Thread: I thought I'd pass this along.

This morning I honed a couple of razors, one of which hadn't been used in a while. The camellia oil that I applied to the blade after the last use had turned to brown-ish sticky goo.

After suitably chastising myself, I remembered what makes an excellent degreaser: denatured alcohol. A bit on a paper towel, a wipe, and it was gone! It also worked great for taking off the sticky stuff the tape left. I've had that pint can for 10+ years and haven't used half of it.

Originally Posted by GeauxLSU

This morning I honed a couple of razors, one of which hadn't been used in a while. The camellia oil that I applied to the blade after the last use had turned to brown-ish sticky goo.

After suitably chastising myself, I remembered what makes an excellent degreaser: denatured alcohol. A bit on a paper towel, a wipe, and it was gone! It also worked great for taking off the sticky stuff the tape left. I've had that pint can for 10+ years and haven't used half of it.

I use the oil from SRD and so far it's done ok. however if I know it's going to be a while before I use the razor again I use a thin coating of R.I.G. it is a rust preventive used on firearms and works real well with almost any steel. you just have to carful when you clean it off and not cut your finger. I know that on some blades I have the RIG has been on them for 20-25 years before I cleaned it off and used the razor again. just a thought.

I've had the same experience so I just use camellia oil for short term, and go with mineral oil for longer term storage.

Thanks for the tip on the denatured alcohol.

Originally Posted by rhensley

I use the oil from SRD and so far it's done ok. however if I know it's going to be a while before I use the razor again I use a thin coating of R.I.G. it is a rust preventive used on firearms and works real well with almost any steel. you just have to carful when you clean it off and not cut your finger. I know that on some blades I have the RIG has been on them for 20-25 years before I cleaned it off and used the razor again. just a thought.

I got the camellia oil from SRD, and I noticed they don't appear to stock it any longer. I've got RIG, its good stuff. I want to find something that's first, easy to use and second, cheap.

I once bought a lot of 11 razors and found one covered in sticky brown stuff. In hindsight, that may have been camelia oil. Underneath I thought I had found a pearl of a razor, only to find it wouldn't take an edge...

Thanks for the tip about de-natured alcohol. I use Ballistol on my razors and knives. It doesn't get gummy even over time. Similar to R.I.G. I guess. The gun guys like Ballistol as well.