Help! Something weird's happened.

Professor Blighty

Professor Blighty

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I live in a hard water area (Midlands), and I got some stuff for descaling the kettle. I put hot water in the kettle as per the instructions, and tossed in the stuff. Then I thought "Why don't I throw in my old Parker razor as well?" I have a Parker butterfly that has gunged up over the years with what looked like limescale as well. It's a 92R I think, a TTO with a silver head and black handle, I'm sure you know the type.

Anyway, the kettle was de-limescalled beautifully, but my razor came out bronze! The black has all gone from the handle, and the chrome head has turned into a bronze colour! What have I done? Does anyone know?
 

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As if by chance I was reading this before:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.shaving-shack.com/caring-for-your-merkur-razor.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.shaving-shack.com/caring-for ... razor.html</a><!-- m -->

Pretty much says you should descale your razor now and again but any longer than 15 minutes can strip the plating.
 
Professor Blighty said:
James_uk said:
that's very unfortunate blighty,good job it wasn't a toggle or an aristo
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You're right James,

but in a weird, peverse sort of way, I'm beginning to warm towards my new razor! After all, it's probably unique! :lol:
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Get the polish out blightys custom razors :lol:
 
Some metal alloys are often copper plated before being nickel plated or chromed, it may well have been stripped back to that.

If it was a Rhodium plated English aristocrat you would have been fine..........................................I suspect.
 
Professor Blighty said:
I live in a hard water area (Midlands), and I got some stuff for descaling the kettle. I put hot water in the kettle as per the instructions, and tossed in the stuff. Then I thought "Why don't I throw in my old Parker razor as well?" I have a Parker butterfly that has gunged up over the years with what looked like limescale as well. It's a 92R I think, a TTO with a silver head and black handle, I'm sure you know the type.

Anyway, the kettle was de-limescalled beautifully, but my razor came out bronze! The black has all gone from the handle, and the chrome head has turned into a bronze colour! What have I done? Does anyone know?
Click to expand...

That's not bronze, that is copper. Pure copper. Probably means that in order for the chrome plating to hold on the (most likely) brass parts, a layer of pure copper was first deposited. Same is done with steel - chrome is never put directly on steel.

ANyway, it is extremely unlikely that the deposits on your razor were limescale, most likely they are 'soap scum' or calcium and magnesium 'stearate' (and other fatty acid salts of Ca and Mg). These are insoluble in water and will form during any action involving soap and water, especially in hard water areas. When real soaps were still used in personal hygiene, bath tubs would have rings of soap scum also, which needed to be cleaned out on a regular basis. Acids will do this, and if you don't mind a little scrubbing, acetic acid (cleaning strength) or citic acid will work. If you don't want to scrub too much, muriatic acid is stronger. I clean soap scum from my razors with acetic acid (once every 3-6 months on average).

Descaling also involves acids, but the acids used are much stronger than vinegar, and are also somewhat oxidative. Descaling agents are often based on dichloroisocyanurates, which produce hydrochloric (muriatic) acid on dissolution and the remainder does some nasty other things also. This is fine for dissolving calcium carbonate deposits from appliances with surfaces that are reasonably inert to hydrochloric acid (such as stainless steel and most household plastics) but can severely affect some platings, as you have discovered...
 
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