Got an old DE razor at a flea market, it has two square buttons on the head to hold the blade. I forget, what are these called? Courtesy razors? The head is a bit corroded. Are they brass or pot metal? Brass I could shine up.
Goodwill, that's it. thank you both. The razor matches the first image exactly. The razors look like solid brass. Any suggestions for removing tarnish without buffing out the detail?
It's all brass. The head is usually red brass often mistaken for copper. The base brass can look very nice. This is in if my "gotta find" razors. Herm
Rich, it is still too dirty for shaving It was black with dirt and green with verdigris oxidation. I will post a few pics. I researched home made chemical cleaning and tried these: passive electrolytic cleaning. Put AL foil in a salt solution, rest the brass against the foil. Result: very slow bubbling and almost no cleaning warm acetic and salt solution (5% ascetic acid, standard white vinegar). Soak for 30 min. All verdigris and dirt was removed from the top. warm citric acid and salt solutions (lemon juice). Soak for 30 min. Some cleaning, not much. ketchup, soak for 30 min. Some youtube vids show successful cleaning with the combined ascetic and citric acid in ketchup. I saw no cleaning #2, white vinegar and salt, was the most successful. I then soaked the handle in vinegar and it bubbled away all the crud from the knurling. Chemically removing the corrosion created clean dull finish as I expected. The matte finish brass must be buffed to shine.
here it is. It looks much cleaner in the photo. The cap and comb were black with crud and corrosion. The comb has not been cleaned, the cap and handle were soaked in warm vinegar salt solution ofr 30 in and scrubbed with a plastic brush.
