Thread: Question about caring for the razor...

+1 Utopian. I've been thinking of reducing the mineral oil on my next batch. Problem is, it takes so long to use what is already in the bottle. But I don't think drinking it would be helpful either.

Originally Posted by BanjoTom

+1 Utopian. I've been thinking of reducing the mineral oil on my next batch. Problem is, it takes so long to use what is already in the bottle. But I don't think drinking it would be helpful either.

You can get another bottle of alcohol and just add a fraction of your mix to the new alcohol. If it doesn't have enough oil, add a little more of your old mix to the new mix until you get the proportion you want.

Gentlemen:

I learned about Utopian's mineral oil and alcohol concoction recently at the SRP Kenosha meet. It makes sense, and I have started it using it.

Regards,

Obie

I've also been contemplating storing the razors in their boxes with a little rice at the bottom to absorb the moisture. I can't decide if I'm being cheap or lazy.

Originally Posted by DerekC

I've also been contemplating storing the razors in their boxes with a little rice at the bottom to absorb the moisture. I can't decide if I'm being cheap or lazy.

I do that too, but in larger storage boxes, not individual razor boxes. I'm so cheap that I swap it every couple of months with fresh stuff and dump the old stuff into soup. Make sure you use brown rice. Your razors won't care, but it's better for you!

I have a question about the mineral oil/alcohol mix. The alchol I am able to get in the drugstore is 70% alchol. The balance is water. Will this cause problems?

No. The 70% mix will evaporate a little more slowly than pure alcohol, but it will still help to remove residual water on your blade because alcohol and water are miscible at all ratios. In fact, 70% is the recommended dilution for use as a disinfectant specifically because of its slower rate of evaporation.

Originally Posted by Utopian

No. The 70% mix will evaporate a little more slowly than pure alcohol, but it will still help to remove residual water on your blade because alcohol and water are miscible at all ratios. In fact, 70% is the recommended dilution for use as a disinfectant specifically because of its slower rate of evaporation.

Thanks for the new word. I got 'renitent' out of the Wiki, but 'miscible' is a new one for me. Nice!

After doing some shopping at the pharmacy and investigating suitability of use with razors, I stumbled on to this:

SpringerLink - Journal of Applied Electrochemistry, Volume 33, Number 2

In the abstract it reads:

"The cationic surfactant cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) showed high inhibition efficiency for the corrosion of low
carbon steel in 1 M H2SO4."

"CPC [cetylpyridinium chloride] has a significant inhibiting effect on the corrosion of steel and
protection efficiencies up to 97% were measured."

Now I'm not sure if most razors qualify as "low carbon steel", but it seems to very suitable for use in caring for a blade.
CPC is, apparently, a common ingredient in general desinfectants (e.g. for small wounds).
The ingredients to the stuff I got (Septidin) are:

Water, denatured alcohol and cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC).

Now in a mix with mineral oil (I got baby oil), it seems like the perfect SR care ****tail. [Edit: I love it how the prude US content filter manages to find a drink an inappropriate term ]

But most definitely correct me if I'm wrong, since I was mostly occupied with secretly reading comics and equally secretly glancing at pretty girls during chemistry class, and therefore may not be identified as a 'reliable source' where chemistry is concerned. I am however, an expert and thus very reliable source on Belgian comics and cute girls' hineys.