i have several questions for this forum on cleaning old razors

i have just purchased a chattaraugus little vally new york and a torry in the box and a wade & butcher and a george westeholme IXL and they all need a good cleaning and i have several that are very old the belong to my father that are in need of a good cleaning what should i use to clean them with because i do not want to damage these fine razors any at all if i can help it could someone please give me some advice guickly before i mess one up trying to use a knife eraracer on them
desperate shade

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Originally Posted by shade46

i have just purchased a chattaraugus little vally new york and a torry in the box and a wade & butcher and a george westeholme IXL and they all need a good cleaning and i have several that are very old the belong to my father that are in need of a good cleaning what should i use to clean them with because i do not want to damage these fine razors any at all if i can help it could someone please give me some advice guickly before i mess one up trying to use a knife eraracer on them
desperate shade

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Cattaraugus, Torrey, Wade & Butcher and Wostenholm are all excellent razors.

If you want to clean it yourself then I would stick with a metal polish (e.g. Maas or Flitz) and nothing more. Even better would be to take some pictures and post them here, and we can give you better feedback.

Check out our Member Services for a listing of people who would be willing to bring those razors back to life for you to use or display. For the ones that belonged to your father I'd suggest keeping them as original as possible, and also make sure you mention that they're an heirloom to whoever you contact about restoring/sharpening/etc.

You could try hand polishing them with some Maas Polish and see what happens. It may not get out deep tarnish and rust, but should make them look better. Without some practice a dremel or buffer should wait. You can easily hurt the razors and yourself.

Have fun,

Lynn

Since it sounds like you aren't too familiar with restorations and because you've got some heirloom pieces, it sounds like anything other than metal polish is going to be the realm of the professional restoration guys. They'll all chime in in a few minutes, no doubt.

+1 on the metal polish (Maas or Flitz or Mother's).

The other things you should have handy are Q-tips and the toothpick/floss sticks. You can use this stuff to get in the little nooks and crannies of the razor. The floss is good for getting between the razor's tang and the scales. The Q-tips are good for getting inside the scales.

After cleaning you might want to put a light coat of mineral oil (or something similar) on the razors until they are ready to be honed.

I would very much suggest that you don't use a dremel or a buffer. They take a little more skill than might be expected and with heirloom razors you don't want to be in the learning phase.

I'm a minimalist when it comes to restoration, MAAS and my fingers are my primary tools :p

One thing you will pick up here is the "lack of urgency" when working on razors. Too many thing can and will go wrong if you try to rush into things. Razors + rushing = disaster... and if you extreamly lucky only the razor gets distroyed...

MAAS can be found at most corner drug stores and the like, I find it at Walgreens.

I have a question about a dremel. My dad has a dremel but I dont think he has the right "bit" for it. What sort of end do you use on the dremel to sand the blade? Maybe a picture of it would help to. Thanks!!!

Dremels can be dangerous to a razor and yourself even if you know how to use them. Had to get that out of the way. I use felt bobs and #512E Finishing Abrasive Buffs (Fine 320 grit).