White Merkur Slant?

[Jack-in-the-Green]

I just received a used, possibly vintage, Merkur Slant that I won in an auction. The handle was white with, what I assumed was, soap scum. Well, after a good wash and scrub the handle is, if anything, even whiter than before. Did Merkur ever make a white painted razor handle? Or is this some sort of oxidation or chemical discoloration? And, hey, while we're asking questions, how do you tell the difference between a vintage Merkur and a recent one?

 

[xillion]

Seeing your post reminded me of the post below from last year. I have a vintage Hoffritz slant and it too has a whitish handle.

I often wonder about this as well.

I've read several different explanations of what the handles are plated with but I have no idea which is correct. I've also read that when new the vintage Hoffritz/Merkurs did not have the whitewash oxidation on the handle...not sure of this either.

One explanation is that the handles are silver-plated but they sure don't get covered in black tarnish like any other silver plated items I have that I know are silver-plated, include a couple of razors. Nickel plating tends to tarnish black as well...though not as easily as silver. Another explanation is that the whitewash is painted or lacquered onto the handle.

Still another explanation I found from someone who seemed to know what he was talking about was they are plated with "white nickel." A quick google search shows that white nickel doesn't even contain nickel...it's a mixture of Tin/Copper/Zinc. The natural oxidation of white nickel over time is apparently what gives the handle it's whitewashed appearance. If it is "white nickel" I don't know which of the three metals would be most likely to oxidize but this seems to make some sense because zinc oxide is is powdery white substance insoluble in water. But, I'm just not sure. Could it be both silver plated with a thin layer of white nickel plated over it to keep the silver from oxidizing? I read that silver is often covered with a very thin layer of rhodium for this reason.

Anyway, I've had two or three vintage Hoffritz and Merkur razors with dark stains on the whitewashed handles and none of the stains were removed with Scrubbing Bubbles, ultrasonic cleaner, or polished out with silver polish. The only way I was able to remove the stains was to put the razor in a vibratory tumbler filled with crushed walnut shell/crushed corn cob media for about an hour. It came out looking like a brand new razor with a bright white metal plating. Both the stains and the whitewash oxidation completely gone.

 

[jansob]

Saw one like this either on etsy or the 'bay the other day. Definitely painted.

 

[Oel]

I just received a used, possibly vintage, Merkur Slant that I won in an auction. The handle was white with, what I assumed was, soap scum. Well, after a good wash and scrub the handle is, if anything, even whiter than before. Did Merkur ever make a white painted razor handle? Or is this some sort of oxidation or chemical discoloration? And, hey, while we're asking questions, how do you tell the difference between a vintage Merkur and a recent one?

I'm not sure, what vintage Merkur slant model you have, Merkur made a so called

- Merkur travel slant, discontinued
- Merkur 36 (slanted head, thin handle and short bolting, discontinued)
- Merkur 37 (aka Merkur HD and still in production)
- and a Merkur 38 slant razor (slanted head, thin handle and long bolting, discontinued).

The vintage Merkur 38 slant razor has nothing to do with the currend made Merkur 38 and a batch of NOS razors was sold by chessman a while back.

Here is a threat about those vintage slant razors.

In the fifties and sixties they plated the handles in white-silver, a plating that is not uses for some reason today.

Today the slant razors made by Merkur have a scalloped top cap, while older ones have a plain top cap.

The vintage Merkur razors have a finer knurling on the handle and there are other finer differences in the shaping on the bottom knob on the handle for example or now the theeth on the razors head are made. I know it so well because I have several Merkur slant razors from different decades.

Merkur was owned by Emil Hermes until 1980, then owned by Wolfgang Hannemann until 1996 and then Dovo bought Merkur in 1996 and is still the owner. I emailed Dovo for more informations about their slant razor, because it's been made for more than 70 decades, but they did not give me many informations about the razors history. All informations I have I did search on different forums on the internet.

That threat might interest you also.

 

[mblakele]

The old Merkur catalogs say they were "versilbert" but I have never seen a hint of tarnish. I have wondered if they might be "German silver": per http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel_silver that is often 60% copper, 20% nickel and 20% zinc.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/267603-What-year-range-is-this-Merkur?p=3712794 and http://www.gut-rasiert.de/forum/index.php/topic,15523.0.html might interest the OP.

 

[Oel]

There's some laquer on the handles, when it comes off, the handle gets tarnished after a while.

 

[jkingrph]

I have an old Hoffritz that's white. It does not seem to be painted.

 

[KodiakAttack]

Pics?

 

[Chester]

I have an old Hoffritz that's white. It does not seem to be painted.

I have an old Hoffritz, too, with a whitish finish on the knurling of the handle. I always thought it was a kind of non-slip texturing.
-- Chet

 

[Jack-in-the-Green]

Some great info here, guys. Thanks!. I'll try to get some pics taken later this week.

 

[Copierguy]

Does it look like the center razor in this photo? They are Merkur, Merkur and Hoffritz.
This is not the whitest example around....

 

[Jack-in-the-Green]

The color and texture of the center one, as well as the shape of the head, is very similar to what I have, but it has the thicker shaft and bottom knurling of the top one. Presumably it was made some time between the two? That bottom one has a truely wicked-looking blade angle!

 

[alex2363]

Here are 2 that look white to me.

 

[AABCDS]

Here are 2 that look white to me.

That first pic is bakelite, yo.

 

[mblakele]

The color and texture of the center one, as well as the shape of the head, is very similar to what I have, but it has the thicker shaft and bottom knurling of the top one. Presumably it was made some time between the two? That bottom one has a truely wicked-looking blade angle!

Time probably has little to do with handle thickness. According to the old catalogs they marketed normal and "schwer" (heavy) versions at the same time. Take a look at #36 and #37 in this photo via http://www.gut-rasiert.de/forum/index.php/topic,15523.0.html, for example:

 

[alex2363]

That first pic is bakelite, yo.

James, I threw in the Bake for good measures

 

[KodiakAttack]

Does it look like the center razor in this photo? They are Merkur, Merkur and Hoffritz.
This is not the whitest example around....

Mmmmmmm look at that slant on the Hoffritz!

 

[alex2363]

Mmmmmmm look at that slant on the Hoffritz!

I know, talk about wicked edge. That gap is like the "Great Divide"

 

[mmack66]

Does it look like the one in this thread?

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/134430

 

[alex2363]

Does it look like the one in this thread?

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/134430

That is White