Thread: Is Cell Rot Inevitable?

I just picked up a Red Imp 133 and they seem to be prone to cell rot. The scales for the razor I purchased are in good condition and I would like to keep them that way. Or will cell rot eventually destroy the scales?

No it is not but it also depends on the scales. It is known that some colors are more prone to the gassing than others. Once scales are suffering from cell rot the blade will corrode from the gassing and , from what I've been told, there is no avoiding it. New scales are the only solution AFAIK.

Not all of the Red Imps have bad scales BUT yes they are very prone to it especially the earlier ones are very bad..

The norm is to see the scales start to "shrink" once that happens yes then they are eventually doomed..

Keep this in the back of your mind though, these razors are at least 60 years old think about how many products we buy today that will be in service 60 years from now

Follow up question, since these scales are in fairly good condition could I assume I got one of the 'good' ones? Btw, the razor I purchased is one of the Morris Red Imps. I'm not sure if that makes a difference or not.

I have replaced scales on all of them over the years but I also have a personal Morris Imppy that the scales are fine on so that's 2 hehehehe

Nice, well, I guess the only thing to do is hone her up and see if my face likes her.

Keep them in the dark at room temp or cooler is the best way to preserve them. That's still no guarantee but sunlight and heat will definitely do them in.

Eventually, I think it is inevitable.
The cell rot process is inherent in the product. It takes quite a while, and in the time they started using it, they probably didn't know. Or they knew and didn't care about what happened 50 to 100 years down the line. After all, we don't typically care whether the plastic on a toothbrush or cartirdge razor will last that long.

Proper conditions, like cool and dark, will slow the process. It is just a chemical reaction, and reducing the amount of available energy will slow the reaction. But the process is there and there is nothing you can do to stop it completely.