Maas, Flitz, and some resto questions.

[Christian_V]

Hey gents. I may be receiving some vintages here pretty soon and I'd like to learn how to clean and polish these things without damaging them. I have several questions.

Removing Lime, Rust, Grime:

I have done several searches and always get different results. Some people say CLR or Bartender's Friend is ok, others say you should stay the heck away. Some guys boil their razors and add baking soda, others don't. Almost everyone recommends Simple Green and Scrubbing Bubbles. What would you guys recommend to remove grime, soap scum, and lime? I don't want to buy an ultrasonic cleaner as I will rarely do this, so I'm looking for stuff that is easily accessible.

Polishing:

Here's the major question I have. Everyone recommends Flitz or Maas. I have hit Home Depot, Harbor Freight Tools, Target, Wal-Mart, Walgreens. NONE of these places carry these. I did find Brasso and Wrights Silver Cream. Do these work as well as Maas? If not where the heck do you buy Maas? I suppose I could order it thru Amazon but does it make that big of a difference?


As always, you guys are the best.

 

[77TransAm]

I use one from a local auto parts guy called "Autosol". I trust it with everything other than silver and gold things. It works wonders on Nickel and Brass, as well as aluminum car rims

 

[Christian_V]

I use one from a local auto parts guy called "Autosol". I trust it with everything other than silver and gold things. It works wonders on Nickel and Brass, as well as aluminum car rims

Autosol, I'll have to check it out. If it's used on cars, you don't think it would be too abrasive for an antique razor do you? I looked at your pics and your razors look pretty sparkly. (Charlie Boy is a cute dude btw)

 

[77TransAm]

Autosol, I'll have to check it out. If it's used on cars, you don't think it would be too abrasive for an antique razor do you? I looked at your pics and your razors look pretty sparkly. (Charlie Boy is a cute dude btw)

Nope, it's not too abrasive at all. I've used it on over 10 nickel razors and even a light polish on the handle of my silver single ring. It's pretty cheap too, It's 10 dollars for a toothpaste sized tube.

Yes, Charlie the chocolate dog is very cute. He's the best

Just got back from a run with him, he's pooped.

 

[Cumberland Sausage]

I wouldn't use Brasso or the like. Much too abrasive.

 

[OkieStubble]

Maas and Flitz can be found at Ace or Westlake hardware stores.

 

[Christian_V]

Maas and Flitz can be found at Ace or Westlake hardware stores.

Neither of those stores are here. I went ahead and ordered the Maas thru Amazon, screw it. I want the best for my razors. I may invest in an ultrasonic cleaner as well. Harbor Freight sells those for about 25 bucks and they seem to do an incredible job cleaning.

 

[rxonmymind]

Blue magic from auto stores that shines rims. These are after all products which will in many cases go on "million" dollar cars/rims so it'll work for razors. I find that this same polish gets rid of light surface rust too. As for Wright's it is a finer polish and will work but takes a bit more time than Blue magic.

A warning: DO NOT EVER USE BRASSO. That is just gasoline soaked cotton and will rub the gold right off any razor. Wasn't impressed with it on nickel either and it stinks something horrible. Brasso to me is more for shining garage tools and the like.

 

[tacchini]

i would not boil a razor or use brasso, if the razor is realy gunked up a boiled kettle poured into a pyrex jug with a couple of spoons of baking soda will do the job, if its not too bad just scrubbing bubbles and a toothbrush, the scrubbing bubbles will sanatize the razor, then buff it up with the maas polish and you are good to go.

 

[Christian_V]

Thanks for the advice guys. One of the razors I acquired is pretty gunked up I may use the boiling baking soda trick or invest in a ultra sonic cleaner. That way I can also shine my girlfriends jewelry. lol we'll see

 

[JaxJim]

A caveat on the ultrasonic cleaner: Be careful with any razors having painted surfaces (e.g., red or blue tips, adjustables with numerals and so on) or having plastic parts (e.g., Schick Krona). Paint may soften or flake off and plastic may discolor. You can get some great results using an ultrasonic cleaner, just be careful.

Good luck!

 

[mistercitizen]

I ordered Maas and Flitz online. I've gotten so used to buying stuff online since I started traditional wetshaving that it almosts seems like an inconvenience to go to the store. My biggest advice with cleaning up old razors is to ease into it and go slow. Whatever you are using, try a little at a time slowly and see how it does. I've gotten so that I mostly just use warm soapy water soaks, scrubbing with a toothbrush, and a polishing with Maas or Flitz. I'll follow by cleaning the razor after I shave with it thoroughly for a while. I usually just use toothpaste and a toothbrush to clean them after I use them. If you use them and clean them after you use them, all of the old crud and corrosion will eventually go away over time. I'm not sure you would ever need to use Maas or Flitz again after you get them shiney, as long as you clean them fairly regularly with a toothbrush, toothpaste or soap and warm water.

Ben

 

[Christian_V]

Received my tube of Maas today, shined up one of my superspeed flare tips . Holy crap this stuff makes your razors SHINE. Noticeable difference to Wrights, talking HUGE.

 

[Christian_V]

Well guys here is the finished result... The Maas cleaned these up real nice. A 1978 Black Beauty Y2 and a 1968 Slim N2

View attachment 367971 View attachment 367972 View attachment 367973 View attachment 367974 View attachment 367975

 

[akalsey]

Nice job on the polishing.

I use Mothers Billet for the nickel. Second the comment on Brasso - don't use it unless the razor's brass.

The Harbor Freight ultrasonic seems to be good for about 150 runs, then craps out. For me, that's about a week, but you're probably cleaning less.

The ultrasonic is the only thing I've found that will clean 30 years of soap residue off the handle of a Black Beauty without a ton of elbow grease.

 

[Christian_V]

Akalsey I appreciate the kind words. It means a lot to me coming from a Jedi master such as yourself. As you can probably tell there is still a lot of tarnish on the handle of that slim. Would an ultra sonic take that out or would I need to use a million q tips and polish?

 

[Cumberland Sausage]

I find a good soak in warm water with a bit of washing up liquid works well. Seems to get the gunk out of TTO mechanisms if repeated a few times.

 

[akalsey]

As you can probably tell there is still a lot of tarnish on the handle of that slim. Would an ultra sonic take that out or would I need to use a million q tips and polish?

Depends on what it is on there. I'm often surprised by what an ultrasonic takes off. If it's actually tarnish, then an untrasonic won't do anything, as tarnish is a chemical change. But sometimes what appears to be tarnish is just dirt.

If it is tarnish, the baking soda and foil trick might help.

Otherwise, metal polish and a stiff brush is probably your best bet.

 

[akalsey]

Case in point on being surprised by the ultrasonic: I just pulled a Slim out of the cleaner and found the **rust** on the blade bed was gone.

Rust is also a chemical reaction, and cleaning should not have removed it, but I figure the rust was probably from the blade, not the razor.

 

[tacchini]

Akalsey I appreciate the kind words. It means a lot to me coming from a Jedi master such as yourself. As you can probably tell there is still a lot of tarnish on the handle of that slim. Would an ultra sonic take that out or would I need to use a million q tips and polish?

use an old t shirt or rag, then rub it like hell with the rag, it will come up nice with abit of elbow grease.