Dish soap and toothbrush will not harm the plating.
How to clean a Gillette Double Ring in a safe way
- Thread starter sakaltras
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R
romsitsa
Hello, aluminum foil+baking soda will only remove the patina, any other silver cleaner will also remove some silver, as these are abrasive.
It's highly unlikely that boiling water enlarged the crack, I'd say it was already there, only patina covered it.
It's highly unlikely that boiling water enlarged the crack, I'd say it was already there, only patina covered it.
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- #23
My theory was that there was already tension in the material (caused the crack) and that the tension continued with heat... But I don't have pics before doing the aluminum soda trick so I'm not absolutely sure about that.
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- #24
I had some really bad experience with a toothbrush and a Gillette NEW. I know that Gillette NEWs are just "gold washed" what ever this means...
R
romsitsa
Hello, the cracks are not caused by stress, the neck pieces varied in thickness and many were just a tad wider than the barrel could take.
Gold wash is the same as any other plating, just much thinner, something like they use to plate over nickel.
That's gold.
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- #27
I saw an article stating that due to a chemical process one of the metals in the brass alloy can react with the stuff on the surface of the skin changing the physical properties of the brass... Don't know where I found this article... According to the article the thickness of the neck pieces is not the only reason for the very common cracks. Don't know much about chemistry, just a side information.
Well if you mean clean the patina off the ole boiling water with aluminum foil and baking soda added then soak works like a charm. This razor after patina removal was in beautful condition with only some plating loss. I now regret having the beauty replated Silver (oh it's still beautiful) but in hindsight I wish I'd left good enough alone.
It's a 1904 #23406
It's a 1904 #23406
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You had your Gillette Double Ring re-plated.... To quote the famous philosopher Charlie Brown:
So, would the water/foil/baking soda trick work safely on one of these gold-washed razors? I've got one that looks similar (not as pretty).
That trick is for silver. I'd say warm, not hot, and a toothbrush with dawn would be your best best. If it has lacquer on it, it may come off scrubbing it.
The finish on the razor is a mixed bag of shiny gold and dull brass (patina). I'd like to clean it such that it is safe for shaving and then take it for a test drive. It's got long teeth on the comb and they are presently dull brass.
I'm guessing that any areas lose their lacquer would soon lose the gold wash as well...
Shoot it with some non bleach scrubbing bubbles then a toothbrush. If it already has brassing, you can't hurt it much more with that.
I can do that. Thank you for the suggestion.
Not sure I would use that method for Gold as it relates just to silver oxidation. Regarding Gold finish I'd recommend doing a search here at B&B I recall seeing quite a discussion regarding that subject. I've cleaned some of my Gold stuff using the tried and true "Dawn" with a light scrub. Cheers...
R
romsitsa
Baking soda/aluminum will remove patina from silver through a chemical reaction, there is no such solution for gold as gold doesn’t develop a patina. The boiling water used with the baking soda will also get rid of verdigris, but it won’t really clean brass. There is only one cure for dull brass, polishing. Problem is that any method that will shine up brass, will also remove the gold plating.
Yeah, I thought that might be the case. I'll work with it gently for the moment, just to make it ready for a test shave.
I'm late to this discussion, so hopefully you still see this, but I was wondering about the acid-based cleaning methods for brass razors that still have some gold plating left. People use ketchup or hot sauce, or just some solution of vinegar and salt (and something to make it a paste).
I'm curious about this, because I know salt-vinegar solutions will clean brass tarnish, and I understand they won't react with gold. Would cleaning this way clean up the black and/or green spots so you have a nice shiny razor even though the shine is from two different-colored metals?
My other concern is not knowing about how they lacquer affects things. Will any lacquer Gillette applied keep the acids from cleaning the metal? Or is the lacquer generally worn off well before the gold plating starts to wear off?
R
romsitsa
Acid will clean brass but won't polish it. It will be dull yellow or dull red, depending on the time of exposure.
While acid won't affect gold, it will eat away the brass beneath, so the gold will still be lost, except for heavy gold plating.
While acid won't affect gold, it will eat away the brass beneath, so the gold will still be lost, except for heavy gold plating.
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