Gillette Slim & Merkur?

[Verderer]

As I posted in another thread, I found my dad's safety razors the other day. I am wondering, if these are beyond help, or could they be restaured to their former glory? I'd love to be able to use my dad's old gear. I took two quick shots of them:

I noticed there is a small L in the back of the blade bit, so apparently the Gillette is a Slim from 1966? That also happens to be my date of birth...

Didn't see any markings on the Merkur except the logo, but it is a 'little' crusty.

So would these be salvageable, and how would I go about it?

 

[DanInFla]

As I posted in another thread, I found my dad's safety razors the other day. I am wondering, if these are beyond help, or could they be restaured to their former glory? I'd love to be able to use my dad's old gear. I took two quick shots of them:

I noticed there is a small L in the back of the blade bit, so apparently the Gillette is a Slim from 1966? That also happens to be my date of birth...

Didn't see any markings on the Merkur except the logo, but it is a 'little' crusty.

So would these be salvageable, and how would I go about it?

that Slim will clean up nice...just soak it in hot soapy water for about 10 minutes followed by a few passes with a toothbrush and scrubbing bubbles...dont know anything about the Merkur, but i a sure those folks will be here soon

 

[DerFly]

NO, definitely not. These are no good and trying to fix them is going to be a huge waste of time.

I suggest you send them to me and I'll throw them away for you ........

 

[dreadpirate]

I think they will clean up with some work. One of the combs on the Merkur appears in the photo to be bent; not sure about that one.

 

[Waseem]

If they have a special value to you, you could have them professionally re-plated.

 

[Verderer]

Yep, one comb is bent on the Merkur, dreadpirate (yar!). I also notice that the top plate on that Merkur is badly oxidised at the edges and there are also small spots on its surface. Whereas the bottom plate is spotless. I read somplace that the top plate is made of inferior material which would explain it going so bad. So I fear it would require a lot of work? The handle of the Merkur is yellow like brass underneath all that gunk, but is it supposed to be like that? It looks pretty even, but are we talking about brassing here? There is also a split in the handle, at the razor head end.

The Gillette is in much better shape, the mechanism works ok, and there are only smallish patches of dark here and there. They didn't come off with the dishwasher and water treatment, so I am looking for something stronger. As I live in Finland, we don't get most of the stuff that's recommended for cleaning on this forum, but I hope to find some local alternatives.

Waseem, you mention re-plating: is it expensive?

 

[Futur]

You can use any product made for cleaning the soap buildup from showers. Do a search in Finnish about cleaning showers, and I'm sure some women have discussed what brands are good in some forum You might have a good product in you house allready.
Take the sprayer off the bottle and pour the liquid into a container that will cover your razor, let it soak at least for the time recommended on the bottle, longer if needed. Scrub with a toothbrush and rinse well.

 

[Verderer]

Thanks, Futur. I already did some scouting, and we seem to have brands like Ajax, Cif, Mr Muscle and other available which fit the shower cleaner bill. They seem to contain mostly un-ionised tensides or something of that sort (from memory?)

SC Johnson sells here stuff called 'steelpolish' which is apparently liquid cleaner polish for steel utensils, sinks, pots, doors etc. Also suited for chrome. I wonder if that would work as the final touch? Dunno what it actually contains yet?

 

[Futur]

I have used a number of different steelpolishes, I have stainless steel between my upper and lower kitchen cabinets. In my experience, all they do is smear some kind of oil on the surface, which makes it look shiny for a while. I don't know what the ingredients are, but I'm sure I don't want it in my vains. Also, a 100% clean surfaces is just as shiny as a dirty surface that's been oiled over.

 

[cvac]

Be careful with those bathroom cleaners and that sort of thing. They might damage the plating on the razor.

Scrubbing Bubbles spray is safe to use. I wouldn't try to use anything else other than warm water to clean them initially.

Replating won't be cheap enough to make it worth it for a cracked handle razor. For the adjustable, it would have to be dissembled before replating which requires some expertise and therefore will increase the cost. Personally I would just focus on getting them as clean as possible so they are usable and you can enjoy using them.

 

[Futur]

Be careful with those bathroom cleaners and that sort of thing. They might damage the plating on the razor.

Scrubbing Bubbles spray is safe to use. I wouldn't try to use anything else other than warm water to clean them initially.

Replating won't be cheap enough to make it worth it for a cracked handle razor. For the adjustable, it would have to be dissembled before replating which requires some expertise and therefore will increase the cost. Personally I would just focus on getting them as clean as possible so they are usable and you can enjoy using them.

Any product made for cleaning showers can't take the chrome of the faucett. If it did, there would really be hell to pay, to say the least Shower faucetts gets dunked and soaked with this stuff weekly, by some even daily, so it can't in any way attack chrome. Razors are plated the same way as faucetts, so it must be safe for razors also.

 

[Verderer]

I did some basic cleaning of the Slim, here are two pics:

I am right in assuming that the dark grey blotches won't come off by polishing etc, and they would require re-plating?

 

[cvac]

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=116613&page=1

Here is a thread on re-plating. You may want to send a personal message or email to one of the guys on the thread that offers re-plating services and see what they can do.

 

[Verderer]

Oh, I have, cvac. I have. Just waiting for an answer....

 

[DunEdinRanger]

I would also try some barbicide. Get some at a beauty supply store, and make it more concentrated than the recommendation.

Then soak the razors in that for about 30 minutes.

Then if you can get hold of some Maas, I would try that to polish them up. They may clean up very nicely.

Not sure, but maybe the top pieces from a Merkur 1904 model will fit that razor?

 

[prophetic_joe]

I use a dremel with a polishing pad attachment on it and some turtle wax premium rubbing compound. http://www.turtlewax.com/main.taf?p=2,1,4,23 it will polish most to a mirror shine. It looks from those spots however that you may have some corrosion and therefore maybe some plate loss in those spots. Anyway you slice it though the copper colored spot are going to look better than those black ones.

 

[Verderer]

Hm, Dremel. I think I prefer to apply the old elbow grease, machine's might be tad heavy handed?

Anyways, would the tinfoil + hot water, borax and salt treatment help with those grey spots at all? Or is re-plating necessary?

 

[onotoman]

IMHO I would suggest that the Slim is a candidate for replating - it's worn through to the brass/copper in quite a few places and a strip, polish and replate would have it shining again.

I've answered your question via a PM

 

[Verderer]

Thanks Onotoman, I read the PM just now. Here's an additional pic that shows the dismal state of the Merkur top plate, and also the handle has worn down to the brass:

The top plate is badly pitted, and its edges are all black. Considering that the Merkur's handle also has a split, there may not be much point in restauring it?