Ive just recently come across a 61 Gillette Fatboy thats been in the family a while, and its not lookin so hot, works absolutely GREAT! best razor ive used in my life bar none, but im lookin to see if anyone has some experience in restoring these razors? Im just looking for that nice new luster on it, so it can double as a show peice ive soaked it in vinegar and brushed it clean, but what comes in next, theres some matter still stuck in the grip thats difficult to remove even after an overnight soak in vinegar. I read on here that somebody used toothpaste and a toothbrush to polish it up a bit anyone else have any experience in this department or any tips?
The Fatboy is an all metal razor and you can put it in boiling water for ~5 minutes to really loosen up the gunk. Don't do that with razors that have plastic parts or any finish besides the standard chrome, but it's fine for a Fatboy. You can finish with a mild silver polish (Maas is really popular) to get it to shine. Clean it well after using polish as the residue can irritate skin rather severely if not cleaned off.
Thanks for the advice, i think i have some of that around the apartment here, i was thinking about using a silver polish but i didnt want to jump into it and maybe mess up the easy flow of the moving parts after almost 50 years. It would be a shame to mess that up with polish if 50 years of use and storage made it just as usable as ever.
UPDATE: I used some 3M silver polish we had laying around here, worked FANTASTIC! thanks alot ChemErik! Also in an interesting turn of events, i found out that the razor belonged to my Late father that he used when he was serving in the marines in Vietnam. Its easy to understand why, you could probably crack someones skull open throwing it at somebody :happy102
Good to here it cleaned up for you. And a razor with a history like that makes shaving with it even more enjoyable! I hope it gives you many great saves. :happy088
I have a couple of family razors here as well.. they are special just cause I know who they belonged to. Unfortunately they all have one to many sides to the blade so I do not use them much LOL. Glad the FB cleaned up good for you, Fuzzy
Use some Scrubbing Bubbles aerosol spray. Lay it down cover it with about an inch of foam and let it sit, then turn it over do it again. While still damp from the bubbles, a stiff toothbrush or brass brush should clean out all the little grooves.
I do antique telephone restorations and one of the best polishes I have found is Simichrome. In addition to using it on all types of metals this stuff also works on Bakelite which I've seen used as handles on some razors and also on some STR8s.
