Keep Razors Dry

Hi Guys, I got a bunch of razors to hone last week from multiple people and it made me think it might be time again to talk about really drying your razors out after shaving and keeping them dry afterward. The razors this week were stained really badly and some even had rusting in the edges going on. We are talking nice singing Dovo's and SS even along with some other Solingens and a couple of Swedish razors. When Shaving I usually keep a faucet running and rinse off the whisker only touching the blade in the water and trying to keep any water from going up near the handle or hinge pin. I then wipe the blade dry and am ready to shave another area repeating this process until the shave is complete. I then set the dry blade down on the sink open while I'm dressing. After dressed, I come back and wipe the blade one more time, strop it and put it back in the blade mug. This seems to work pretty well. When I transfer one from the mugs to the permanent display, I add protection with a Tuf-Cloth. So far so good. I know some of you guys use other protectants which are just as good. The main thing is to make sure the blades go to bed dry!!! Like any other tool, the straight razor needs to be cared for to continue to work properly. All thoughts welcome. Lynn

Just almost exactly what I do. Dry is the key word. They do not need to sit in dampness. I make every effort to keep mine in the open air.
Good advice sir,

So true. I was oiling my blades with Camelia oil after each use and still getting stains. I think I was not doing a good enough drying job to begin with. Now I just make damn sure they are bone dry and put them away. I wipe dry instead of rinse and I carefully (not too hot) blow dry the pivot. No more problems.

Good point to bring up Lynn. I also make a conscious effort to keep everything dry past the heel. I wipe my razor while shaving, but when I'm finished I run it under hot water for a few seconds, and then pinch the blade between my thumb and forefinger in a dry towel and gently dry it this way. I don't oil a razor that I'll be using again within a week. I keep my user rotation in a wooden drawer in an old Japanese sewing kit my wife's family handed down. The wood has long since dried out, so I feel it keeps mousture away from my razors. I sometime enjoy a shave IN the shower, and then wetting the pivot is unavoidable. After a shave in the shower, I dry it the same way, blow out all moisture with a can of compressed air (you know the ones with the little straw sold in the computer or photography sections of stores) then a drop of sterol is worked into the pivot. Never any problems. Lynn, a post on celluloid might not be a bad idea. I just had a wonderedge go south on me, so I had to pop off the scales. Wrapped the blade and will probably have Bill do something nice for it after the Holidays. Keep an eye on your celluloid razors guys..... ...............Jeff

Treat you razors just like a fine horse......never put one away wet.


Tony

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Originally Posted by Korndog

So true. I was oiling my blades with Camelia oil after each use and still getting stains. I think I was not doing a good enough drying job to begin with. Now I just make damn sure they are bone dry and put them away. I wipe dry instead of rinse and I carefully (not too hot) blow dry the pivot. No more problems.

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Larry,

Hadn't thought of using the hair dryer on the razor...I'm already using it on the brush!

RT

Nice topic... For all this time I have changed various maintainence routines. At first, the razors were getting dryed with towel, and couple drops of sewing machine oil or mineral oil were aplyed all over the blade, pivot and handles. This makes the pre-stroping process a pita. First washing the blade with soap, drying, stroping, shaving, soap, dry, oil e.t.c. Now I dry the razor, and aply oil with paper tisue only to the blade, not the pivot. Since it is very thin layer of oil, I can sometimes get away with just wiping the oil away before stroping... But, I think am gonna try Lynn's method with just good drying only... My new DOVO (carbon) got few black spots on the blade even after oiling. Maybe all this treatment with water, soap, 96% alcohol don't do good on the blade. We'll see...

Nenad

I'm usually pretty careful about rinsing off the razor towel drying it and blowing out all the water and still letting it airdry for about 30 minutes before applying sterol even if I'm going to use it again the next day. The last two months I've been using the same few razors during the experiment so now that I'm back in my rotation I was really surprised when I took out my revisor and apparently the was a rough spot near the toe of the blade and some rust started to settle in in just that spot. The usual metal polish didn't remove it so I guess I'll have to use the dremmel on it to polish it out. I guess the slightest rough spot gives rust a chance to settle in.

