Thread: Is this what I think it is?

Good morning all. First off if this is not the appropriate place for this post please feel free to move it. To my question. I have a brand new Ralf Aust 5/8 that is about 2 weeks old. I got this new from SRD. To be clear in no way am I putting blame on SRD as this razor arrived in immaculate condition. Yesterday after my shave I noticed this. My fear is rust.

I saw a few spots on the blade that I could not remove with a wipe down of the towel or a rub with my thumb. I hope this pic is ok, two of the biggest spots are to the left and right of the towers. There are several more on the other side as well. Now to some background info. I live in New Mexico so dry climate. This is stored in the bathroom shelf but fan is on when shower is going. I have since moved to a drawer in the bathroom. Post shave I always dry blade and strop on leather to be safe. Blade was also coated with mineral oil between shaves as I shave every third day, figured better safe than sorry. Does this look like rust or something else? What would you all recommend, I would hate to have damage to this awesome razor so soon after receiving it.

Thank you all in advance
Phil

I've handled a few RA razors and in fact own a 6/8 and non has had gold wash so I would presume that neither does yours.

I'd use some Mothers Mag Polish or Flitz or MASS etc along with an old piece of t-shirt type material and CAREFULLY rub in Lengthwise and any small bits of rust should easily vanish.

Storing in the bedroom draw will probably prevent any more rust.

Enjoy the Ride! It's a long strange trip but it's worth the journey

Phil, it could be a variety of problems ,, I agree your humidity isn't the issue , 2 years out there drilling out there in New Mexico , but still fan or no fan showers can put moisture on a blade, now to some other thoughts, after your shave, do you leave the blade open somewhere to continue drying? Or do you just put the mineral oil on and fold it up? If there is any moisture on the blade when you put on the oil,mint could be trapped under the oil.
Second it could be lit tiny bits of soap, but here is what I do and I don't have any issues anymore. After shave carefully wipe my blade with a tissue , between the scales also, then I strop it on my linen to clean the edge, then I take it in my bedroom and set it out open for it to air dry for the rest of the day, then fold it up and back into the safe. Notice I didn't say oil,? As a daily user I have found no oil needed except every now and then I oil the hinge pin. Now for longer storage I do protect the blade, but I feel drying it in the open to assure no microscopic moisture is still on the blade before putting up is the key. YMMV only my opinion, but I don't have rust and I have high humidity here in the memphis area,, Good luck. Tc

Thanks for the fast replies fellas. tc, I do the same as far as wiping the blade and scales with a tissue however, I do not let it sit out and dry further I just oil it and store it. That is probably my issue than, I'll use your ideas as far as post shave care and storage. Looks like I will find a new home for my razor which really means expanding the den which should create more room for more razors and such. Cuda, I will try a gentle application of some metal polish and see what that gets me and you are correct this does not have the gold wash.

Thanks again

Hi Phil,

Those look like water spots to me, although a higher quality / closeup (macro) picture would be better to be sure. Now there's good news and bad news. Water spots occur when some water was left on the blade and then evaporated, leaving behind the minerals that were in the water (so typically not a result of steam, from the shower, but rather from water straight from the faucet). Water spots can be tough because you actually have a deposit of the mineral that adhered to the blade: some minerals don't grab well to certain metals, so rubbing it with your thumb is enough to remove it - some minerals will grab VERY strongly to your razors' particular makeup and will be VERY difficult to remove. The good news is they do no harm (unless they are a corrosive mineral, which is more rare) and are purely cosmetic. You can do much more harm to your razor (particularly your etching) by trying to get rid of the water stains by using polishing compounds, which is the "easiest" way to get rid of them, than it's worth. If you're resolved to remove them, the best thing to do is take a VERY small amount of polishing compound (starting with the least strong/abrasive possible, such as Brasso) on a cue-tip and work at only the water spots, staying as far away from your etching as possible in order to take the stains off without harming your gold wash. If the Brasso (which is very mild) doesn't work, then work your way up in abrasives, with Mothers' polish being one of the strongest. However before you try ANY abrasives/polishes I would recommend just rubbing it with your thumb or a microfiber cloth every day before & after shaving as that alone may take care of them depending on what minerals they are and this will be MUCH safer on your etching than taking abrasives to the blade.

Hope this helps,
71L

That does help 71 thanks. And yeah sorry about quality of pic. Crummy cell phone pic with no macro ability. I can try my other camera if these tips don't work.

So going with your advice 71 of starting with lowest abrasive and that it may be hard water I got out the white vinager and a q tip. Well how about that it worked. I found my loupe and under magnification it looked a little scaly. Thanks again everyone for the help truly a great community. I feel I over thought this problem but I think that's mostly cause I'm new to the world of SR.

It looks like water spots to me as well.

I rinse mine with very hot water, wipe completely dry, strop 10 times on linen and leather and let completely dry in the air using it's box as a drying stand

Originally Posted by Phil129

That does help 71 thanks. And yeah sorry about quality of pic. Crummy cell phone pic with no macro ability. I can try my other camera if these tips don't work.

So going with your advice 71 of starting with lowest abrasive and that it may be hard water I got out the white vinager and a q tip. Well how about that it worked. I found my loupe and under magnification it looked a little scaly. Thanks again everyone for the help truly a great community. I feel I over thought this problem but I think that's mostly cause I'm new to the world of SR.

Glad to help!

Hopefully you used water to vigorously rinse and rub off the vinegar. Otherwise you will have a worse spot tomorrow.

Originally Posted by Utopian

Hopefully you used water to vigorously rinse and rub off the vinegar. Otherwise you will have a worse spot tomorrow.

I did, hopefully that did not make those of you with many years of experience cringe. After I did this I thought "I hope i didn't make it worse" which brings me to a good question should that have been done at all?