Cleaning a non-gold razor - UK/ Britain/ Europe

99% pure Isopropanol ............ my favourite chemical! ....... I go through gallons of it in my print room and garage....... Love the smell and love that it's mild enough not to dissolve everything I spray it on (I have dichloromethane for that :D).

Take a razor you've scrubbed to death with an old toothbrush and Fairy Liquid .......... Then give it another scrubbing with the brush using Peak polish (or Autosol ..... but be careful ..... a bit more abrasive) .......... Then another scrub with the Fairy ....... Followed by a nice wash down with the Isopropanol. That absolutely will clear off any last lingering traces of polish residue.

FInish off with a light rub down with a spray of Dunlop #65 Guitar Cleaner and Polish ...... and your razor is photo ready ;)
 
I like that we can clean razors up but not all "chrome" razors are chrome. Gillette did use silver to plate razors and cases for a while.

Polish will damage that super thin layer of silver or gold. Bleach is bad as well.
 
After read the post and seeing the before and after pictures I think I will be getting the odd vintage razor and having a ago. It a lot better then sitting watching tv.
 
I find that an overnight soak in Barbicide usually does the trick for me. However, I've only used it once on an aluminium handled Rocket 500 because it stained the handle.
Does anyone know a safe way of cleaning up aluminium handles razors?
 
I find that an overnight soak in Barbicide usually does the trick for me. However, I've only used it once on an aluminium handled Rocket 500 because it stained the handle.
Does anyone know a safe way of cleaning up aluminium handles razors?
Mild bathroom cleaner i.e. regular Flash or Mr Muscle, followed by Peek Polish has worked well in the past for me. An old toothbrush works well for scrubbing
 
Regular use of barbacide will keep your razors free of soap scum. You don't want to use barbacide (or bleach water) on stainless razors. It will cause pitting.

As for scrubbing bubbles, it is the go to razor cleaner in the U.S., and (insert brand name) bathroom mousse in the U.K. is basically the same stuff. As previously noted, it will start dissolving Bakelite. If you want to clean or refresh your Bakelite cases or handles, Brasso or automotive rubbing compound will work to restore the shine.
 
Here is a a walkthrough on my method for cleaning razors. If this has been done before I apologise, but I did try and find a similar thread using the search function and came up empty!

There are a lot of tips and examples of cleaning razors from the USA, where they all seem to just give brand names like "scrubbing bubbles" when describing products. I thought I might make a UK/ European version that would be a bit easier to follow/decipher. I apologise for the mixed quality of photos, I had to use my phone for some!

DISCLAIMER: I have only ever cleaned up nickel/rhodium plated razors using this method as well as razors with almost total plate loss.

Here goes:

A Gillette Ball-End Old I got from eBay:
DNAkgfb.jpg


It was in decent nick (when considering the plate loss!), especially compared to some I've seen, but could do with a tidy up.

My first step is always a soak in just boiled water with a drop of fairy liquid:
2UICH94.jpg


I use an old butter tub and leave it for about an hour - generally until it has cooled down a fair bit. I then get an old toothbrush and give it a thorough, soapy scrub.

I then add a splash of antiseptic (like dettol, but I use own brand) to the tub and mix it then soak the razor for about 20 minutes in it:
m4ei7UO.jpg


NOTE: DO NOT USE THIS STEP ON BAKELITE PARTS (see post #15). After that, I rinse the razor, seperate the parts (if a 3-piece) and place in the sink (with the plug in!). I then cover it in the expanding bathroom mousse (which I think is the UK equivalent of "scrubbing bubbles"). I know Cif make some but I use own brand:
0nMA53f.jpg


I make sure every part of the razor is well covered:
RoGbupT.jpg


I leave this until the majority of the foam has disappeared, until it looks kind of like this:
Ow34f51.jpg


I give it a scrub with the last of the foam to ensure every part has been treated.

Then remove and soak the parts in clean water:
kBnxsDu.jpg


I then take a dot of toothpaste (any brand) and scrub all over each part with a toothbrush:
JamKIrj.jpg


This is how the Old looked at this point:
CF151Hh.jpg


Not bad! I could live with this, but what if I want it to be even better?!

Time to polish it:
cELcUJx.jpg


I use Goddard's silver polish. Make sure whatever you use is a mild polish - I understand that the likes of "Brasso" is too strong. I'd imagine that "Silvo" is much the same as Goddard's, but the latter is cheaper anyway!

I apply the polish with cotton pads and allow to dry, then I buff it all off using clean pads and some cotton buds. If your razor has a lot of tarnish/crud still on it, you will go through a lot of pads!:
AWanT4f.jpg


I then pour some of the polish onto my toothbrush and scrub it into all the nook and crannies. Then I wait for it to dry, clean and dry my toothbrush and then buff all the dried polish off with the dry toothbrush. You may have to wash your brush quite a few times, depending how much crud you're taking off.

