Your routines for cleaning blades after usage?

[Frank Shaves]

I rinse* under the faucet, wipe with dry a cotton towel or wash cloth, and strop on linen (25 laps).

I recently modified my criteria for creams/soaps to include easy to rinse. Most creams are vegan and easy to rinse. I can recommend LEA (inexpensive) and Truefitt & Hill. Many harder soaps are more difficult to rinse. MdC (vegan) is a dream to rinse, and Tabac (with tallow) is pretty easy to rinse.

*If necessary, I carefully wipe with finger away from edge. Again, carefully.

 

[Darren J 67]

After wiping on a sponge I wipe it dry on a towel and strop 15 laps òr there about on hemp strop to dry the edge . Quick spray with clipperside and a wipe with a cotton pad then left open for an hour to dry before putting away in top of my wardrobe out the reach of grandsons fingers .

 

[jj_sharp]

-1. 25 laps on leather.
0. Shave
1. Wipe on cotton bath towel or washcloth.
2. 20 laps on the leather strop.
3. Put away in the open air.

This is my current routine.

 

[Gamma]

Hot water rinse.
Wipe with cotton towel
strop on linen
Done with cleaning. Leave open to dry.

 

[Wid]

Hot water rinse.
Wipe with cotton towel
strop on linen
Done with cleaning. Leave open to dry.

Same here

 

[Jakebullet]

I run the razor under the tap and fill the hollow with a little river of water. I them pinch it in a towel and rub till it’s clean, edge and all. Then I move it to a dry piece of the towel and give it a quick dry, edge and all. I’ve never had any problems pinching the edge in a towel, I just use good care.
Piece of folded tissue to dry the inside of the scales.

 

[2bit_collie]

I rinse under hot running water. To your comment about lather residue: For me, lather residue on the blade AFTER rinsing is a sign that my lather isn’t hydrated enough. When I see it after the first pass I will take steps to hydrate the lather further for follow-on passes. As a result I rarely have a lather residue after rinsing on the final pass. If I do, I use a towel or wash-cloth to remove.

Next step is to use a microfiber cloth (from an old set of sunglasses) to wipe down the length of the blade and then I palm strop a few strokes with the microfiber cloth laying across my fingers and open palm (Really more across the fingers than my palm). I then run the cloth between the scales to get out any moisture from there and wipe down the tang. I used to use TP but prefer microfiber because 1) it won’t scratch (TP probably doesn’t either) 2) it won’t disintegrate and 3) it is stiffer than TP and easier to push between the scales.

After that I get the razor out of the bathroom, and usually leave it open for a few hours before transferring to my “to be stropped” bowl.

 

[Steve56]

Being a JNat kind of person, I made my own solution. If you have a little piece of finishing/polishing grade JNat (or any size piece actually) that polishes well like kiita or uchigumori, you can raise a little slurry on a fine diamond plate, sop it up with a lint free paper towel, let it dry and use them to remove soap residue. You can use one many, many times. They can also polish fountain pens, gold, silver, your stainless appliances, etc. I spritz mine with a little distilled water before use to keep the slurry from falling off.

These are safe on gold wash within reason. You cannot bear down on gold wash and polish it, at least not very much but they’re safe to lightly wipe to remove soap scum. I’ve been using them for years and they’re cheap and easy to make. @alx gilmore told me about using slurry this way.

A word of caution: many paper towels contain enough grit to scratch steel, especially cheap ones. You need to test them first and when you find paper towels/shop towels that don’t, buy a couple of rolls and reserve them for razor use.

A new product that I’m just beginning to try is jewelry polishing pads. They are more aggressive than the uchi wipes by a good bit and ARE NOT SAFE ON GOLD WASH. They do seem to be reasonably safe on etching. They can polish steel well and they improve the appearance of pitting, probably because they have enough ‘give’ to work on the edges of the pits, and unlike metal polish, they don’t load the pits up with so much black residue. They’re great for polishing scales and especially for cleaning dirty or oxidized ivory.

I’m guessing that if you have a plain blade razor with a few blemishes using jewelry polishing pads to remove soap residue might be beneficial over time, just stay away from the bevel. Note that my experience with this product is limited.

 

[croyleje]

Thought I would mention this never seen anyone else talk about it so, after cleaning my razor however you prefer I have a small drawer I store my razors in and in that drawer is one of those descant packages seems to prevent all rust I keep my razors pretty dry anyway and if I get water in the pivot pin I blow it out with an hand air bulb like the ones used for cameras. Seems to work very well and the low humidity also is good for natural scales. I keep a larger one of these packages in my brush drawer to help them dry also.

 

[Frank Shaves]

May not make for the best display for when the queen comes to visit, but it sure gets the job done!

 

[JPO]

Baby wipes works grate during honing and after a shave to clean the blade. I have though about putting some Camille oil in a pack to see if i can combine the cleaning and oil application. All my blades are oiled after use, because i newer know how long they will be resting.

 

[Tomo]

I tend to use the same razor for a week at a time. For long term storage I put them away in a humidity controlled environment to prevent rust. My daily driver gets the below treatment after each shave while on active duty.

1. Rinse under hot water
2. Wipe on dry towel
3. Strop edge on towel
4. Repeat 1, 2, 3
5. Dry with toilet paper including between scales
6. Wipe down with an oily Ballistol rag.

 

[steveclarkus]

The title says it all.

I would like to know how you clean your SR blades from the sticky soap residue after usage.

Sponge then running water and finish by pulling through dry washcloth. Dry with blade open.