Any advice for oil/corrosion prevention on a straight razor? WD-40, 3 in 1, G96... Any common house hold lubricants to shield the blade from corrosion besides Vaseline? These blades are pricey.
Straight Razor newbie question
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rbscebu
Girls call me Makaluod
A lot is dependent an the environment you will be storing your razor(s) in.
If the blade is not stored edge down or is not going to be used for a couple of week or more, petroleum jelly (Vaseline) is suitable. If stored edge down, you can use sewing machine oil. There are many other alternatives, but these two are probably the cheapest and easiest to source.
I live on a tropical island and store my almost 50 SR's in a photographic dry cabinet. With the cabinet's relative humidity set to below 40% you should get no corrosion problems, provided the blade is dried before it is put away.
Cost me about USD 80 from a discount camera store.
If the blade is not stored edge down or is not going to be used for a couple of week or more, petroleum jelly (Vaseline) is suitable. If stored edge down, you can use sewing machine oil. There are many other alternatives, but these two are probably the cheapest and easiest to source.
I live on a tropical island and store my almost 50 SR's in a photographic dry cabinet. With the cabinet's relative humidity set to below 40% you should get no corrosion problems, provided the blade is dried before it is put away.
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Holy Voltage BATMAN! WOW! That is a sweet cabinet. Thank you so much, sewing machine oil on the list. Now That I have been bitten buy the straight razor bug, all but one of my DE razors are going into storage. I am still impressed with the camera cabinet for storage. Ingenious indeed. Just ordered my second Thiers-Issad. No corrosion yet on my Solingen
Using Camphor Blocks as a Metal Tool Box Rust Prevention Device
Shop for Woodworking Tools, Finishing Supplies, Project Plans and Hardware online and in-store at Rockler.
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Stocked up last year on the G96. Use it on everything. Smells mighty fine indeed. Thanks.
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Using Camphor Blocks as a Metal Tool Box Rust Prevention Device
Shop for Woodworking Tools, Finishing Supplies, Project Plans and Hardware online and in-store at Rockler.www.rockler.com
You answered my prayers. I seen some bee wax stuff but this is ideal. Greatly appreciated. Trackin....
G96 or RemOil. Allow it to seep in for a few minutes. Then I store my straights in a toothbrush case with one of those silica packets added. If it's really humid where you live, you can roll the SR in a RemOil wipe (or any silicone-impregnated cloth) before putting it in the toothbrush case.
Don't store the razors in the humid bathroom.
Cheap, quick, and very effective.
Don't store the razors in the humid bathroom.
Cheap, quick, and very effective.
Renaissance Wax
I use loose camphor crystals that I got from another website.
I keep my razors in leatherette sleeves inside of airtight pickle jars.
The one possible drawback, depending on how you feel about this,
is that most of my razors smell like camphor.
I originally looked into camphor as a means of inhibiting celluloid decomposition,
since many razor scales are celluloid.
I don't know if I'm correct in thinking that it actually does inhibit decomposition.
3.2.4 Physical Degradation
Physical degradation of celluloid can be caused by thermal, chemical, and photochemical deterioration, loss of volatile constituents like camphor, and external physical stresses from fabrication or housings.
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
When I oil, I use ordinary motor oil. It is specially formulated to leave a long lasting film on steel. It is free, because any time I change oil in one of our vehicles, there is enough left in the jugs or cans or bottles to oil about a thousand razors.
I live in a very humid area (house humidity routinely hits 70% to 80%) so I do something kind of drastic. Or maybe everyone else's been doing it? I don't rightly know.
I put clear acrylic nail hardener on most of my razors. I thin it with about 3 isopropyl alcohol to 1 hardener and apply a thin coat on the razors. Because it's been thinned so much, it just flows on any surface into an invisible coat. I tape some places before (like the spine, near the blade edge, etc.) and you can clearly see the boundary - no acrylic has pitting / acrylic part has no pitting. If I need to remove the acrylic, I just put some acetone on a lint free cloth and wipe the blade a few times. The greatest part about the acrylic is that it's permanent and requires no maintenance. The same acrylic's been on the razors for more than 5 years.
