Thread: Did I ruin two eBay razors today?

Hi folks,

As a newbie and in the "acquisition" phase, I bought several razors off of eBay. Well, some of them arrived in the mail today and I was going to work on polishing them up tonight. So, to disinfect them, I put some isopropyl alcohol in the bottom of a cake pan and set two of the razors in the pan to let them soak in the alcohol.

I came back in a couple of hours and the metal part of both razors were completely brown. It looked like rust. Some of it would come off by rubbing but it looks like the alcohol totally rusted the blades. I took them out of the alcohol and rinsed them off with water but the rust was still there. After dinner, I'm going to take some Simichrome polish and see if I can get some of the rust off. If not, then it's two eBay razors ruined. Others beware. Don't soak your razors in alcohol.

Here's some photos:

I did the same thing with bleach my first few razors. They did clean up afterwards, but one of them was badly pitted.

Well, after polishing them with some Simichrome, it got some of the rust off but it's still badly pitted and tarnished. I'm going to need some polish that's a bit tougher than Simichrome. Any suggestions?

Guys, before doing this desinfecting stuff, please read the posts, or if you are lazy, ask the queastions... Boiling water, alcohol, bleach, acid, vinegar all will do damage to your razor of left for prolonged period of time, or boiled in. These blades are made of steel with high carbon content, with no chrome in it, so they are not stainless... If you want to be sure with desinfecting the blade, make one-thirds solutution of bleach, alcohol and water, and soak for minute ow two (the recipe I found here). Get Barbacide, and soak in that too. I soak overnight in kerosine, WD40... But no water, alcohol e.t.c. Aditional honing will remove metal from the edge, so the nasties will be mechanicaly gone, too.

Originally Posted by EdinLA44

Well, after polishing them with some Simichrome, it got some of the rust off but it's still badly pitted and tarnished. I'm going to need some polish that's a bit tougher than Simichrome. Any suggestions?

You could try some Maas or Flitz with a Dremel (or any rotary tool) and felt (I prefer this over the cloth) polishing wheels. Of course, if that doesn't work, you could visit Bill Ellis' site for some more aggressive rotary attachments
Best,
Mark

Bleach will rust stainless steel if left too long, even diluted bleach. So be careful to rinse it all of it off under running water for a few minutes.

Afterwards wipe down with alcohol to remove any water. I do that after every shave to leave the blade dry. Spray on alcohol and wipe off. Water diffuses into alcohol and after wiping the alcohol promptly evaporates, leaving a dry surface.

Maas, Flitz or any other polishing compound will remove the rust but not the pits left by the rust. Clean-up of this kind of rusting will require more agressive metal (and rust) removal. You may have to live with some pitting. Otherwise due to inexperience you may end up with a completely ruined blade. I have one ground to @#$%! so am speaking from experience.

Was the cake pan aluminuim? This could have accelerated the rusting through a galvanic effect with some impurities in the alcohol. I would use a glass or plastic container to eliminate metal to metal galvanic effects.

So your blades now have pitting. None of the polishes will remove the pitting.
May I suggest that you chalk this up to experience. Removing the pitting will require more tools, money and time. If you really want to do this then get the razor restoration CD from Bill Ellis.

I have restored a number of razors using only 600 grit paper and polish. So cost is not that bad if you need to do more than just polish. You will loose the etching on the blade, but it may be toast anyway. If you would polish these blades up and take new pictures we can see if any further work is needed. What ever you do, " Do not show these too your wife until your done with them!"

Glen

I've been thinking the most convenient way to keep my razor from rusting is to store it in alcohol (instead of oiling it after each use). I've read about this being done with double-edged razor blades. Of course, coming across this subject of alcohol causing rust is bothering me.

I think the best information I've found is here: Is Rubbing Alcohol and Steel a good idea?
"The reason the metal in question rusted after an alcohol bath is because it had just been cleaned (i.e., whatever water-repellent oil may have been present has now been removed), and moisture clung to the bare steel. Alcohol will not 'cause' metals to rust."
They also mention the possibility that the alcohol evaporated away leaving only water.

Try it and learn,,

I mean really the worst that can happen is you wreck your razor...