So I'm a tiny bit concerned about some corrosion.

[tkdcommando]

This is my first post and first day of owning a 1969+ Gillette Super Speed. I picked it up in an old antique store for 12 bucks. I've already boiled it in baking soda and water for about 10-15 minutes, gone at it with some more baking soda and a toothbrush, and gone at it again with toothpaste. I've removed a lot, if not all, of the old shave gunk and tarnish. I plan to keep at it tomorrow.

But my concern is the greenish corrosion on the edges of the body of the razor. If I shave with it now, will the corrosion pose any health concerns? And if so, how would I go about removing it? Below is a pic of some of the corrosion.

View attachment 141191

 

[GreekGuy]

This is my first post and first day of owning a 1969+ Gillette Super Speed. I picked it up in an old antique store for 12 bucks. I've already boiled it in baking soda and water for about 10-15 minutes, gone at it with some more baking soda and a toothbrush, and gone at it again with toothpaste. I've removed a lot, if not all, of the old shave gunk and tarnish. I plan to keep at it tomorrow.

But my concern is the greenish corrosion on the edges of the body of the razor. If I shave with it now, will the corrosion pose any health concerns? And if so, how would I go about removing it? Below is a pic of some of the corrosion.

View attachment 141191

I think for all the cleaning you've done it should be fine. Sadly once corrosion sets in there is only so much you can do to restore the shine. I think its good to go, but for safe measure just dunk it in some alcohol. Let the alcohol dry, do not wipe it off. That should kill any remaining nasties. Best of luck, and welcome to the forum!

 

[BladeDE40]

Was the corrosion there before you boiled it? You can try soaking it some vinegar to see if that will get rid of it.

 

[woodfluter]

I've already boiled it in baking soda and water for about 10-15 minutes...
...But my concern is the greenish corrosion on the edges of the body of the razor. If I shave with it now, will the corrosion pose any health concerns? And if so, how would I go about removing it?

Hi tkdcommando, and welcome!

The underlying material of this razor is brass. Which is mostly copper. Lots of copper compounds are blue-green in color. Since you boiled it in bicarbonate of soda, it's likely copper carbonate forming where the plating is lost. If you'd dunked it in vinegar it might be copper acetate, but it would look similar.

There are no health concerns. Lots of copper water pipes in hard-water regions have similar deposits. Brasso will remove the deposit without damaging the razor. You don't want to rub hard over a lot of the razor because Brasso is, I believe, very mildly abrasive. That could hurt the plating. But it works chemically, so just rub it on gently, let it sit for a while, then gently buff where the corrosion was - not all over the razor. Repeat as necessary. The chemical action won't affect the areas where plating is intact.

I've done that sort of thing and it worked remarkably well, with no additional corrosion re-appearing after years of use.

- Bill

 

[mblakele]

Welcome to B&B!

http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index.php/Safety_razor_maintenance and http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index.php/Razor_cleaning_and_restoration might be helpful, too.

 

[Go West Young Man]

Hot water and dish soap is all you'll ever need to clean 99.9% of the razors out there.

 

[Copierguy]

Welcome to B&B tkdcommando.

Don't fret too much over this razor.

If you take to DE shaving and get to enjoying it, there are lots of other razors out there to be had that may not be as much work to restore.

Super Speeds get a lot of love around here.....enjoy.

 

[SilverKarn]

CLR (Calcium, Lime, and Rust remover) works great, half and half with hot water.

If you dont want the CLR to touch the rest of the razor, open the silo doors and stand it up so that just the head sits in the solution.

 

[onotoman]

If the corrosion really offends you (it poses no health hazard whatsoever) you could always get your razor replated.

Welcome to Proper Shaving and B&B