Just back from a trip, where my daily shave has been with a J1 injector and EMS blades. Time to rotate, so this morning I brought out my Gem Junior Bar, and opened a pack of Treet SE blades. I had a bunch of Treet and CVS (apparently the same blades with different labels) carbon steel SE blades. I'd decided to use them up before going back to my sizable stock of coated stainless Gems. The carbon steel ones don't last quite as long, in my experience, but while they do last, they provide a great shave. Should have taken photographs, but it didn't occur to me in my half awake state. One Treet blade after another went directly into the blade bank, until the pack was empty. This unopened blister pack, kept under the same conditions as many of my other blades, had rust on every single blade. The patterns it took were really quite interesting, but I was more annoyed than interested. I've seen this with packs of vintage blades, but never with current production ones. I don't know exactly when I bought these, but I've only been using SE razors for about two years. So I opened the last pack of carbon steel blades, the CVS brand, and they are fine. Well, the first one is, at least. Anyone else had this happen with a new pack of blades, any type?
Can't say that I have, but I store all of my carbon steel blades in Zerust bags. They're thick zip lock bags that are impregnated with volatile corrosion inhibitors. A lot of our parts come in them and I save them instead of throwing them away. I reuse them for all kinds of small parts. Every now and then, I get one that's big enough for packs of blades, and I put all my SE/injector blades in them. They work great for blades. I tried storing my unplated Gem Junior in one and it tarnished quicker than it does unbagged. I polished it in my vibratory brass polisher and put it straight into the Zerust bag. A week later, I took it out to shave with and it was tarnished. Next time I polish it, I'll wax it with carnauba wax. Maybe that will help. Should help the unplated brass glide over the skin better, too. Maybe I should just get it plated.
I keep most of my blades in sealed containers with desiccant packs in a closet, but the few that are on deck are either in a wooden box or a small Pelican case (also with desiccant packs) in the bathroom. For all I know, these blades were that way when I got them at the store, no way to know for sure now.
