Thread: Blade soaking mistake

Two important facts about me.

1. I live in Albuquerque, and the water is made of stone.
2. I'm ritualistic. This helps improve technique.

Last night's shave started off as a nightmare. I contacted my face with the blade (a Dovo) moved about 1/4 inch and stopped. It was not pleasant. I soak my brush, washcloth, lather bowl and soap tub in the sink while I take a shower. Last night I put my blade in a cup of hot water in the sink in order to warm it up. When I got out, the blade had some strange colored marks on it. I had already stropped it also. As I said, in the condition it was in, it was not going to happen. I almost reached for my Merkur safety but thought about it for a second. Why the sudden change? It was fine the last time I used it as a matter of fact it was excellent! So I re-stropped it and it was fine.

Minerals on the blade?

What do you guys think?

If it's a carbon steel blade (as are most Dovos), it will oxidize and rust. There is no need to soak the blade in water to warm it, holding it under running hot water for a second or two will heat it right up.

There are a lot of us who never put a blade in water or even hold them under the faucet.

Water and high carbon steel do not play well together.

Not Tellin Ya Nothin You Dont Already Know,, But Yes Razors Have A Tendycie To ,Look, Perform, Shave Without Drowning Them,,,,,,Ty

I'm not sure why you soak your razor. I think what happened was you likely mis-stropped your razor bad enough to make it unpleasant to shave with and then managed to strop it back into performance. It happens. I think it may be best if you are a wee bit more attentive to your stropping technique and you will likely find this goes away. Why do you soak your razor?

I used to soak my DE razors, then I thought about it and figured it made no difference so stopped. Guess what... It made no difference.

I have never soaked my straight razors and just wipe the soap off. Initially I rinsed them, but found to my dismay there are too many things in the sink that like to chip the edge. Now I only handle my razor to strop, shave, dry and put away. I figure the fewer times I handle them and the fewer things I do the fewer the opportunities for damage.

You will likely get discolouration over time anyway, but soaking will only hasten this IMHO.

Yes, it was a stupid thing to do, but like everything else in life, it was another lesson learned.

Thanks to everyone that replied!

Originally Posted by DaveStauffer

Yes, it was a stupid thing to do, but like everything else in life, it was another lesson learned.

Thanks to everyone that replied!

Is it just me, or do those hard lessons become the ones we learn the most from?

That's the great thing about forums like this one, you can learn from other peoples mistakes because the people here are willing to share.

The water quality in ABQ is rotten especially since they converted to the Chama Water. In addition to the usual hard minerals there is iron. (ask me how I know).

Use distilled water for your shaving.

yep ,, 4 years drilling in New Mexico, and I learned to use bottled water real quick. Tc