I guess living alone does have one advantage. Once I have dried off the razor, I set it "upside down", i.e., tang end down in a "V" shape, into my mixing bowl which has also been dried completely. This allows the razor to stay open until I am home later in the evening. I don't have to worry about anyone coming into contact with it, and I have no pets.

RT

Lynn,
What kind of mug do you put your "using" razors into? In the bathroom? I'm wondering about the humidity from the shower. I was pretty much planning to remove mine from the area and keep them in a drawer in the bedroom. Am I being too cautious with this aspect?

Don in Ohio

No Don that is not too cautious. If your bathroom gets humid, keep 'em out of there.

Jeff

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Originally Posted by DonOhio39

Lynn,
What kind of mug do you put your "using" razors into? In the bathroom? I'm wondering about the humidity from the shower. I was pretty much planning to remove mine from the area and keep them in a drawer in the bedroom. Am I being too cautious with this aspect?

Don in Ohio

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I kept my first razors in a mug in the bathroom. I was constantly getting staining on my blades then too.

I now have a place in the bedroom where I can keep them in pen display stands and no more issues.

The bathroom, especially if you have just one with several family members using it will stay humid for hours each day.

Tony

Hi Don, I just use large "Harley" mugs, but it's pretty dry here, I shower with the door open as no kids and basically am the only one who uses this bathroom. Lynn

Thanks, Lynn. That just wouldn't work here. Our bathroom would make a decent walk in closet, pretty typical for a ranch type house built in the late '50s :)
Of course having 3 people in the place doen't help any either!

Don in Ohio

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Originally Posted by adjustme69

Hi Guys, I got a bunch of razors to hone last week from multiple people and it made me think it might be time again to talk about really drying your razors out after shaving and keeping them dry afterward. The razors this week were stained really badly and some even had rusting in the edges going on. We are talking nice singing Dovo's and SS even along with some other Solingens and a couple of Swedish razors. When Shaving I usually keep a faucet running and rinse off the whisker only touching the blade in the water and trying to keep any water from going up near the handle or hinge pin. I then wipe the blade dry and am ready to shave another area repeating this process until the shave is complete. I then set the dry blade down on the sink open while I'm dressing. After dressed, I come back and wipe the blade one more time, strop it and put it back in the blade mug. This seems to work pretty well. When I transfer one from the mugs to the permanent display, I add protection with a Tuf-Cloth. So far so good. I know some of you guys use other protectants which are just as good. The main thing is to make sure the blades go to bed dry!!! Like any other tool, the straight razor needs to be cared for to continue to work properly. All thoughts welcome. Lynn

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I follow this routine. Because I usually use my razors in a rotation and after completely dried I place them in my rotation box, before putting it away I wipe it down with Tuf-Cloth. That really seems to work well for me. After shaving drying and stropping I put it in my DOVO stand and let it sit for 24 hours before putting it away. Just to be safe sometimes because I keep my razors in the bathroom, I will wipe down the blade with Tuf-Cloth just before placing in my DOVO stand.

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Originally Posted by superfly

Nice topic... For all this time I have changed various maintainence routines. At first, the razors were getting dryed with towel, and couple drops of sewing machine oil or mineral oil were aplyed all over the blade, pivot and handles. This makes the pre-stroping process a pita. First washing the blade with soap, drying, stroping, shaving, soap, dry, oil e.t.c. Now I dry the razor, and aply oil with paper tisue only to the blade, not the pivot. Since it is very thin layer of oil, I can sometimes get away with just wiping the oil away before stroping... But, I think am gonna try Lynn's method with just good drying only... My new DOVO (carbon) got few black spots on the blade even after oiling. Maybe all this treatment with water, soap, 96% alcohol don't do good on the blade. We'll see...

Nenad

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I've expericenced these black spots on my prized Dovo
> http://www.classicshaving.com/catalo...940/190282.htm
which I cannot seem to get rid of , I thought I was pretty through drying it .
Could anyone advise on how to get rid of these -I read ( not sure if it was on the forum ) not to use metal polish on the blades .

