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

Re: RE: Cleaning a non-gold razor - UK/ Britain/ Europe

smith said:
nice restoration....someday maybe 30 years from now someone else will be cleaning that razor and it will live on long after were gone...

That's what I really like about this DE shaving lark, it's a continuity of use and preservation for another generation.
 
Electric toothbrushes work very well too

mulligano said:
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!
 
I didn't see isopropyl alcohol mentioned in this thread. I just took possession of a vintage razor which arrived pretty clean. After giving it a once over in the kitchen sink with the fairy liquid I sponged isopropyl alcohol all over the razor. Then I went at the crevices with a brush and alcohol soaked swabs. Since it was pretty scummy, I simply poured alcohol down the TTO mechanism. At this point I had the razor very clean and after a couple hot water baths figured it was ready for use.

I have no idea if this is a good method, but know isopropyl alcohol can dissolve and clean just about anything you'd find on a razor. I know it's safe for brass and a quick search said it was also safe for chrome. I was still wary enough not to soak it overnight or anything, total exposure was probably < 10 mins but that was enough to break down any scum lurking about the crevices.
 
I did use some spray IPA that I had lying around from when I pulled a laptop apart but didn't think it really helped much. Perhaps I was too timid with it's use, or perhaps the kind of dirt on it was too thick and/or of the wrong composition.

Do you have any before/after shots of the IPA treated razor? Should it work on virtually any dirt?
 
I have my after shot in this thread on my new rocket.

I've used it to clean tar and resin from brass pipes. Anything that can clear that can dissolve a bit of soaps scum. I would be careful to check first, but chrome and nickel are okay as well as brass from what I read. If you google you'll commonly find threads on american forums referencing rubbing alcohol which is the same thing.
 
Two tricks I have learned over the last months:

Soaking a razor in warm/hot (not boiling) water with Steradent Extra Strength for 15 minutes removes a lot of grime.
I actually do this every month or so with all the razors I use on a regular basis, followed by a quick ultrasonic clean - they always look like new afterwards.

The inside of a Schick injector head is best cleaned with a pipe cleaner.

-Andreas
 
Don't you guys have Barbicide over there? And be careful with the bathroom cleaner. I used our equivalent of it on my Grandfathers black beauty and it messed up the handle. The coating on the aluminum (aluminium) lightened up and even came off in some spots.
 
Only just seen this thread. I've had my first go at cleaning up a grimy old thing today and was quite pleased.

I've got a Gillette 2 piece which could be a 77 or 88 but given it has no packaging then it's pretty much impossible to tell AFAIK.

1 - Gave it a soak in near boiling water with some Arm & Hammer baking soda
2 - Good going over with a toothbrush
3 - Good rub with some Silvo wadding
4 - Rubbed with a Microfibre cloth
5 - Another rubbing with a jewellery cloth - it had two sheets, one for polish and one for buffing.

Looking through the thread there's definitely easier ways of doing it but would I be right in thinking the Silvo, after a few applications, would really get a nice lustre on the metal? Before and after below....

beforeafter_zpszyj49mhu.jpg


I'm not too happy with the heavily stained parts near the bottom though so will be giving it another go over with the methods already in this thread.
 
Thank you, OP! A great job!

I've borrowed the butter tub thing (well, here a soft cheese tub, you do not mind, do you?:D) though I just use "Fairy" (literally) and an old toothbrush, as a general rule. If needed, I polish the razor (other make here in Spain...) and then the Fairy treatment again.

The only golden vintage razor I tried to clean was a Gillette NEW LC, Oxford set. Well.... it turned out to be a success... until some of the golden plating on the head and baseplate wore off:eek:
 
I usually just use an Ultrasonic cleaner and Maas polish and have achieved great results with these alone. I'm liking the idea of adding Isopropyl Alcohol into the regime - it should (theoretically) work well for dissolving any polish residue as well. I'm going to give it a try on a couple of user grade razors to see how well it works (including a overnight soak).
 
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