Thread: 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

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.

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