Humidity and rust prevention.

[Stapelfeld]

Hello there gentlemen! I wanted to get your guys opinion and insight on the matter of rust prevention on my straight razor. My bathroom is a small one and I have the stand for the straight razor and I always clean my razor with a towel after use but it’s a room with humidity.

I’ve noticed some spots where it looks “rusty” but it cleans nice and comes off all except for where the wooden handle( I think this is called the scale?) and the metal blade meet which looks a little “rusty” and the blade here opens up with no smoothness.

Do you guys have any suggestions or tips of things you guys do to prevent this? If not what would you guys recommend? Thank you all in advance and happy shavings!

 

[silverlifter]

Don't keep your razor in the bathroom, or in any moist environment would be the first step.

If you live in a humid place, store the razor with silica gel packets, or oil it after use.

 

[Slash McCoy]

So you are concerned with your razor rusting, and you store it in the most humid environment in your entire house? I am sensing a train crash coming on.

If you have air conditioning, then you probably have some areas in your house with low humidity. If not, then you should consider oiling your razors. When I lived on my sailboat I used motor oil. Yup. Ordinary motor oil. When you change engine oil, there is enough drips and draps left in the cans or jugs or bottles to oil an awful lot of razors. Engine oil is specially formulated to create a protective film on steel. Don't gasp in horror. You aren't injecting yourself with it. The film gets wiped off before you strop and shave. The razor is not stirring up the blood in your arteries. Not hurting a blessed thing, just doing a teriffic job of protecting your razor. But you can use lesser oils that don't offend your sensibilities, such as camelia oil or olive oil or sewing machine oil or whatever.

Be absolutely sure your razor is clean and dry before you oil and store, or just store.

 

[Legion]

Don't keep your razor in the bathroom, or in any moist environment would be the first step.

^ This.

I keep my razors in the bedroom closet inside sealed containers, and in the containers without natural scale razors, a pack of silica. A light coat of mineral oil on the razors that are in longer term storage.

None of my razors stay in the bathroom longer than it takes to use them.

 

[JPO]

I know I shouldn't, but I store my razor in a drawer under my sink, surounded by silica bags. They are dryed and oiled after every use.
Some of the razors have been stored like this for more then ten years without any issues.
I am planning on getting a better storage solution outside of the bathroom though.
My last three razors are stainless high carbon. They are not oiled.

 

[rbscebu]

@Stapelfeld, just keep the relative humidity in your bathroom always at about 40% or lower and you shouldn't have any major problems with steel oxidation on your straight razors.

How you achieve and maintain the required relative humidity is beyond my knowledge.

 

[JPO]

@Stapelfeld, just keep the relative humidity in your bathroom always at about 40% or lower and you shouldn't have any major problems with steel oxidation on your straight razors.

How you achieve and maintain the required relative humidity is beyond my knowledge.

I am not able to get below 40% anywhere in my house. My dehumidifier would struggle to keep it that dry. It is usually set at 60%.
As long as the temperature is high enough you shouldn't have any issues, unless you live on a tropical environment with free flowing mist.

 

[rbscebu]

This solved my relative humidity problems for SR storage when I was living on a low tropical island. It is a dry cabinet for storing photographic gear. In 2019 is cost about US$100±.

​

 

[Frank Shaves]

I live in NJ where it gets pretty humid during the summer. I keep my razors in silicone-treated sleeves in plastic tubes with desiccant packs. I am currently experimenting with VCI paper. I have sanded a lot of rusted razors and have developed a severe dislike for rust.

Silicone Treated Anti-Rust Razor Straight Sleeve | Made in USA – The Superior Shave

thesuperiorshave.com

 

[Steve56]

Badger and Blade is a global forum, and there are some things that are unspoken that need to be said with respect to carbon steel corrosion.

F’rinstance: Do you have conditioned air (air conditioning/heating that controls humidity) in your home? If you do, rust prevention becomes a lot easier, just to the point of keeping your steel meticulously clean - and not storing them in the bathroom.

If you don’t have conditioned air, the bar is higher, but not really an issue these days in all but the most extreme conditions. Oz Parker (AUS) keeps his razors in Pelican cases with desiccant.

For unconditioned environments, especially near the sea, goops become more important. Which goop for unconditioned environments is probably a topic for a different thread. The one undebatable constant is that whatever you do, carbon steel needs to meticulously cleaned before treatment and long term storage. And goops have their own problems, you can’t get oils on bone or wood scales.

 

[Legion]

Badger and Blade is a global forum, and there are some things that are unspoken that need to be said with respect to carbon steel corrosion.

F’rinstance: Do you have conditioned air (air conditioning/heating that controls humidity) in your home? If you do, rust prevention becomes a lot easier, just to the point of keeping your steel meticulously clean - and not storing them in the bathroom.

If you don’t have conditioned air, the bar is higher, but not really an issue these days in all but the most extreme conditions. Oz Parker (AUS) keeps his razors in Pelican cases with desiccant.

For unconditioned environments, especially near the sea, goops become more important. Which goop for unconditioned environments is probably a topic for a different thread. The one undebatable constant is that whatever you do, carbon steel needs to meticulously cleaned before treatment and long term storage. And goops have their own problems, you can’t get oils on bone or wood scales.

Pelican cases will certainly do it, and I have a few myself. But it does not have to be so expensive as those, even Tupperware or glass jars are going to make the micro climate you need.