If you are good with your hands, I think it's worth a go.
Try it on a simple metal surface first like a penny or quarter so you get the hang of applying the thinnest coat possible, then maybe move on to your least expensive razors.
I put clear acrylic nail hardener on most of my razors. I thin it with about 3 isopropyl alcohol to 1 hardener and apply a thin coat on the razors. Because it's been thinned so much, it just flows on any surface into an invisible coat. I tape some places before (like the spine, near the blade edge, etc.) and you can clearly see the boundary - no acrylic has pitting / acrylic part has no pitting. If I need to remove the acrylic, I just put some acetone on a lint free cloth and wipe the blade a few times. The greatest part about the acrylic is that it's permanent and requires no maintenance. The same acrylic's been on the razors for more than 5 years.
If you are good with your hands, I think it's worth a go.
Try it on a simple metal surface first like a penny or quarter so you get the hang of applying the thinnest coat possible, then maybe move on to your least expensive razors.
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
I live in New Orleans. For 7 years I lived on my boat. A very small boat. A humid boat even with the AC turned up high, in Humidity City, USA. I would never have imagined coating my razors with anything like that, though after getting some rust damage, I did start oiling. Sometimes. Simple is usually best. I had just changed the oil in the diesel and I looked at the jug and went "hmmmmmmm". What oil is specifically formulated to do exactly what I want it to do, namely to form a protective film on steel? MOTOR OIL! I was already envisioning the howls of outrage. Sort of like what you will probably get for varnishing your razors. And I am sure your acrylic nail hardener will prevent or retard rust wherever it is applied, but it is the edge that is most vulnerable and most critical. If the howls of outrage don't bother you, then I suggest motor oil. If they do, then use what the "experts" recommend, namely camelia oil or baby oil or whatever the flavor of the week is. Oh NOOOOOOO! Motor oil? Isn't that TOXIC or something? LOL first of all you wipe your razor before even stropping, let alone shaving. Second, you aren't injecting motor oil into your bloodstream even if you don't wipe the razor and do happen to cut yourself. Injections don't work that way. Used motor oil probably is slightly carcinogenic, sort of like how water and air and sunshine and beer and chicken salad are carcinogenic if you happen to be in California. That is, if you inject it or swallow a large quantity of it frequently for a long time. I'm not sure how much safer camelia oil or break free or sewing machine oil or anything else is, to be perfectly honest. After all, it COULD get into your bloodstream!!! Somehow.......
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
Just to clarify, I do use new oil only for razors. The reference to used oil is an "even IF" example. I know some mental giant out there will misinterpret me, or use my butchery of the English language to shoot me down in flames. It's all good.
LOL When you first mentioned using the oil "after changing oil" I started to cringe a bit until I saw "the left over clean oil from the jug". I have a tendency to repurpose used motor oil, but I likely would not rub it on a razor...unless tis all I had. Now the clean motor oil, I see no issue with that.
On the bright side, my guess is many people who use their hands to work with motor oil in California have accidentally cut their hands and not died.
I use a blend of 4 parts ethyl (grain) alcohol and 1 part USP mineral oil. Give it a shake to mix, dip the blade in avoiding the scales (alcohol attacks them), leave it out opened and edge up on its spine for the alcohol to evaporate, leaving a light oil trace on the blade. No rust issues for me, New England relative humidity levels where they're stored varying from between ~25% in winter and ~70% in summer.
A light spray of Ballistol on a cloth, hang the cloth beside the strops. After shaving, rinse with hot water then wipe dry on the cloth. A tiny film of Ballistol (mineral oil) is left on the razor.
But Slash is right, humble engine oil works. If I lived in a humid area that's probably what I'd do.
But Slash is right, humble engine oil works. If I lived in a humid area that's probably what I'd do.
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