Seeking razor (handle interior) cleaning advice.

[rebos]

I have this Gillette New handle which has what appears to be some encrusted soap
residue in the inside of the handle and this stuff is hard as a rock!

It could be corrosion of some sort, but upon inspection it does look to be dry soap residue.

Does anyone have any advice on how to clean the inside of a razor handle?

I've got some cleaning and metal polishing chemicals but I don't want to risk using something
overly abrasive.

Advice is much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Ashley Rosser]

Have you tried a good soak or three in hot water? scrubbing bubbles or how about filling the end there with olive oil and leaving it for a day then washing with hot water.

 

[rebos]

Thanks for the tips. I have soaked it once. Then I put some soap on a paper towel wrapped around a chopstick
and spun the chopstick/paper towel inside the handle --to no avail.

I've never heard of this olive oil trick. Perhaps I'll give it a shot.

Apparently half-a-century old soap buildup is hard as granite.

Maybe my water isn't hot enough. Should I put it in near-boiling water?

The most difficult aspect of cleaning it is the location of the soap buildup.
it's hard to get in there.

 

[alex2363]

I would use like a long metal rod, such a hanger or long nail. The nail has a round head that is good to scrape with, and the end of hanger has a nice loop. Then gently scrape away. Insert it as you spray it with Scrubbing Bubbles and repeat the gentle scrapping. That has worked for me. Also, i dont use the olive oil, it leaves like a strong garlic type smell that lingers for a long time.
.

 

[rebos]

Thanks alex2363,

I'm going to try these out.

 

[superspot]

A brass gun cleaning brush should work, and the soft brass may not scratch it. Kleen-Bore makes them in stiff nylon too.

 

[rebos]

Thanks superspot.

I realized about 5 minutes into the cleaning process that, yes, one of those brass cleaning spindle brushes would probably be the way to go
for this job.

The reason being is that there are very shallow grooves on the inside of this razor handle and neither a nail head nor a cloth covered in brasso
will get into those grooves to remove the "white".

What I did:

1) scrape away dried up soap with a nail head
2) soak handle in hot water
3) wrap paper towel around wooden kebab stick dipped in either:
a)brasso
b)nail polish remover
c)meguiar's car paint polish/compound
d) goo gone

(I tried them all).

4) with above-listed products spin and make up+down plunging motions with kebab stick until inside of handle clean(er)

I'm obviously not an expert at this, so don't do as I do.

And I'm not certain why I decided to try all of those products ... But I did, and the outcome is pretty decent.

There is still visible whiteness in the grooves, but it's pretty negligible.

 

[thekinge]

One of my recent purchases was this nylon mini-brush set that's originally meant for cleaning airbrushes and tattoo tube tips:



It comes with five mini-brushes of varying sizes and is perfect for cleaning the insides of razor handles, the space between the razor head and base plates in razors such as Fatboy & Slim. The five different sizes are excellent for cleaning insides of razor handles and other nooks & corners. You'd have to soak the razor in boiling hot water (not in the stove!) and dish wash soap to loosen up the crud and then use this brush to clean inside the handles. You may have to repeat the soaking a few times depending upon how hard the soap scum / crud are, but this brush is immensely useful for me in cleaning the insides of razor handles and those "hard to reach with a standard toothbrush" areas of the razor. I also find scrubbing bubbles to be very effective after a hot water soak. I usually let the razor sit in scrubbing bubbles for 5 minutes and then go about brushing the razor with an old toothbrush and this mini-brush set. Polish is the last stage if I have to really shine up the razor.

Numerous sellers are offering this brush set in Amazon and shipped from US or as far away as Hong Kong. This one seems to ship from US but is an add-on item:

http://www.amazon.com/Nylon-Precisi...6YHA/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1373089144&sr=8-6

Hope this helps!

 

[rebos]

One of my recent purchases was this nylon mini-brush set that's originally meant for cleaning airbrushes and tattoo tube tips:

View attachment 348421

It comes with five mini-brushes of varying sizes and is perfect for cleaning the insides of razor handles, the space between the razor head and base plates in razors such as Fatboy & Slim. The five different sizes are excellent for cleaning insides of razor handles and other nooks & corners. You'd have to soak the razor in boiling hot water (not in the stove!) and dish wash soap to loosen up the crud and then use this brush to clean inside the handles. You may have to repeat the soaking a few times depending upon how hard the soap scum / crud are, but this brush is immensely useful for me in cleaning the insides of razor handles and those "hard to reach with a standard toothbrush" areas of the razor. I also find scrubbing bubbles to be very effective after a hot water soak. I usually let the razor sit in scrubbing bubbles for 5 minutes and then go about brushing the razor with an old toothbrush and this mini-brush set. Polish is the last stage if I have to really shine up the razor.

Numerous sellers are offering this brush set in Amazon and shipped from US or as far away as Hong Kong. This one seems to ship from US but is an add-on item:

http://www.amazon.com/Nylon-Precisi...6YHA/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1373089144&sr=8-6

Hope this helps!

Thanks thekinge. This is exactly the tool that I needed for the job; something with bristles that would work into the grooves in the razor handle.


I have a question about your boiling water instructions. You say: "(not in the stove!)".

Do you mean on the actually stovetop heater element? How do you boil your razors?

I often don't put razors in boiling water but when I do, I boil a pot of water on the stove and then when it's boiling I move the pot to an element
that isn't turned on and then I put the razor in the pot for about 30 seconds.

Should I not be doing this?

 

[alex2363]

Thanks thekinge. This is exactly the tool that I needed for the job; something with bristles that would work into the grooves in the razor handle.


I have a question about your boiling water instructions. You say: "(not in the stove!)".

Do you mean on the actually stovetop heater element? How do you boil your razors?

I often don't put razors in boiling water but when I do, I boil a pot of water on the stove and then when it's boiling I move the pot to an element
that isn't turned on and then I put the razor in the pot for about 30 seconds.

Should I not be doing this?

Guys/Gals, what ya think?

 

[rebos]

Yikes. Wherein lie the problem?

If I shouldn't be doing this I will surely stop --but I'm curious to know the reasons.

 

[rebos]

Another thread has broken it down for me.

In my case I should also mention that for the thirty seconds that I leave a razor in boiling water it is not touching the bottom of the
pot but is rather in a kind of ladle suspended in the water.