(Almost) Cleaned: British Gillette #77

[thekinge]

I won a Gillette #77 in Bakelite case a while back in eBay and the razor was delivered to me last week. Thanks to B&B's safety razor maintenance wiki, I started cleaning up the razor using the aluminum foil, baking soda & boiling water method. After five soaks, the razor came out pretty well and fortunately, there were no cracks in the handle, major scratches or any other flaws. The razor was in very good condition and the foil / baking soda / hot water soak brought it back it to life!

Razor as received, before the first soak:



After the third soak:





After the fifth soak:



While the razor is in pretty good shape now, there are still a few spots of stubborn tarnish in the handle that would not come off. I think it's time to apply some silver polish. Unfortunately, I cannot get Maas or Fitz locally in Singapore. However, I can get Weiman's silver polish whose MSDS lists the ingredients as Anhydrous Aluminum Silicate & Triethanolamine. I tried comparing it to Maas MSDS but I unfortunately could not get Maas' MSDS.

What do you guys think of the Weiman polish? Is it safe to use on silver plated razors? Or would it be worth continuing with the aluminum foil / baking soda / hot water soak any further?

Lastly, if one of you can share the chemical composition of Maas polish, it would be great!

 

[Planbee]

If you can get Peek polish locally, it works well for me. Mild and registered as safe for food preparation surfaces, so it should be okay for your razor, too!

http://www.tripeek.com/ has information including the MSDS.

 

[smokeydave]

All I can say is you have a fine razor there and they polish up a beauty .
And that. Great shave to boot. Enjoy your shave .
However I use cif bathroom cleaner by mistake and that brought out the gunk..
Then finished of with siilvo/braso metal silver polish.. but be careful or you will take the plate off..

 

[thekinge]

If you can get Peek polish locally, it works well for me. Mild and registered as safe for food preparation surfaces, so it should be okay for your razor, too!

http://www.tripeek.com/ has information including the MSDS.

Planbee, thanks for the link. Unfortunately the Tri-Peek polish is not available here in Singapore and it looks like I'll have to make do with the Weiman polish.

 

[thekinge]

All I can say is you have a fine razor there and they polish up a beauty .
And that. Great shave to boot. Enjoy your shave .
However I use cif bathroom cleaner by mistake and that brought out the gunk..
Then finished of with siilvo/braso metal silver polish.. but be careful or you will take the plate off..

Thanks smokeydave. Brasso polish is also available in Singapore, but the B&B wiki and many other forum members have advised against using Brasso on a silver plated razor - and that's why I had not considered using it on my #77. I will however try the Cif method and see if it takes out anymore tarnish!

 

[syngent]

What about maas Dhilip? Lots of BOTOC guys swear by it and have had great success

 

[thekinge]

What about maas Dhilip? Lots of BOTOC guys swear by it and have had great success

James, I unfortunately cannot get Maas locally. If you have Maas, would you be able to share the chemicals used in Maas?

 

[celestino]

Very nice job and enjoy the razor!

 

[syngent]

James, I unfortunately cannot get Maas locally. If you have Maas, would you be able to share the chemicals used in Maas?

so what your saying is, No Maas ?,

I dont have any but ill have a look online while im pretending to work today to see if there is info on the chemicals

 

[thekinge]

so what your saying is, No Maas ?,

I dont have any but ill have a look online while im pretending to work today to see if there is info on the chemicals

Yep, unfortunately no Maas or Fitz that I can purchase locally in Singapore.

 

[syngent]

This is all i could find on chemicals,... its the msds sheets for Maas not a complete ingrediants list

https://www2.itap.purdue.edu/msds/docs/4402.pdf

 

[Seadooer]

Came out nice.

 

[thekinge]

This is all i could find on chemicals,... its the msds sheets for Maas not a complete ingrediants list

https://www2.itap.purdue.edu/msds/docs/4402.pdf

James, thanks for the link. The composition of Maas uses an oxide of aluminum specifically meant for cleaning / polishing and Weiman seems to use a silicate of aluminum that may be a tad more abrasive than the oxide version used in Maas. Anyway, I'm going to give the Weiman polish a try and see it comes out! Thanks again for taking the time to search for the link.

Came out nice.

Thanks Seadooer!

 

[smokeydave]

Thank you thekinge don't think I will be useing brasso no more then , however have had no probes to date but still no more . So it's maas then the cit works relay well squirt a small amount in hot water and just soak.

You do have a looker there though. Also have you shaved with here yet?

 

[Mick]

Nice looking razor.

Stick with the non abrasive polishes such as MAS, SemiChrom, or Wenol

 

[thekinge]

Thank you thekinge don't think I will be useing brasso no more then , however have had no probes to date but still no more . So it's maas then the cit works relay well squirt a small amount in hot water and just soak.

You do have a looker there though. Also have you shaved with here yet?

You're welcome smokeydave! I planned on a luxurious weekend shave with her, but unfortunately I have had a sports injury this past weekend that's pretty much ruled out shaving for the next few days. Hopefully, this week!

 

[thekinge]

Nice looking razor.

Stick with the non abrasive polishes such as MAS, SemiChrom, or Wenol

Thanks turtle. I unfortunately cannot get them in Singapore. In the end, I went ahead and purchased the Weiman polish and used it on the razor. The razor actually came out nice and shiny except for few very minor spots of tarnish that may not go away short of a re-plate. I will post pictures of the razor after polishing in the next couple of days.

 

[thekinge]

Here is the final picture after applying the Weiman silver polish. The razor came out quite nice & shiny and the shine is so incredible that it makes me want to keep this as a display piece and not shave with it! But I did shave with it today and it was a mighty fine shave!

View attachment 287225View attachment 287226

 

[creamgravy]

Congratulations, it looks stunning! Great shavers too.

Enjoy it.

 

[thekinge]

Congratulations, it looks stunning! Great shavers too.

Enjoy it.

Thank you creamgravy! Delicious name by the way