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Originally Posted by Garry

I've expericenced these black spots on my prized Dovo
> http://www.classicshaving.com/catalo...940/190282.htm
which I cannot seem to get rid of , I thought I was pretty through drying it .
Could anyone advise on how to get rid of these -I read ( not sure if it was on the forum ) not to use metal polish on the blades .

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You can use a little "Maas" to remove the spots and I know that a lot of guys here use it to clean up spots on their razors. Perhaps you're not drying the blade well enough. Dry using a hair dryer after you wipe the blade clean to really get all the moister off it. If the blade is really kept dry, there's no way it can rust ;)

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Originally Posted by Garry

I've expericenced these black spots on my prized Dovo
> http://www.classicshaving.com/catalo...940/190282.htm
which I cannot seem to get rid of , I thought I was pretty through drying it .
Could anyone advise on how to get rid of these -I read ( not sure if it was on the forum ) not to use metal polish on the blades .

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I used some metal polish, and they cleaned fine... I am drying my razors well, and I have no idea what causes those spots... :shrug:

Nenad

I've already misbehaved and have a bit of rust around the pin. What should I use to get it off? WD40 on a q-tip or some such?

Try a piece of a cloth diaper or similar rag stretched tight over a credit card and try and get in there with some metal polish such as MAAS, Flitz, Wenol, metal-Glo, etc etc. Follow with dish soap and a toothbrush scrubbing, then dry thoroughly and add a drop of oil. ***Another tip.. I always try to keep my pivots dry (unless I shave in the shower, and that's usually my Dovo INOX), but if I do get some moisture in the pivot, I keep a can of air with the little straw under my sink. You know the ones, canned air sold at computer stores, etc for blowing out keyboards, camera lenses, etc. It blows out the pivots well, then a drop of sterol worked into the pivot keep the planets happily in line.

Jeff.

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Originally Posted by jleecbd

I've already misbehaved and have a bit of rust around the pin. What should I use to get it off? WD40 on a q-tip or some such?

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This is what works for me. After the shave (or honing session) dry the blade with a clean dry soft towel taking care to not drag it on the edge. Use a dry towel area to pinch in between thumb and index finger while the razor is lying on another towel, and not between your fingers. Pull the thumb and index finger down several inches of towel several times to dry your thumbprint and index fingerprint thoroughly. Then dry the edge of the blade itself by carefully pinching the edge at the rear with dry thumb and index finger from over the spine. Carefully pull toward the tip. Then use a hair dryer or the flame from a gas range burner (about 4" above the flame) to quickly dry the blade. You can see the "frost" disappear from the blade with the flame application. Hold the shank itself to make sure to not overheat the blade as it doesn't take long to vaporize the "frost". Then test spine for heat on wrist and strop carefully while warm. I had some razors start to rust after honing or shaving with cloth wiping alone even with camelia or Tuf-Glide applied afterward; in addition they had been stored in a dry room away from any source of moisture. Have had no problems since using this method.
Monte

I don't know how any of this will work for me I live in Louisiana. :eek:

I notice Lynn strops the razor after the shave. This is supposed to squeeze moisture out of the microserrations. Who else does this? it seems like it might be a good precaution.

I strop before and after the shave, both linen and leather sides...

After reading all the posts about drying and cleaning, I guess the guilt of laziness finally set in. Although I had been thoroughly drying my razors after each shave, I had never really taken the time to clean and polish them. Several of them had black dots starting to appear on the blade. SOoooo, this morning, I took my 3 favorite go-to razors and gave then a good cleaning and polish (maas is a great product). It amazing how much dirt and grud came off in the polishing rag. Now they are all shiny and new looking. The problem is, they look so good, I don't want to use them (lol )

Man you guys are scary all that drying and blow drying. wow. I just dry on a towel and put it in the broken cigar box where I keep my razors. I even keep them in the bathroom. No spots or rust marks after more than a year.:shrug:

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Originally Posted by RichZ

Man you guys are scary all that drying and blow drying. wow. I just dry on a towel and put it in the broken cigar box where I keep my razors. I even keep them in the bathroom. No spots or rust marks after more than a year.:shrug:

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Rich,
I think we must be living right. I've had the same experience as you, thorough drying after the shave, stored in the bathroom (not in a box either, in an open mug on the sink) and no problem with rust or black spots. Must be good ventilation, because it is certainly humid enough here in Alabama.
Ed

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Originally Posted by jim28277

It amazing how much dirt and grud came off in the polishing rag.