I then finish with a good few buffs/twists using more cotton pads. This razor turned out pretty nice after this:
751afdR.jpg


This may be overkill, but to ensure there's no residual clumps of polish I do a final mousse treatment:
mOwKKJV.jpg


Then rinse and dry, et voila!
The end product:
QH03MhN.jpg


To recap:
1. Soak in just boiled water with fairy liquid, give scrub with brush.
2. Add a splash of antiseptic.
3. Rinse, disassemble and cover in bathroom mousse. NOT SUITABLE FOR BAKELITE PARTS
4. Scrub using toothpaste.
5. Polish with mild metal polish.
6. Final mousse soak.
7. Sit back and admire your sparkly new razor!

Link to album:How to

Thanks for reading, and if there's anything amiss with my technique, or if there's anything you'd like to add or do differently, please let me know!
Amazing tutorial, definitely need to try out a vintage razor, I keep eyeing up gillette slims on ebay from the states, are they worth it?
 
Here is a a walkthrough on my method for cleaning razors. If this has been done before I apologise, but I did try and find a similar thread using the search function and came up empty!

There are a lot of tips and examples of cleaning razors from the USA, where they all seem to just give brand names like "scrubbing bubbles" when describing products. I thought I might make a UK/ European version that would be a bit easier to follow/decipher. I apologise for the mixed quality of photos, I had to use my phone for some!

DISCLAIMER: I have only ever cleaned up nickel/rhodium plated razors using this method as well as razors with almost total plate loss.

Here goes:

A Gillette Ball-End Old I got from eBay:
DNAkgfb.jpg


It was in decent nick (when considering the plate loss!), especially compared to some I've seen, but could do with a tidy up.

My first step is always a soak in just boiled water with a drop of fairy liquid:
2UICH94.jpg


I use an old butter tub and leave it for about an hour - generally until it has cooled down a fair bit. I then get an old toothbrush and give it a thorough, soapy scrub.

I then add a splash of antiseptic (like dettol, but I use own brand) to the tub and mix it then soak the razor for about 20 minutes in it:
m4ei7UO.jpg


NOTE: DO NOT USE THIS STEP ON BAKELITE PARTS (see post #15). After that, I rinse the razor, seperate the parts (if a 3-piece) and place in the sink (with the plug in!). I then cover it in the expanding bathroom mousse (which I think is the UK equivalent of "scrubbing bubbles"). I know Cif make some but I use own brand:
0nMA53f.jpg


I make sure every part of the razor is well covered:
RoGbupT.jpg


I leave this until the majority of the foam has disappeared, until it looks kind of like this:
Ow34f51.jpg


I give it a scrub with the last of the foam to ensure every part has been treated.

Then remove and soak the parts in clean water:
kBnxsDu.jpg


I then take a dot of toothpaste (any brand) and scrub all over each part with a toothbrush:
JamKIrj.jpg


This is how the Old looked at this point:
CF151Hh.jpg


Not bad! I could live with this, but what if I want it to be even better?!

Time to polish it:
cELcUJx.jpg


I use Goddard's silver polish. Make sure whatever you use is a mild polish - I understand that the likes of "Brasso" is too strong. I'd imagine that "Silvo" is much the same as Goddard's, but the latter is cheaper anyway!

I apply the polish with cotton pads and allow to dry, then I buff it all off using clean pads and some cotton buds. If your razor has a lot of tarnish/crud still on it, you will go through a lot of pads!:
AWanT4f.jpg


I then pour some of the polish onto my toothbrush and scrub it into all the nook and crannies. Then I wait for it to dry, clean and dry my toothbrush and then buff all the dried polish off with the dry toothbrush. You may have to wash your brush quite a few times, depending how much crud you're taking off.

I then finish with a good few buffs/twists using more cotton pads. This razor turned out pretty nice after this:
751afdR.jpg


This may be overkill, but to ensure there's no residual clumps of polish I do a final mousse treatment:
mOwKKJV.jpg


Then rinse and dry, et voila!
The end product:
QH03MhN.jpg


To recap:
1. Soak in just boiled water with fairy liquid, give scrub with brush.
2. Add a splash of antiseptic.
3. Rinse, disassemble and cover in bathroom mousse. NOT SUITABLE FOR BAKELITE PARTS
4. Scrub using toothpaste.
5. Polish with mild metal polish.
6. Final mousse soak.
7. Sit back and admire your sparkly new razor!

Link to album:How to

Thanks for reading, and if there's anything amiss with my technique, or if there's anything you'd like to add or do differently, please let me know!
Well Done it has can up very well & looks class,
However for me i personally wouldn’t use harsh chemicals and that’s exactly what the mousse is.
I virtually do the same as you but i don’t use boiling water and i don’t use any chemical cleaner.
I would clean mine with antibacterial hand detergent and once it’s cleaned i put it in Barbacide for 10 minutes
even after polishing i then clean it again to get rid of the polish, i don’t want any that gunk on my face.
Another thing i would query is the polishing.
You don’t know the razor & it could have been polished 100 times before and all your doing is taking away layers of plating.

Anyway you’ve done a good job so well done,
just be aware the mousse can do more damage than it’s worth
 
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