In the past 2 to 3 weeks I have been having a blade issue. Weather it be a Feather or a Voskhod or a Schick injector blade. After 1 sometimes 2 or 3 shaves, I am getting that red rust look on the blades. I dry my razor really well even using a q tip to get the spots my glass drying cloth can not reach. I shake the blade and have even resorted to pouring alcohol over it and shake dry it being careful as to not wipe it. But to no avail I end up with these rust marks. This problem has just cropped up in the past 3 weeks or so. Any ideas? Bad water? Thanks in advanced.
Sorry. I have no clue. Hope someone can figure it out and give you some help, though. Just curious... same spot on every blade, every time? If so, I think I'd blame the razor. Is it with every razor?
how are you storing your razor between shaves? Is there a spot where it is resting that is connected to these spots?
It doesn't matter if it's the Fatboy, Red Tip, Slim, even my adjustable injector. I have the original case for the fatboy, a case for the red tip that fits a Gillette aristocrat and the slim goes into a case that used to house a Gillette twist to open tackle box gift set that I have lined to keep it from skidding. I am not noticing any moisture inside the cases.
So this did not happen before two or three weeks ago? Has anything happened with the water supply in your neighborhood? Any plumbing work done in your home? Have you noticed more water spots on your silverware and glassware? Any rusting on other metal objects that are washed frequently? Don't know, really, just speculating.
This is really odd. I'm at a loss on it. Since it's several different brands of blades and razors that just don't rust - the razors are nickel coated brass so it's impossible for them to rust and the blades are supposed to be coated stainless steel so they shouldn't be rusting either. All I can offer is maybe it's fine rust from yours or your city's water pipes but you're saying you dip in alcohol and dry them so that shouldn't be the case either. Puzzling...
My son has a "Black Beauty" and I recently got all over him because the inside of the silo doors had this same "rust" looking stuff on them. I gave it a good cleaning with scrubby bubbles and it got back to brand new. My daughters blue star looks new, she has some of the green Gillette 7 o'clocks that look fine. I had quit palm stroping the blades because I was afraid I was taking the coating off. I have not had any plumbing work done but can't say if there may have been some work down on the mains. I have not seen any waterspots coming from items from the dishwasher. I am leaning toward the water since none of the most knowledgable folks here are at a loss.
But, to be frank, the water shouldn't be an issue here since you said you're drying everything off after use. Try this and see if it helps... Go to your local drug store, Wal-Mart, Target, wherever and get a bottle of 91% rubbing alcohol. Not the 70%. Find you a container with a lid that's deep enough for at least half of your longest razor to fit in. When you're done shaving, rinse the razor well, then dip it in the alcohol, head, blade and all, and shake it back and forth a bit to make sure the alcohol is getting into the head around the blade and blade bed. Don't even bother removing the blade. After the dip, give it a couple of shakes over the sink. Then put the razor back in your stand. Then see what happens.
I once lived in a place where the city's water supply was from deep water wells that ran through an large iron vein. If you bleached clothing, rust stains would appear and the rust caused other issues with metal appliances (washers, dishwashers, water heaters). I am wondering if something has recently happened to cause iron to leach into the water? Is your water municipal, rural water supply, or well water?
We have municipal water and there have been some major main line breaks about 20 miles away toward the downtown region. Lines that are over 100 years old burst millions of gallons of water in just a few short minutes flooding areas rapidly. But they were in the spring and early summer.
Could be the water, but I suspect contamination exposure occurring from storage after shaving. Might try storing the razors on their sides (no blade contact with a case) or hanging in a stand if you have a stand. I store freshly used razors on a paper towel on their side. Eliminate anything that touches the blade edge, including your fingers when loading the blade.
UPDATE: Been using my Red Tip this week with a Voskhod blade. Dipping the razor in alcohol then drying with a glass cleaning cloth that I got at the Wally World. Then a dip for the blade in the alcohol and putting it on the cloth and folding the cloth over to not wipe off but to absorb the alcohol. 3 shaves and no "rust". Thanks for all the great suggestions! I hope this helps anyone else with the same problem.
Good news! But you know you don't have to do all that drying after alcohol dips. The alcohol will evaporate taking any water with it. I imagine the less you fool around the edges, such as drying, the sharper they will stay. But whatever works for you, I'm happy that you've figured out a way to stop the rust. That's just odd and I've been racking my brain on it!
