2 week old blade looks like its 100 years.... help!

Hi, I got a Dovo Solingen straight razor for my birthday (Mid May) and I dont know how it happened but now it looks like its been used and abused for years.. Does anyone know how to get it back to how I got it? And to stop it from getting like this again? It stays sharp but just looks really rubbish. I'll put up the pictures and would really appreciate some help and advice.

Did you put away clean, i.g. no lather/blood/water, the last time you used it?

been cleaning with weird chemicals?

i dunno how to help you, itll be tricky to polish up without touching the goldwash.

There must be something with where or how you store it. or something that's gotten on it? as far as polishing, i think you'll lose that gold wash if you polish over that area. You could polish around it, and on the offside.

If you live close to the sea, or somewhere moist, you may need desicant (spelling?) or something to pull moisture out of where you store it. I always do this post shave: wipe blade down with dry cloth and scales if I've gotten moisture on them, then I leave partially opened (enough so none of the blade is between scales) and let sit all day on top of my chest of drawers. that evening, or next morning when switching razors, I take and lay it in my cigar box with the others.

in my area that seems to be enough, you might however need to oil it slightly between uses, keep some mineral oil around, or any other oil, and just rub a bit on AFTER ITS DRY. before it is dry and you could trap moisture in the metal.

Red

It's possibly not your fault.

My Dovo stains easily, during the shave even. I always carefully air and wipe dry and oil my razors before storage. But the Dovo shows stains while my others are as clean as new.

I started a similar thread to this a couple of months ago, and since then at least two others have asked about stains on thier blades, all of them new Dovos :shrug:

I had a little of that recently.

I usually dry the razor in a towel, then I leave it open in with the handle in a vase to air dry for an hour or so.


I was thinking about filling a baby bottle with rubbing alcohol for dipping and drying. Then I could probably submerse up to the pivot to dry that also.

That spot of tarnish at the toe looks familiar, where the blade contacts the scales, though you may have dried your blade after shaving, there may have been some moisture between the scales, and when the blade was closed that moisture would start the tarnish…

Unfortunately there is very little that can be done to clean it without losing the gold wash. however to prevent further tarnish you may want to make sure between the scales are dry after each shave, and “air dry” the razor for an hour outside the bathroom after shaving.

I agree that the spot on the toe is a dead giveaway that the blade was stored wet. That said, my limited experience with Dovos suggests that they are much more prone to rust. I've seen blades start to show rust during a half hour honing session. Unfortunately, the gold leaf makes it difficult to give them a proper polish, compounding the problem.

Like the DV/DA woman said in the movie Orgasmo,
"Lube 'em up boys!"

My advice to the original poster is to buy some Maas polish (or an equivalent) and a polishing cloth and give it a good polish. This will accomplish two things.

1. It will remove all of what is currently just surface corrosion.
2. It will remove every bit of that pretty gold leaf on the blade. The reason that is a good thing is that as soon as you do it, you will never again have to worry about protecting the gold leaf. From that point on you can properly wipe down your blade to prevent corrosion without worrying about protecting that bit of shiny stuff.

Oh, did I mention I hate dealing with gold leaf?:rant:

Thanks for all your comments. I think it was the very first time I used it and did not dry it properly. Since then I have dried it thoroughly and put a little mineral oil on and it has not got any worse... if anything it looks a little better! As for the gold leaf, i don't mind getting rid of it if I can get a shiny blade that I can properly maintain. I dont know what Haas is (I'm from England and I dont think we have it over here) but I'll see if I can find a UK equivilant.

I am taking much more care with leaving it to dry, i really did not realise until it was too late but have learnt my lesson.

Cheers, Oli