Need advice - Long term blade storage?

[Bald as]

I have a nice collection of wedge blades in good condition. I have no issues honing these blades and the shave is sensational. I intend to use a limited rotation of blades and store the others.
These wedge blades are reasonably hard to come by here in Australia - and very pricey.
What method do you use to preserve a rust free edge when storing a blade for up to 12 months at a time? Do you do any particular prep?

I have considered immersing in oil in a sealable jar. I'm not certain which oil though. Camelia is recommended. Are there other equally effective choices?

Steve

 

[mycarver]

I just posted excerpts from
A story about this.
Immersion in oil doesn’t thrill me.

I think 10 years is pretty long to store razors in an unheated fluctuating temp/humidity where I keep a sizable collection treated with Ren Wax . The same product museums use to protect all sorts of metal artifacts. No oil, grease, Vaseline thinking more is better.
Had about 15 I treated with Rem-oil rust preventative .( for guns) They were awful. The only ones in the collection needing work.
Regular waxes can become acidic.
Ren- Wax is not a carnuba wax as some claim . It’s microcrystalline.
10 years, hundreds of razors , in adverse conditions and it works.
I’ll never use oil. Museums on priceless artifacts won’t. But most razor guys will tell you to.
Or special sleeves . Sealed boxes with silica packs and whatever. Not needed but go ahead. Just never store any metals in leather.

If I had to pick something else it would be Frog lube. Was one of 3 out of 46 products tested ( all sorts of oils that failed miserably) to protect metal under the worst conditions. If it can protect against salt spray ,, I think it would work.
Just my 2 cents.

 

[rbscebu]

Humidity controlled cabinet. Set it for 35%RH. Steel does not start to rust until 40%RH or more and natural materials like horn, timber and ivory do not start to dry out until about 30%RH or less.

​

These cases are available online and from better camera stores. They are used to store camera lenses. I paid about US$100 plus shipping for mine 3 years ago. Get a digital controlled one if you can.

 

[Asland408]

+1 for renaissance wax.

 

[lloydw]

ive found vci bags to work well - move dto the coast a couple years ago and as I had a batch that didnt need to see the light of day - I have wrapped in vci bags and in plastic containers.
Ive also used ranaissance wax with great success.
Camelia oil does gum up after some time so i would not use for long term, maybe as a shorter term solution for razors in rotation if you want to. mineral oil doesnt go rancid or gum up like camelia oil.

 

[Legion]

What part of Australia are you in and how is the climate? Personally I’ve stored razors for years in sealed containers with nothing more than a light coat of mineral oil on the blade. The bonus being, when you want to use the blade it takes no effort to wipe off the oil.

On blades that I am putting up on blocks permanently, or want to have on display in some way outside of a sealed box microclimate, Ren wax is the obvious and best choice.

 

[Steve56]

VCI plastic bags are a good option for ‘bulk’ razors, if they don’t have off gassing scales.

 

[Brutus]

Ballistol was designed from the start to protect metal and wooden parts and I have used it with great success for years.

Here their history: About Us - Ballistol - https://ballistol.com/about-us/

In March 2020, what was to became the onset of the Covid pandemic, we had planned to move stock, lock and barrel from Dubai in the Middle East (43ºC/110ºF) to Portugal.
We got caught when our household goods were already in (non air-conditioned) storage in Dubai and it took almost six months until they finally arrived in Portugal.

My straight razors were all protected by Ballistol and not one suffered any corrosion.
The stainless steel Mühle Rocca safety razor set that I had not used Ballistol on did.

Some of the oils that are not designed for such use that tried before coalesced and formed little beads of oil on metal surfaces, therefore making for an uneven protection.

With Ballistol, I never had that problem.
There are other products besides Ballistol available in the US (e.g. Sentry Solutions Tuf-Glide) that serve a similar purpose.
To help you find something suitable closer to home, oils used to protect firearms (that may be sold in some hunting stores) also seem to protect straight razors quite well.


Hope this helps…


B.