre capacity is usually sufficient for safety razors.
JMO
~Richard
I have two cleaners similar to these, both small 600ml and 3L. In the UK:
ultrasonic-cleaner
In the US, Harbor Freight and Amazon and others sell the cleaners.

Originally Posted by Geezer

US cleaners are such as used with water and some detergents etc. to remove gunk from many different items. Even the little ones 500ml for contact lenses can work for a razor head. A 1 litre capacity is usually sufficient for safety razors.
JMO
~Richard
I have two cleaners similar to these, both small 600ml and 3L:
ultrasonic-cleaner

Thanks, I never thought to use one. I have access to the commercial US used for pistols but will acquire one for the house since it seems they can clean a multitude of items.