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That is not dirt, but metal particles removed with the abrasive in the metal polish. It will come off any metal you polish with MAAS or similar product.

Nenad

Ed,


I mean NYC is not the most humid area but over the summer it can get a tad humid. I don't understand why these other guys are having problems? I am really curious. As my uncle said when he saw his best friend in a coffin "Better him than me, the bastard" ( Uncle Ed was never very sentimental).:D :D :D

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Originally Posted by RichZ

Ed,


......As my uncle said when he saw his best friend in a coffin "Better him than me, the bastard" ( Uncle Ed was never very sentimental).:D :D :D

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We'll assume your uncle Ed was the one standing and looking down and not the guy lying down with the pale complection....:)

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Originally Posted by RichZ

Ed,


I mean NYC is not the most humid area but over the summer it can get a tad humid. I don't understand why these other guys are having problems? I am really curious. As my uncle said when he saw his best friend in a coffin "Better him than me, the bastard" ( Uncle Ed was never very sentimental).:D :D :D

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ROFL. Rich, you had me spewing coffee out of my nose. Although I'd never wish rust on anyone with enough sense to use a straight, I thank God I'm not experiencing this particular problem.

I have been wondering about the types of oil used on razors. I have some amazing oils I use on some of my more finely tuned guns, but I am not sure how my face would react to them, they might be just fine...is there a certain type of oil to use, or is anything fine?

I wipe the blade with a towel then spray on a bit of rubbing alcohol and wipe it off. I remembered way back from college chemistry we used alcohol to dry test tubes for experiments.

The water molecules diffuse into the alcohol and away from the surface. After alcohol is wiped off (now with the diffused water molecules) the remainder of the alcohol evaporates leaving a dry surface.

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Originally Posted by Joe Lerch

I notice Lynn strops the razor after the shave. This is supposed to squeeze moisture out of the microserrations. Who else does this? it seems like it might be a good precaution.

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Yeah, I'm playing this game these days, mostly due to The Grand Experiment results.

X

Regarding oils for lubricating a razor...I would maybe stay away from silicones as I remember reading they may be carcinogens if the silicone particles are inhaled. I have no sources to back that up though. I'll just play it safe until I hear otherwise. :shrug:

Tom

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Originally Posted by straightman

Regarding oils for lubricating a razor...I would maybe stay away from silicones as I remember reading they may be carcinogens if the silicone particles are inhaled. I have no sources to back that up though. I'll just play it safe until I hear otherwise.

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I use an aerosol sparay called Clippercide. It's like like Barbicide with a lubricant. I spray the razor after it's dry, leaving it sterilized and lubed.

While shaving I have the sink full of hot water which I use to rinse the lather from the blade. When thru I use the shaving brush with lather on it and wipe the blade from the spine to the edge on both sides. This cleans the blade very well. I then wipe the blade dry making sure to rub the area around the shoulders and then I put the handles up to my mouth, the razor being wide open with the blade's edge pointing away from me, and blow the water out from inside the the handles. I do this two times wiping off the water both times. I then rub the blade again and then close it. The blade is pretty warm from the water so this helps dry it even more. So far this has worked for me. Somtimes I will spray the blades with Clipperside which disenfects and prevents rust.

Bill Watkins

Ok, I have a question after reading all this. I shave generally after a shower. I rinse the blade under running hot water. I don't wipe the blade until after the shave. Then I douse a little alcohol onto the pivot and work the pivot around, then I wipe the blade with alcohol then air dry it (wave it around til the alcohol evaporates). After that I douse the pivot with mineral oil and work it in, then oil the blade, close carefully and store.

Am I running a risk of moisture still messing up the pivot or parts of the blade?

when I shave my F.I.L. I do wipe the blade because I'm not at the bathroom sink but I clean the blade generally the same way. liberal alcohol douse on pivot, work it, clean blade with alcohol, repeat procedure with oil.

FUD

FUD, what is F.I.L???

:confused:

F-ather
I-n
L-aw
:p