 

[Southbound1]

I use (Norton honing oil) mineral oil. But i only have 5 razors in rotation. I keep them in their coffins and the coffins are stored in a cedar jewelry box(i need go line the coffins with rust paper) but No problems yet. I do notice the oil tends to 'pool' with gravity, but there's still a coating. Just depends on where you live, here in Tennessee it doesn't seem to be all that humid . If i had (like most guys) more than 20+ i would probably use a food grade grease or Vaseline. Mineral oil works for me. i never get the pivot pin area wet and i make sure my blades are clean and dry before i coat with oil.

 

[Legion]

I use (Norton honing oil) mineral oil. But i only have 5 razors in rotation. I keep them in their coffins and the coffins are stored in a cedar jewelry box(i need go line the coffins with rust paper) but No problems yet. I do notice the oil tends to 'pool' with gravity, but there's still a coating. Just depends on where you live, here in Tennessee it doesn't seem to be all that humid . If i had (like most guys) more than 20+ i would probably use a food grade grease or Vaseline. Mineral oil works for me. i never get the pivot pin area wet and i make sure my blades are clean and dry before i coat with oil.

One word of caution regarding storing razors in Cedar boxes. Cedar can release acidic fumes (the same ones that make it good for keeping moths and bugs away), and that can attack steel. I even had a stainless steel watch start to corrode a little after being stored in a cedar box for several years.

Not recommended for razors.

 

[Southbound1]

One word of caution regarding storing razors in Cedar boxes. Cedar can release acidic fumes (the same ones that make it good for keeping moths and bugs away), and that can attack steel. I even had a stainless steel watch start to corrode a little after being stored in a cedar box for several years.

Not recommended for razors.

Not exactly sure if it's cedar. It is a hard wood jewelry box.

 

[JPO]

One word of caution regarding storing razors in Cedar boxes. Cedar can release acidic fumes (the same ones that make it good for keeping moths and bugs away), and that can attack steel. I even had a stainless steel watch start to corrode a little after being stored in a cedar box for several years.

Not recommended for razors.

I have looked into humidor sigar boxes that should work good for storing razors. However, since most of these are made from Ceder wood, it might not be the best solution. They are also designed to hold the humidity at around 70%. They add something to increase the humidity. If silica bags had been used and the box was made from a different type of wood this could be a nice storage solution for razors. Or something similar to build for razors.
I store my razors surrounded by silica bags. I have never tested putting them in a simple sealed container to see how effective they are at reducing the humidity.
Have you used a hygrometer to see how effective this is?
I need some sort of storage system anyway, so it might make sense to build something a little fancy.
If the Ceder wood is treated with something it should not release any fumes, right?

The jar you have seems like a simple solution.

 

[Legion]

I have looked into humidor sigar boxes that should work good for storing razors. However, since most of these are made from Ceder wood, it might not be the best solution. They are also designed to hold the humidity at around 70%. They add something to increase the humidity. If silica bags had been used and the box was made from a different type of wood this could be a nice storage solution for razors. Or something similar to build for razors.
I store my razors surrounded by silica bags. I have never tested putting them in a simple sealed container to see how effective they are at reducing the humidity.
Have you used a hygrometer to see how effective this is?
I need some sort of storage system anyway, so it might make sense to build something a little fancy.

View attachment 1704069
The jar you have seems like a simple solution.
View attachment 1704071

Yup, different woods for different purposes. A humididor is the polar oposite of what you want for razor storage.

For a while I owned a proper hygrothermeograph that was considered surplus to an archive I worked for, but that was before I got into straight razors. I discarded it because it was junk that I never used, and it was taking up space. It would be interesting to run it now.

 

[Legion]

Simple solution. Keep it in a sealed inert container, glass is easiest. Keep RH at a minimum (unless ivory or horn is involved, but that is another subject).

Chuck them in a pickle jar or mums Tupperware with some desiccant from the shoe store or camera shop. Keep it real simple.

 

[Stapelfeld]

I am not able to get below 40% anywhere in my house. My dehumidifier would struggle to keep it that dry. It is usually set at 60%.
As long as the temperature is high enough you shouldn't have any issues, unless you live on a tropical environment with free flowing mist.

Yeah I live in a tropical environment

 

[Stapelfeld]

So you are concerned with your razor rusting, and you store it in the most humid environment in your entire house? I am sensing a train crash coming on.

If you have air conditioning, then you probably have some areas in your house with low humidity. If not, then you should consider oiling your razors. When I lived on my sailboat I used motor oil. Yup. Ordinary motor oil. When you change engine oil, there is enough drips and draps left in the cans or jugs or bottles to oil an awful lot of razors. Engine oil is specially formulated to create a protective film on steel. Don't gasp in horror. You aren't injecting yourself with it. The film gets wiped off before you strop and shave. The razor is not stirring up the blood in your arteries. Not hurting a blessed thing, just doing a teriffic job of protecting your razor. But you can use lesser oils that don't offend your sensibilities, such as camelia oil or olive oil or sewing machine oil or whatever.

Be absolutely sure your razor is clean and dry before you oil and store, or just store.

Bought some mineral oil and I will follow your instructions good sir

 

[Stapelfeld]

@Stapelfeld, just keep the relative humidity in your bathroom always at about 40% or lower and you shouldn't have any major problems with steel oxidation on your straight razors.

How you achieve and maintain the required relative humidity is beyond my knowledge.

I will look up solutions for that, living in the tropics doesn’t help with the humidity problem