Just picked up my first Gillette -- how should I clean it up?

[CaptainJax]

Hey folks,

So after shaving with the Wal-Mart VDH for the past month I thought I'd swing by the antique mall and see what I could find; to my surprise, I found an old Gillette for 12 bucks! It's a bit dirty but still in great shape. Not sure what model it is, I'm still brand new at this. The folks at the antique mall recommended CLR, but I was wondering what you all thought. Here's some pics for reference.

 

[mayer57619]

Scrubbing bubbles worked great for my slim adjustable. A little elbow grease, a toothbrush, and baking soda/water into paste also works well.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[Hannah's Dad]

Nice Superspeed. Don’t use CLR. Rather, get some Scrubbing Bubbles (without bleach) and let it sit for 15 minutes. Then get some Dawn, hot water and a soft toothbrush and give it a bath. If you want it to really shine, you may consider Flitz polish. Looks like an endcap might be a little off. Is it opening/closing properly?

 

[CaptainJax]

Nice Superspeed. Don’t use CLR. Rather, get some Scrubbing Bubbles (without bleach) and let it sit for 15 minutes. Then get some Dawn, hot water and a soft toothbrush and give it a bath. If you want it to really shine, you may consider Flitz polish. Looks like an endcap might be a little off. Is it opening/closing properly?

Thanks a bunch! I'm not having any issues opening and closing it at the moment.

 

[Esox]

Hot water, boiling hot, but dont boil the razor.

Add a squirt of Dawn dish soap and stir it to mix it, you dont want bubbles, just coloured water. Let it soak until the water cools then attack it with a toothbrush saturated with Dawn. Now you want bubbles. Rinse it off and see what you think.

Repeat until its as clean as you want it to be.

It looks like its lost some plating, on the doors at least. Once its clean, use a polishing compound, I use AutoSol, to polish the doors up.



Handles are tougher and take more work because of the knurling.

I havent used CLR, but I have used, and still do use on occasion, Bar Keepers Friend. BKF creates an acid when mixed with water. It will clean it almost instantly, but it may leave a dull shine so you need to polish after.



See this thread on an SS I had troubles with: Weird Tarnish

BKF is mildly abrasive, and you dont need the abrasive component to clean razors. The Oxalic acid it produces, is what does the cleaning and it works fast.

Do not use it on gold.

See this thread as to why: Opinions Wanted on Restoration

Just give it a couple hot water and Dawn soaks and scrubs and then see what you think.

 

[smudge]

Looks like a US made Superspeed Flair Tip to me.

You've already had some great advice about cleaning it up that I can't really add to, but I have one of these myself and can tell you that's it's a beautiful shaver. Yes, very mild, but extremely efficient. You can whip it around your face almost like a cart and get super close results. If I had a criticism, it's just so easy to use and as a daily driver I would find it a bit boring. Must have used mine in excess of fifty shaves over the last five years or so and I don't think that I've ever got a nick, or even a weeper from it.

The UK Rocket is very similar with only minor differences in the knurling.

 

[GearNoir]

Great find!

Good cleanup advice given up above.

 

[CaptainJax]

Thanks for the tips, everyone! I just cleaned it up and it looks infinitely better. I used Scrubbing Bubbles and then Dawn with hot water and a toothbrush. Here's the after pics -- after all of the awesome things @smudge had to say, I can't wait to try it tonight. It seems like a great razor for a beginner like me!

 

[Cumberland Sausage]

Nice clean-up job. The doors might polish up a bit with Flitz or Maas, although they'll probably never be as bright as they once were unless you have it re-plated. However, that won't affect the quality of the shave, which should be very good.

 

[Dog Whiskerer]

Under the baseplate, where the handle attaches, there will be a capitol letter on one side, a number on the other. That's the date code. You can determine what year/quarter is was mfg'd.

 

[CaptainJax]

Nice clean-up job. The doors might polish up a bit with Flitz or Maas, although they'll probably never be as bright as they once were unless you have it re-plated. However, that won't affect the quality of the shave, which should be very good.

Maybe once I'm a little less broke I'll look into re-plating it. I can't wait to test drive it!

Under the baseplate, where the handle attaches, there will be a capitol letter on one side, a number on the other. That's the date code. You can determine what year/quarter is was mfg'd.

I see a B and a 1, so I'm guessing that's first quarter, but I'm not sure what year B would be.

Edit: I looked up B1 Gillette Super Speed and it looks like it's a 1956!

 

[Robbyboxers]

The site has a Wiki that is a really helpful resource:
Main Page

You can literally spend hours in the Wiki but it will answer many questions for you.

 

[ackvil]

Nice job. The year was 1956. You can find out the date info for Gillette razors in the WIKI.

 

[CaptainJax]

Okay. I couldn't wait. I'm normally a night shaver because nothing beats soft, smooth skin against the pillow at night but I got impatient and gave it a test drive and W O W. I'm in love. I'm going to see if I can find a second to use as my travel razor because I never want to go back to my VDH.

 

[GearNoir]

Okay. I couldn't wait. I'm normally a night shaver because nothing beats soft, smooth skin against the pillow at night but I got impatient and gave it a test drive and W O W. I'm in love. I'm going to see if I can find a second to use as my travel razor because I never want to go back to my VDH.

Considering the VDH is modeled after the SS, I should hope not!

Welcome to vintage RAD!

 

[Twelvefret]

Try one a 48-50 no date. I love those handle knuling patterns.

 

[Macfrommichigan]

Nice razor. With a regular blade it is a great mild razor. Drop in a Feather blade and it gets more assertive.

Enjoy!

 

[Fairwind]

Very nice find in the wild. Congrats!

 

[Hannah's Dad]

Try some polish on the head. You’ve got nothing to lose!

 

[A_Jameson]

Nice clean up! I wouldn’t worry about replating. I’ll have something replated if I think it’s collectible, want to keep it but hate shaving with it. But not my rotation razors. I like them broken in.