Hi Guys how are you? i would like some info om whats the best way to wash and clean Double Edge Safety Razor?? Willy
Hey Willy, It depends on the type of plating on the razor- is it gold? Regardless, a safe way to clean almost all of them (except plastic razors) would be to boil it in water for awhile and then take a toothbrush and scrub it.
I learned a lot from Charlie Gatorade; first of all, scrubbing bubbles is magic; put the razor in a container just big enough to fit it, and cover with foam; when foam settles cover again; when foam settles, fill with boiling hot water till just covered, let soak overnight, then attack with toothbrush; don't do this on gold, bakelite or plastic. An overnight soak in a diluted Barbicide almost seems to take off a thin layer of plating, leaving your razor magically shiny; not for plastic / bakelite / gold. For the most disgusting razors, clean them this way: Take an old pot in the kitchen, line the bottom inside with aluminum foil about half-way up the sides. Fill the pot with water about two-thirds up the side and heat on a high burner. As the water warms, add one teaspoon of baking soda (NOT baking powder) and one-half teaspoon of salt. When the water boils, drop the open or disassembled razor into the pot and simmer for ten minutes. Then run the pot under the cold water faucet for a bit and you have a shiny, sterile razor. The aluminum foil blackens with the tarnish from the razor. This works for other metals as well. You will need a little metal polish to finish things off perfectly. This, again, not for razors that are gold, plastic, or bakelite.
This is a great method- as for the boiling with aluminum foil- I use Borax, that seems to work better for me than the baking soda did. Also, for a scrub brush, brass bristle brushes work great and do not damage the finish. Lastly- for your daily cleaning- a good bit of toothpaste and a medium to firm bristle toothbrush works well. That is for daily/weekly cleaning only- meant to remove build up from normal use.
Don't discount things like denture cleaning tablets (Steradent and the like) they can remove lots of crud from a razor with little/no effort on your part.
Hi Willy, please be very careful with any metal polish, like Autosol, or with a polishing machine! Just a little step to much and the brassing will be shown. I made negativ experiences especially with older SEs. The nickel plating there seems to be very thin. I am using just a very soft toothbrush (one for kids) and toothpaste. There are slightly differences between different toothpastes. I reached my best results with Euthymol, an english toothpaste. Just wetting the razor and the toothbrush well, adding some toothpaste on the toothbrush and scrubbing slightly. Viele Grüße from Germany Michael!
For some reason I made a relation of Borax on water with Sodium Bicarbonate on water. My father uses this solution to remove the dirt from the car's battery. Do u think this solution would be advisable for a DE? ** Edit** I just read the Sodium Bicarbonate removes the acid. Since Vineagre is an acid, would water and lemon juice work as good as the vineagre+water combo? then use the second solution to remove the acid of the juice and then rinse with warm water?
Woha! Thanx for this advise! Never thought this could happen. You know, it is interesting how much care you have to keep one could think "I have it and it last forever and ever" but is like a baby (I don't think my GF would agree with that haha) Thanx again
Hi Willi, I just reached not so good results with any kind of gel toothpaste or the ones with gel stripes. Just the plain white one was the best. But please don't ask me why... The main idea came from a watchmaker who recommended to use toothpaste and batting to polish the scratched acryl glass of watches. The polishing particle in toothpaste are very fine. Kind regards Michael!
+1 after my Sunday shave, I put all the razors I used that week into an empty sink and spray them down with scrubbing bubbles. After letting them sit for a while I scrub them down with a tooth brush, rinse them with hot water, dry them off and put them away. No hassle great results (as a bonus, if SWMBO walks in on you doing this it gives the appearance that you might be scouring the sink)
It's jewellers rouge lite - if you ever get a scratch on a "tube" TV set, toothpaste will often lessen it to the point of invisibility
another cleaning product In addition to the foil, scrubbing bubbles, Maas for cleaning your razors, a great product for gold-plated as well as silver/nickle-plated razors is Flitz Polish. It is a great item that is available in my hardware store -- probably on-line as well. It takes off tarnish, cleans, and provides a great surface protecting from tarnish for some time. And it seems to be safe for the gold-plated razors as well. Great to see these old guys really shine!
Restoring a Vintage(filthy) Gillette SS? Ok I've just bought an old Gillette SS (on the ..bay) just like I started with as a teenager. I see in the photos that it is filthy with unidentifiable stains included. So how is this for a restoration procedure. I am living in a 3rd world country so most brand name products are not available here. 1. I open the package and dump it to soak in ethyl alcohol 70% for at least 20 minutes before touching it. 2. give it an initial scrub to mechanically remove any encrustations using a toothbrush and an abrasive laundry soap 3. use the vinegar and hot water routine in the video 4. rescrub with toothpaste and toothbrush 5. polish with Simichrome (I have that to polish jewelry and vintage fountain pens as it works well on metal or plastics!). 6. rinse and enjoy How does that sound as a process for the worst cruded razors? Please, any suggestions will be really appreciated. I question if the handle and mechanisim can be disassembled or should I just relay on good penetration of the chemical agents?
I'd do basically what you suggest, but in a slightly different order: 1. open the package give it an initial scrub to mechanically remove any encrustations using a toothbrush and a laundry soap (I'd shy away from abrasive). Don't discount dropping it in a glass of hot water with a denture cleaning tablet (the type that fizz) and leaving it there for a few hours - will probably make the toothbrush scrubbing easier and more effective. 2. use the vinegar and hot water routine in the video (if you've got an ultrasonic cleaner use the vinegar/hot water in that) 3. rescrub with toothpaste and toothbrush 4. dump it to soak in ethyl alcohol 70% for at least 20 minutes (why do this part any sooner if it's to kill "morks"? - I'd rather kill them on the clean razor than on the crud that's attached to it.) 5. polish with Simichrome (I have that to polish jewelry and vintage fountain pens as it works well on metal or plastics!). So long as Simichrome is suitable for work on nickel plate (or EPNS) it'll be fine - if it's a more aggressive polish then get ready to wave the plating "bye bye" 6. rinse and enjoy
My only desire for sterilizing in the first step was I didn't even want to handle it nor have it around my kids until it is sterile. Living in the tropics we are bugs about sanitation. Everything here is old and recycled to the 6 power but it is sanitary. Everyone here carries little bottles of alcohol in their bag or pockets to wash their hands after opening doors, handling money etc. just to be safe. I do get your reasoning though. I'm a vintage fountain pen collector and Simichrome has worked out with the most delicate finishes in nickel, silver, gold, platnium, chrome, rhodium, palladium you name it. Even museum conservators use it without much concern. It does take a light hand but produces the most beautiful results. No one mentioned, is it possible to disassemble and reassemble old Gillettes?
I would do everything but the vinegar. I don't see a purpose to it and it turned the OP's Fatboy black with tarnish.
