Thread: When alum meets carbon steel

I had my first real cut, yesterday, since I began using a straight razor. It was on the second pass over my neck, about half an inch wide and bled instantly. I grabbed the alum block and rubbed it liberally on the cut and surrounding area. I then proceeded, finishing up my neck and doing touch-ups on my face. During cleanup I noticed that there were two tarnished spots on the blade. Both spots were right above the edge where the lather and whiskers collect. It seems that I went too close to the area of the cut and transferred alum onto the blade. After cleanup I dried the blade, stropped, and then took some Maas to the blade. Most of the tarnish was removed. I am going to try to get the rest of the tarnish tonight.

Recently, there was a thread on the forum that warned about not getting alum on the razor's tang from having alum on the fingers. When I read that I thought it was good advice and filed it away for future reference. Now I know to be careful if I use alum on a cut during the shave also. I hope sharing this experience might help others.