Thread: P.H. and Your Stainless Razor

I have been thinking about writing on this subject for some time. So no one thinks I am throwing this off the top of my head I have included as many sources as possible. I hope you all find this (and the research) useful. Please excuse my long windedness.

As a musician pretty much all of my life I have come to play or come in contact with many instruments; in this case it is the metal stringed ones to which I refer—electric guitar comes foremost to mind. Guitarists are in a constant war with upholding the brilliant sound of a new set of strings and several factors are at odds with maintaining this. I won't discuss them all, but the biggest factor, the one that can take down your strings in one day is moisture. Already one should see where this is heading. As with a razor moisture can come through humidity in the air (though unlike a razor, guitars are not usually submerged directly in water), but also from direct contact with our fingers and hands. This is where the problem lies. The chemical makeup of skin is (an many of you no doubt understand) alkaline, a mixture (or balance) of mainly water, oils, and acids. We're just big walking batteries, or swimming pools, and we each have a P.H. that fluctuates. I really became most aware of this in regards to strings and razors about four years ago when a fellow musician was telling me how he can go through a set of strings in a couple days and that he had asked his doctor about it. He was tested, and the doctor informed him that he had a very high alkaline content. I offered an old luthier and guitar repairman's trick—to try using lemon oil on the strings and fret board directly after each use. Problem solved. I have since noted several other cases of the same.

When I started using a straight I was immediately concerned with keeping those fingerprints off my blades, along with any rust. Recently I decided to do some research to better understand the connection between our P.H. and staining & rust in metals. I learned that there is a particularly bad chemistry between acids and stainless steel. Thought you would like to know.

So, this is why I always oil my straights directly after drying them following each use. I oil them by putting a little baby oil on my forefinger and thumb and sliding it along the blade. At the blade itself I slide my finger from spine to blade edge. I only coat with a thin film. I never let my finger stop on the metal—this would leave a fingerprint, in the valleys left between the fingerprint lines is the first part that will dry out, leaving a fingerprint stain. Of course I make sure to wash my hands before doing all this because that will remove any acids on your skin's surface. This will probably be unnecessary if you just came out of the shower and had prepped your face with shaving soaps: yet still, if anyone is struggling with quickly staining blades, a high P.H. may be the culprit, and washing could help the problem. I'll not get into metals that are more prone to staining by their own makeups.

This information pertains mainly to Stainless as I learned that there is particular chemical reaction, but as you will see, high carbons are susceptible as well.

So here are some links I found in my research. Some of the information is general, or scientific, and some directed toward guitar:

Acid Corrosion of Steel - Industrial & Engineering Chemistry (ACS Publications)
Stainless steels - Google Books
Guitar Strings Care | Guitar String Maintenance | Guitar Strings
Guitar Strings Last Longer With Proper Care
Understanding Your Skin: pH level and the Acid Mantle
Skin Biology
The Hendrix Group - TFAQ - Citric Acid corrosion of mild steel piping
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strings_(music)
http://www.yinyangskinscience.com/20...m-skin-health/