Firearm cleaning supplies good for razors?

[perlslacker]

I've been DE shaving for a month and a half with an eBay'd late-40's Gillette Superspeed. It's good, but I decided that I'd like another one to travel with. I went to my grandfather's house for Thanksgiving, and lo and behold there is the same exact late-40's Superspeed in a pile of crap in his bathroom covered in rust and soap scum. I asked him if I could have it; it turns out he thought he threw it away some time in the early 80's.

I don't know anything about restoring razors, but I've restored a couple old rifles, and I have all the standard gun-cleaning paraphernalia. So far, I've done to this thing the exact same thing I did to the bolt of my Mosin Nagant: boiled it in water for 10 minutes, scrubbed it off with a nylon brush and dish soap, got all the water off with WD-40*, and got some remaining rust off with 000 steel wool & oil.

So now there's some pernicious crud stuck in the checkering on the handle that the previous treatment couldn't get out, and the action on twisting the handle is a little sticky which makes me think there's some junk in the internals. I've got Gun Scrubber, Hoppe's #9, and Butch's Bore Shine**. Has anyone else used any of these on a razor? Is there anything else I should be putting on it?

Sort of an aside, will the metal in the razor rust if I don't put oil on it? I thought the metal was nickel-plated brass, and the stamped lettering is still sharp after taking the rust off, so I'm guessing that the rust is from the 20-odd-year-old razor blade that was in the thing but I want to be sure.

EDIT: On second thought, Butch's is a hellaciously strong copper solvent so putting that on anything brass is probably a bad move. Hoppe's is a pretty poor copper solvent after they reformulated it (it's like the shooting equivalent of Old Spice) so that could be safe.

* This is the only use for WD-40 on a firearm.
** I'm hesitant to put Butch's on anything that will go close to my face.

 

[Unknownsoldier]

Have you got a basic bore solvent? That'd take most stuff off, seeing as the finsih will A). Be knackered by the corrosion or B). by the nylon brush.... It' won't matter much, you use that then boil it again which will remove all traces, use a solvent rather than a cleaner then you won't get any film on it.

BTW I won't use WD-40 at all on my gun.......

Tom

 

[perlslacker]

Have you got a basic bore solvent? That'd take most stuff off, seeing as the finsih will A). Be knackered by the corrosion or B). by the nylon brush....

Would a nylon brush really hurt nickel plating? It's like one that you use for dishes. The hardness of nickel should trump nylon.

It' won't matter much, you use that then boil it again which will remove all traces, use a solvent rather than a cleaner then you won't get any film on it.

So like Gun Scrubber? That's just a degreaser and it evaporates quickly.

BTW I won't use WD-40 at all on my gun.......
Tom

I won't use it on anything except for one specific instance, which is to drive the water off a surplus rifle after I've used boiling water to get the cosmoline off of it. Some people use boiling water to clean their bore after shooting corrosively-primed ammunition but I've found that Hoppe's works just fine.

 

[LinuxMintyFresh]

I'm not sure about the rust on your razor, but the discoloration you're seeing in the knurling (checkering) could be brass showing through.

Have you got a basic bore solvent? That'd take most stuff off, seeing as the finsih will A). Be knackered by the corrosion or B). by the nylon brush.... It' won't matter much, you use that then boil it again which will remove all traces, use a solvent rather than a cleaner then you won't get any film on it.

BTW I won't use WD-40 at all on my gun.......

Tom

That's why they invented gun oils

 

[Protocol]

In particular, why they invented Militec.

 

[_JP_]

Don't worry about creating rust on Gillette razors. They are made of brass that has been plated and are designed to soak in water. Any rust you find on the razor is from the blades that were loaded in it.

 

[perlslacker]

Don't worry about creating rust on Gillette razors. They are made of brass that has been plated and are designed to soak in water. Any rust you find on the razor is from the blades that were loaded in it.

Thanks, this is what I expected. I'll be sure to keep my Butch's Bore Shine away from my Superspeeds.

 

[Unknownsoldier]

Would a nylon brush really hurt nickel plating? It's like one that you use for dishes. The hardness of nickel should trump nylon.

It will 99% of the time but if there is any corrosion your plating could have weakened bubbled.... it's more a cautionary thing

Tom

 

[WinstonSmith]

Ballistol.

It's an old-school german military gun oil, sort of the first CLP or wonder lube.

You can use it to lube razors, clean crud, or use it as a shave oil actually. It emulsifies with water (ie: forms a milky white solution good for cleaning razors or guns- especially after corrosive primers or BP), and is slightly alkaline. It's completely non-toxic and can be taken straight as a laxative. It's main ingredient is mineral oil.

I've not seen it for sale in the US outside of gun stores, but it's very useful for a wide range of tasks.

 

[Shave A Buck]

guns are either blued or stainless for the most part and do not have a lacquer coating. I have however used with great success an ultrasonic parts cleaner with an ammonia based gun cleaner from L and H I believe. Took off soap scum and cleaned the metal like new. Also nylon bristle gun tooth brushes so they do not harm the chrome or plating. Horrible Freight has them for under two bucks for three.

 

[SRock]

I'd imagine RBC would remove just about anything from a razor. That said, if I used anything that harsh to clean a razor I'd want to re-clean it several times with more subtle cleaning agents before putting it to face.

 

[Joker]

I use many of the same things I do from cleaning my firearms. I used some blue wonder this morning on a razor. I dont use hoppe's #9 on them.