What's new

How to clean vintage razors?

I can say the razors are in above average condition.
My friend has an small ultrasonic cleaner. I was wondering if I should use this.

- Mix some Method Liquid detergent with water and ultrasonic it for 5mins?
- Boil in hot water with some dettol ( I don't have barbicide ) for another 5mins.

Is this good enough? Will the above "remove" the "paint of the red tip" of my vintage Gillette ?

Thanks
 
Show us some pics. Good luck with your cleaning.

pics before clean LOL..... I'm currently soaking it with dettol and hot water...

proxy.php


proxy.php
 
That's the BEFORE? hot water and Dawn dish soap and a tooth brush is PLENTY in that case.

They already look great. The Red Tips I have show a heck of a lot more wear - even after I cleaned them.

I have had four Red Tips. One that looked like the above when I got it. I just soaked it a bit in dish soap and bypassed the brush. I was afraid I might mess up the paint.
 

TexLaw

Fussy Evil Genius
A little bit of Dawn or Palmolive dish soap in some hot water is plenty for the ultrasonic bath. You don't need more than that unless you have metal corrosion (not just gunk). The only advantages of the ultrasonic over a nylon brush is time and shaking lose some crud that might be inside.

I've used jewelry cleaner in an ultrasonic, before, but that will remove paint, and it might even mess up anodized surfaces, so be careful.

Really stubborn crud or corrosion can be scrubbed off with a brass brush. That won't hurt nickel plating, but it could exacerbate plating loss, and it WILL remove paint. If you aren't concerned about paint or plating, you can go with a stainless steel brush, but them's heavy guns that will strip plating and scrape up brass.

Hot, soapy water and a nylon brush (toothbrush or otherwise) ought to be enough for damn near anything, just like everyone else said.
 
Don't use an ultrasonic on painted razors. Also not great if plating is worn or missing in spots. Long ( 1+ day) soak in hot water and dish detergent does wonders as does a toothbrush and toothpaste.
 
A VERY light buff with a good metal cleaner can also work great on lightly scratched caps or doors. Just be very careful as the plating is very thin. NEVER use any kind of abrasive on gold as it will ruin the clear lacquer that protects the thin gold layer.
 
Very nice razor collection! Whatever you doing is doing a great job.

I clean each of my razors after each shave. I don't don't have to but it's a habit. The one that gets cleaned even when I'm in a rush afterwards is the Edwin Jagger DE89L. That one is zamak so I'm attempting to prolong it's useful life. I know that razors made of zamak do seem to have issues it not treated carefully.
 
Top Bottom