Thread: Whats the best way to keep my blade looking good?

Well, there we go, mentor-a-mentor: to rust or rust not. I gotta get a loupe and get into the loop to take a peek at my edges. Obviously I'm missing something albeit borderline obvious. And when I get the loupe I'd better get some loube, er... oil.

While I may not have been doing well, I thought I was doing OK. Man, reality can be so cruel.

Or maybe I should sherlock the bathroom to see just why things aren't corroding away in there with frightful rapidemente. Or maybe the fact that it rained yesterday for the first time in a month and a half has something to do with it. One could speculate endlessly about the room that wouldn't rust - or dash out and get some loube, er... oil - just in case.

Originally Posted by Bruce

Well, there we go, mentor-a-mentor: to rust or rust not. I gotta get a loupe and get into the loop to take a peek at my edges. Obviously I'm missing something albeit borderline obvious. And when I get the loupe I'd better get some loube, er... oil.

While I may not have been doing well, I thought I was doing OK. Man, reality can be so cruel.

Now hold on there, no gauntlet was thrown. First, my "shave pit" is likely much more humid than most shave dens. Second, I have never bothered to NOT dip my razors this way, so I have no proof that it actually makes a difference. I've been doing it this way for about five years--ever since I first started straight shaving. I have access to discarded isopropanol from my lab and I already had lots of mineral oil so there is no cost, so I just thought what the heck this is insurance. Now I have seen rust arise post honing as I described, and it comes up very fast, but I have never bothered to look under the scope for rust post shaving. I doubt if I would see it arise in the same manner as that of freshly cut steel.

The true test of whether or not you have a corrosion issue on your edges is the quality of your shaves. If you have rust on the face of your blade, that's nothing more than a cosmetic issue. If you have rust on your incredible thin razor edge, then you are going to have a dull razor very quickly.

If you do want to go Mentor-a-Mentor, how about Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

Sunday, huh? Naniwahs at noon? Who's your second? I'm going to try to get Lynn.

I have an Outer's Silicone Gun Cloth. I use it and a great product that is unfortunately no longer available called R.I.G. (rust inhibiting grease) to wipe my razors down after I rinse, dry and strop following the shave.

IME any good oil will do. The important thing is to throughly rinse the blade and to strop it on leather after wiping dry. This will remove any micro gunk that may be in the striations after shaving.

As Lewis mentioned I also take a look inside the scales and make sure there are no droplets in there before i close the blade and put it away. If I see any moisture I run a kleenex tissue through the scales and make sure all is dry.

Unfortunately if you have hard water, as I do, it seems to leave water spots on mirror polished blades. Not as prone to do so on a satin finish IME. I haven't found a way to stop that and I just live with it.

Originally Posted by Utopian

Now I have seen rust arise post honing as I described, and it comes up very fast,

+1 very disconcerting when I first saw that phenomenon. Another reason to have a microscope or at least an eye loupe as part of the honing arsenal.