Thread: Devil's Spit Theory

I recently received a razor that was found at my Grandfather's house after he died. It was packed in a box with alot of old stuff. Everything in the box was dry and didn't have signs of being wet at any point. The razor had oil on it still, but in some spots the oil seemed thicker and under the oil after wiping it off there was devil's spit. I am wondering if the oil breaks down after so long and that is what causes devil's spit or if the waxed paper that was wrapped around the razor broke down and mixed in with the oil to make it thicker almost like a congealed grease and that is what caused it. The devil's spit only show in spots where the thicker oil was. Now if only I knew what type of oil was on the blade. This is just my rantings after seeing the razor and having always wondered what could cause it.

I can only offer conjecture, but it seems to me that the culprit could be moisture on the blade that was trapped in by the oil/grease/whatever.



I could be full of beans, but this is my theory.

Originally Posted by unit

I can only offer conjecture, but it seems to me that the culprit could be moisture on the blade that was trapped in by the oil/grease/whatever.



I could be full of beans, but this is my theory.

No beans, I've read more than once that experts suggest wiping your stored guns down at regular intervals. Stored with oil indefinitely the moisture can get under the oil and cause corrosion.

Oils - depending on their actual composition - will to a lesser or greater extent be hygroscopic. That is they absorb moisture over time - this is why old oil often appear emulsified. The water doesn't so much get under the oil as travel through it. There's a lot of different factors invovled so the time period this occurs over can vary hugely.

With these razors being packed away indoors it would have taken a relatively long time for the absorption to occur especially if you live in a dry climate. The staining you are seeing is most probably simply a result of the oil absorbing small quantities of water and causing some oxidisation. This tends to be fairly minimal as there would not have been much oxygen available under the oil film (what we engineers refer to as anaerobic conditions).

My experience has been that ANYTHING on a nicely polished blade attracts moisture more than the dry, highly polished steel does itself. Periodic inspecting and polishing is necessary. An easy experiment to try (although I don't recommend it) is to place a fingerprint on a highly polished blade, put it away in storage for a month or two and then get it out to look at it. The fingerprint will have either turned slightly brown, a sign of oxidation, or be actually rusted. Anything on a blade will attract water out of the ambient humidity and eventually create rust.

Originally Posted by ace

My experience has been that ANYTHING on a nicely polished blade attracts moisture more than the dry, highly polished steel does itself. Periodic inspecting and polishing is necessary. An easy experiment to try (although I don't recommend it) is to place a fingerprint on a highly polished blade, put it away in storage for a month or two and then get it out to look at it. The fingerprint will have either turned slightly brown, a sign of oxidation, or be actually rusted. Anything on a blade will attract water out of the ambient humidity and eventually create rust.

************************************************** ************************************************** ************************************************** ***Sort of... Highly polished blades SHOW blemishes more readily, but offer less surface area for corrosion to work on and therefore polished surfaces offer a bit of corrosion resistance (in my findings from testing with knives). ************************************************** ************************************************** ************************************************** **********************************By contrast, satin finishes (characterized by a bunch of micro scratches) offer a much higher effective surface area for corrosion to work on. ************************************************** ************************************************** ************************************************** **********************************OTOH, a finger print will generally get lost on a satin finish and seems less noticeable. ************************************************** ************************************************** ************************************************** ********************************** No disrespect intended and sorry about the asterisks. All my line breaks are getting removed this morning...so hopefully this aids readability

Agreed on all counts, except for the fact that if a fingerprint gets "lost" on a satin finish, it may still be there doing its dirty work, attracting moisture and with it, ultimately, corrosion.

You guys hit the nail on the head here. Devils spit is a huge pain to deal with, most of my car restoring buddies have dealt with it. Not sure if there is a cleaner to remove it, I just know they had to take a die grinder to it; well sandpaper for our purposes. You could try a natural degreaser and let it sit for a while, just make sure it is safe for chrome, anything safe for chrome won't eat into it's surface layers just the gunk.

Originally Posted by ace

Agreed on all counts, except for the fact that if a fingerprint gets "lost" on a satin finish, it may still be there doing its dirty work, attracting moisture and with it, ultimately, corrosion.

Absolutely, and generally it will corrode FASTER on satin due to more available "nucleation" sites....but it will be visually "lost" until the damage starts. I should have been clearer, I suppose

Originally Posted by tiddle

You guys hit the nail on the head here. Devils spit is a huge pain to deal with, most of my car restoring buddies have dealt with it. Not sure if there is a cleaner to remove it, I just know they had to take a die grinder to it; well sandpaper for our purposes. You could try a natural degreaser and let it sit for a while, just make sure it is safe for chrome, anything safe for chrome won't eat into it's surface layers just the gunk.

Generally this sort of stain extends into the metal a ways and material removal is the only method I have found to remove it successfully.