I bought my first (3) DE razors today!

Well I started shaving last year when I was 15 with a straight razor, and I love it, but am always open to more convinent ways to shave, and somtimes I'm either not in the mood to do the straight rozor prep or just need a quick shave. Although I don't plan to quit shaving with a straight razor all together, I love it too much to quit, I do plan to have a DE on hand just to have if I need it. I went to a local flea market last week and saw a little DE gillette razor but didn't even bother trying to buy it until later when I really started to think about it. I went back today and I couldn't find the guy he wasn't in the same spot as last week but there was another woman who had a box full of DE razors for 2 dollars a peice, I found another Gillette razor and a razor that was marked "property of the US Army" and then a little later I found the original razor I saw last week and the man only wanted 1 dollar for it, so I bought 3 new razors today. I bought the only blades I could find which are "Wilinson Sword Double Edge Razor Blades" they were about 2 dollars for a pack of 10, so I figured I'd buy them, hope they work decently, I couldn't find anything else. Anyways, I'll post pictures in a little while if you guys want to see them! I'm off to do my first Double Edge shave now :)

--Zach

Of course we want to see them. Afterall this is a DE forum. Sounds like you did OK. After you get them cleaned up you'll see how they shave.

Do you have any reccommendations for how to clean them up real nice? I used Brasso to take the tarnish off and soaked them in bleach for 30 minutes but they still need cleaned a bit, but non the less I'm going to snap a few pics to show them to you guys :)

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1...111/003-15.jpg
Gillette razor I bought for 1$

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1...1111/004-9.jpg
Second Gillette razor I bought for 2$

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1...1111/010-5.jpg
Third DE razor (property of the US Army) bought for 2$

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1...1111/014-4.jpg

You don't need bleach. Bleach is very corrosive to metal, even stainless steel.

Just boil some water, pour some in a cup and let the razor soak 5 minutes.

Then take out the razor, and clean it with a toothbrush and soap, and any other way you would clean metal.

The sharp edge isn't part of the razor itself, so you don't need to worry about anything other than dirt and soap scum. Infection isn't really much of a worry.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Alethephant

You don't need bleach. Bleach is very corrosive to metal, even stainless steel.

Just boil some water, pour some in a cup and let the razor soak 5 minutes.

Then take out the razor, and clean it with a toothbrush and soap, and any other way you would clean metal.

The sharp edge isn't part of the razor itself, so you don't need to worry about anything other than dirt and soap scum. Infection isn't really much of a worry.

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I did what you said and I cleaned them really good, there are still marks on them but I know I scrubbed them really good so as long as they work it doesn't bother me. I think I got a pretty good deal on them I mean, everyone has heard of Gillette's are good razors.

Zach,

Those three vintage de razors you picked up are quite a steal. Congrats.

The first razor in your photos appears to be a travel razor--judging from the length of the handle.

Isn't it great when when you meet idiots that have no idea what a gem they have there?

I use Scrubbing bubbles to clean all my DE's I find. It works well for both metal and plastic. I use an old tooth brush to scrub the harder stuff off.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Alethephant

You don't need bleach. Bleach is very corrosive to metal, even stainless steel.

Just boil some water, pour some in a cup and let the razor soak 5 minutes.

Then take out the razor, and clean it with a toothbrush and soap, and any other way you would clean metal.

The sharp edge isn't part of the razor itself, so you don't need to worry about anything other than dirt and soap scum. Infection isn't really much of a worry.

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But then Bleach is known for killing the HIV virus.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jeffegg2

But then Bleach is known for killing the HIV virus.

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One the thing with Scrubbing bubbles it helps to sterilize as well.. also the HIV virus can only live a few hours outside of the human body so I doubt that being too much of a problem unless you purchase a razor with fresh blood on it.

yes bleach is a bad idea. I had a Mercur Vision I soaked in a strong bleach solution and it totally ate through the plating and started chowing down on the base metal. I wound up having to trash it. It's always a good idea to start with some mild soap and water and a brush and you can always go to scrubbing bubbles after that.

Well luckily I didn't soak them for too long in the bleach, I did clean them up and although they aren't shiney like new, I know they are clean and I like them. It feels alot different then Straight Razor shaving and to be honest I enjoy using a straight more. But I do like these, so when I need a quick shave, these are what I will turn to. Somone mentioned that the first smaller Gillette is probably a travel razor, and thats exactly what I thought and told my mom when she asked me why it was so small. Its good to hear that these are good razors, I know Gillettes are good so I kinda knew I was safe purchasing them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jeffegg2

But then Bleach is known for killing the HIV virus.

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But then so does Lysol and 90% alcohol...bleach will ruin the razor.

I am so glad that i stumbled upon this thread today because i just bought an old Gillette DE (a ball end tech i believe) on ebay a couple of days ago and was wondering about cleaning, blades, etc. I also bought the Wilkinson sword blades because they were easy to come by.

So does one minute at 80+ C in a moist environment.

If you are really, really concerned, leave the razor in a pressure cook for 15 minutes. This is called "autoclaving". It kills just about everything of human health interest.

By the way, HIV is easily deactivated and does not transmit efficiently. The virus to worry about is Hepatitis C.

Also, any place you clean thoroughly will be free of infection. If it ain't there, it can't hurt you. The pasteurization/sterilization is only for the parts you miss.

Finally, bleach corrodes even stainless steel rapidly. If you must use it, use "neutral bleach" made by using equal amounts of 6% bleach and 5% white vinegar in water. A teaspoon per quart of each is more than sufficient. First add one component and mix, and then the other and mix.

Vox Sang. 1992;62(1):12-20.
High-temperature short-time heat inactivation of HIV and other viruses in human blood plasma.
Charm SE, Landau S, Williams B, Horowitz B, Prince AM, Pascual D.
Charm Bioengineering, Inc., Malden, MA 02148.

An ultra-short-time heating system was used to process blood plasma spiked with various viruses (HIV, vesicular stomatitis virus, encephalomyocarditis virus). Virus reduction and recovery of plasma proteins were measured at various temperatures from 65 to 85 degrees C. Processing at 77 degrees C and 0.006 s resulted in a high level of virus kill, including greater than or equal to 4.4 log10 HIV, while maintaining protein structure and activity essentially intact.

You have yourself a Plastic handled Tech (50's), a travel Gillette (late 60's) and a ball handled New (30's). For more accurate dates on the first two there should be a code under the head.

For cleaning all you needed would have been scrubbing bubbles, or similar, a stiff toothbrush, and a 10 minute boil (except the one with the plastic handle.)

For blades I recommend you get yourself a sample pack which are available from a number of online vendors. They will have half a dozen different brands and you can see which ones you like.