How do I clean this "old" razor.

[sam o'reilly]

i just picked this up from a local antique store. It has an outer number - 283765 and an inner number - 2876502, the smaller inner numbers, unlike the excellent pics on mr razor's site, go round the inner stem rather than along it. It has a notice on the bottom of the case, instructing retailers to sell it for "not less than one Guinea." Anyway I got it today, as it had been sitting there for weeks, because I'm curious to shave with a razor that's over a century old. Any tips on how to clean it up would be much appreciated. Many thanks.
PS. For those who haven't seen one before (as I hadn't) the blade is an early Gillette. The razor itself takes modern blades, no problem. Does it take modern skin though

 

[Krona Kruiser]

Nice single ring! Here's the best way to clean and polish silver plated razors (SILVER only, recently, some have done this with nickel or aluminum and have had dark residue)
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...ck-Photo-Tutorial-for-Restoring-Silver-Razors

 

[sam o'reilly]

It has two rings on the handle. but thanks anyway, I had no idea it was silver. Won't Silvo (silver polish) do the job?

 

[xraygun]

Polish is for polishing. That's for some extra shine after you get it really clean with the above method. Trust us.

Bravo for asking first by the way. Most folks just boil them in bleach or throw them into a volcano and THEN ask.

 

[Copierguy]

Nice single ring. You did good by asking first. The baking soda / aluminum is this way to go. Congrats!!

 

[Sledgehammer39]

Nice Score!

 

[BBrad]

Polish is for polishing. That's for some extra shine after you get it really clean with the above method. Trust us.

Bravo for asking first by the way. Most folks just boil them in bleach or throw them into a volcano and THEN ask.

Nice single ring. You did good by asking first. The baking soda / aluminum is this way to go. Congrats!!

+1 on both . . .

Polishes work by either abrasively or chemically removing the outermost layer of the silver plating. A heavily tarnished razor can lose a lot of plating by the time you blast your way through all the tarnish. Since tarnish is the result of a chemical reaction, reversing the reaction converts the tarnish back into shiny silver - hence the aluminum-foil-and-baking-soda method.

Once the tarnish is converted back, a very light and gentle polishing will bring out the luster without removing silver.

That's a nice single-ring, Sam . . . congrats!! Be sure to post an "after" picture or two so we can admire your handiwork!

 

[chongo gordo]

What Krona said, he's no fool. Between the Scrubbing Bubbles and the foil/soda trick, I barely had to do anything to clean up my single ring, basically light brushing with an old toothbrush.

Congrats on the score. My single ring is my new favorite.

 

[CGW409]

Very nice,I picked up an cased Old Type recently that was complete with the blade bank and 5 of the original 1918 issue 3 hole blades 2 that were still wrapped and 3 that were rust free but the wrap had dry rotted away.
I won't recommend you do this but I figured since I had 5 rust free original blades I'd sacrifice one to be able to say I'd shaved with a nearly 100 year old razor and one of it's original blades,surprisingly I got 2 full and comfortable 3 pass shaves out of it before it got tuggy and after I broke out Great Grandfather's blade honer and gave it a honing and stropping gave me another 2 full shaves.

 

[Sled Dog]

Nice score!! It will look awesome when you get it cleaned up...please post some after pics

 

[celestino]

Very nice find and the suggestions above are great. Good luck and show us the after-pics.

 

[sam o'reilly]

Ok confession time, I just gave it a quick wipe down with some SILVO on a soft cloth.

 

[Daiku]

Nice!