Thread: Who put that on my razor?!

So I'm getting these dark spots on two of my blades and I have no idea why. After every shave I wipe it clean with my towel 30 laps on the strop and wipe with straight razor oil I got from SRD with a qtip.

Didn't come off with the trusty fingernail, was thinking about trying some brasso metal polish but figured I'd check here first. Both blades are less than a year old.

Ideas?

I'd say that is moisture. First be careful the gold wash can come off if using polish. Basically it is patina and yes you can clean it off if you want. Just watch the edge and I believe most gents use scotch tape the matte finish stuff to cover gold wash when using polish.

I agree, looks like water spots. After removing water with towel and stropping are you letting it air dry?

Yup water spots, I get those on one or two razors just by looking at them the wrong way, one razor gets them before even finishing a shave.
Mass polish will remove them but as mentioned use some painters tape to protect the etching. I have found using renaissance-wax really helps protect my razors.
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A little goes a long way.

No time between towel, strop and oil just do them right away. I take it giving some time after the strop to dry will help.

I don't use oil, but towel dry, leave the blade open for a while to dry, strop to make sure edge is dry, put in roll and put away.

I use Tuf-Glide on my razors instead of oiling everytime.

Yes it will. I give mine at least half a day to air dry before putting them away
But as Mark said, I also have a couple that get them within minutes it seems.

I have a PRC the first shave before finishing it spotted. Did this the first few times and now there are dark spots. I quit worrying about them. They will clean but I'm not doing that every shave.

I also use Tuf-Glide for protection against these spots. I have removed these before with a number 2 pencil and eraser. Rub the spot with the graphite and then erase. Works if the spot is not too bad.

If you decide to remove the spots- which I don't recommend because you are fighting a battle you can't win- be very careful around the edge as mentioned above. Not only can you cut yourself, but you can also kill the Edge super quickly and have to re-hone!