Well.......I noticed my blad is developing some color variations that are turning brown. I keep the blade out of the bathroom and basically make sure i dry it..and apply Clippercide before i tuck it away. What exactly am i doing wrong here. This always happens to me and straights, which is why i usually end up going back to Mach 3's (will be a DE this time though) Please help
Hmmm...do you dry it again after you apply the Clippercide? Or just let it air dry? If you apply the Clippercide and then put it away, that might be it. Also, if the scales are a multi-color, you might be a victim of celluloid rot. See Bill's Razorblog with tips on celluloid rot.
Okay, back to the drawing board... Maybe Bill or Joe C., one of these guys that is more familiar with the metallurgy involved, will chime in here. I just dry my blades after a hot water rinse and then put them on a shelf. You also might want to try a light coat of mineral oil before you put it away. EDIT: I got this from SRP in their downloads: How do I keep my razor from rusting? Contact with salt and dirt from your face will rapidly produce rust on your straight razor if not cared for. With proper care a straight razor can last many generations with no rust build up by following three simple rules. 1. Rinse and dry your razor thoroughly after use. Never put your razor away wet or in a closed container until fully air dried. 2. Keep the blade lubricated with a light grade oil or high tech protectant. One of the best carbon and stainless steel protectants is the non-oil based Tuff-Glide from Sentry Solutions which bonds at a molecular level with the steel to prevent your razor from rusting. Tuff-Glide was developed for the Navy Seal teams to protect and lubricate their equipment in high salt and corrosive environments. The PremiumKnives.com staff has been using Tuff-Glide on its personal razors and pocket knives and has proven itself as one of the best lubricants and protectants available, performing well even several weeks after application. Apply a light -water displacing oil to the blade after each shaving session or apply a product such as Tuff-Glide once every 2-3 weeks to a clean dry razor. 3. Any surface rust should be removed from the razor immediately with a polishing cloth or steel wool. Be careful not to rub away any gold leaf or guilt.
+1 on the mineral oil. The clippercide might actually attract moisture. I have a number of clipper blades and I avoid Cool Lube and other similar clipper products for that very reason.
So far all I do is wash them in hot water after use, dry them with a towel, strop them to dry any left over miosture from the edge and then let them air dry before I put them back in their box. So far so good. Raf
Do you dry between the scales too? Moisture stays in there longer than you might think - I used to borrow my wife's hair drier - now I just blow between the scales and then wave the straight around in the air a bit before leaving it out to dry (open, on top of my mug) for at least half a day. If your bathroom has little ventilation and gets humid, it might be better to leave it out to dry somewhere else as well. For what it's worth, my BL (that's your blade, isn't it Isaac?) developed an area of slight discolouration on the back of the blade after about 3 weeks - I used a bit of Autosol and it came up alright. Now I'm really careful with the BL - the scale colour meant I didn't see a couple of water droplets inside the scales. They were still there after I'd left it out for a day to dry - but it's winter here so... James.
Yeah...its on the back of the blade. Not really noticible. I may switch from the clippercide to the Dovo oil. I have both.
My regimen for avoiding rust is simply keeping the blade away from water and lather as much as possible (water causes rust, lather causes etching), and afterwards keeping the blade dry and oiled. 1) I use a rubber lather cup. This gets 95% of the lather off the blade. If you don't want to bother with the lather cup then just wipe the blade off on a soft towel with a stropping motion, but this is messier than using the cup. No water on blade = no water in pivot or scales. 2) I rinse the blade with hot water between passes and strop the razor dry on a towel before grabbing the brush. This helps prevent the alkaline lather from etching the blade; and drying the blade immediately keeps water out of the pivot and scales. I used to not do this, then one day I finished a shave to discover that a dime-sized grey spot had been etched on my NOS Wonderedge :mad: . It came out with flitz, but I learned my lesson. I haven't had this problem since. 3) When finished shaving, repeat (2), then pinch the spine in a piece of paper towel and pull it down the blade to pull as much soap scum as possible off the decorative spine and sides of the blade. Give the blade a few laps on the strop to help pull out any moisture on the fin. Leave the razor open for a few more minutes so it can finish drying out. Wipe down the spine with an oiled patch, then place the patch flat on the towel used in (1) and (2) and strop the razor on this patch - the towel provides some "give" so the patch can follow the contour of the hollow and coat the blade and fin in oil without risk of dulling. Put a drop or two of oil on the pivot for good measure. I use 3-in-1 oil for all this, but the Dovo Sterol or Tuff-Glide or Mineral oil works well too, though I'm not as enamored of the tuff-glide as the knife guys (it doesn't seem to protect against alkaline etching as well as ordinary oil). If you're paranoid you can use a pipe cleaner to dry out the inside of the scales, but if you've been careful around the water then there shouldn't be anything there. For razors with rubber grips (like many Pumas and the Bergischer Lowe) I simply store the razor pivot-up, and the excess oil that I put on the pivot drains down the shank and under the rubber grip. As an aside: The BL grip seems to be simple heat-shrink tubing. When it gets loose I treat this as a good opportunity to oil the shank under there. Then I shrink the tubing back down tight with a brief application of a cigarette lighter or match. So far so good.... The few spots on my BL were put there by the cleaning service, who managed to splash a few drops of ammonia-based glass cleaner on the blade :mad: . Now the BL stays in its casket when not in use...
I actually try to keep water away from my straight. I do what I saw my home town barber do, I wipe the lather off the blade on a towel rather than rinse. After the shave I rinse the blade only with very hot tap water, shake, and wipe on a dry towel. I then leave the razor, blade open, on the counter while I dress. Inspect, wipe down again with a dry towel, close her up and put it away with plenty of ventilation. I'm careful not to get any water between the scales.
