Cleaning an old Gillette adjustable.

Sage · Post by **Sage** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 7:23 pm

Picked one up off of ebay to try in addition to my Merkur HD. I would like to try and get some of the shine back. Is there anything I can clean it with to restore some of that lustre? Would something like CLR work?

Thanks,
Andy

rschul2 · Post by **rschul2** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 9:13 pm

Andy,
I'm not so sure about making the razor shine again, but I would certainly dip the razor in 10% bleach and then rinse in water to disinfect any "nasties" that might be on the razor.

Sage · Post by **Sage** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 7:54 am

rschul2 wrote:Andy,
I'm not so sure about making the razor shine again, but I would certainly dip the razor in 10% bleach and then rinse in water to disinfect any "nasties" that might be on the razor.

Definitely. I'll be boiling that mofo as well.

Thanks,
Andy

blackgrass · Post by **blackgrass** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 7:57 am

Andy,
I used CLR on a couple of old Gillette's. One was a gold finish and the other the basic chrome. On the chrome model it appeared to me that the CLR darkened the chrome in a couple of places. It gave it a black appearance. I used a pretty strong mix of the CLR so that might have been the problem. Didn't affect the razor in any other way and the dark place was under the silo head so it still looked fine. I didn't notice any effect on the gold finish model. I would probably try something like Borax next time before using the CLR.
Ben

Sage · Post by **Sage** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 8:33 am

blackgrass wrote:Andy,
I used CLR on a couple of old Gillette's. One was a gold finish and the other the basic chrome. On the chrome model it appeared to me that the CLR darkened the chrome in a couple of places. It gave it a black appearance. I used a pretty strong mix of the CLR so that might have been the problem. Didn't affect the razor in any other way and the dark place was under the silo head so it still looked fine. I didn't notice any effect on the gold finish model. I would probably try something like Borax next time before using the CLR.
Ben

Good to know, thanks.

Andy

Gramps · Post by **Gramps** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 4:18 pm

Hi guys,
I bought a spare razor a while back from eBay and it was in a 'little more grundgy' condition than advertised.... so this is what I did...

1. boiled it for 3-4 minutes... removed a lot of soap scum and whatever was growing (lol)
2. I put 3 tablespoons of baking soda in a margarine tub and added enough water to make a paste and scrubbed with a toothbrush
3. added more water to tub and soked razor for another 5 minutes
4. poured a couple oz. CLR in tub (make sure you have the tub and mixture in a sink because it foams like crazy!!! lol)
5. quickly rinse thoroughly under running warm water.
6, razor turned out great, not as shiney as new but very nice.

Gramps (budding chemist, or mad scientist?

)

JackieMartling · Post by **JackieMartling** » Sat Apr 16, 2005 1:40 am

I have at least one Gillette adjustable on the way, and maybe a second one, with a black handle. My girlfriend, who works in a surgeon's office, said she would be willing to autoclave them, so long as they would stand up to the process. Can vintage Gillettes be autoclaved? If not, does boiling hurt them? Several members in here said that's what they did with theirs, but will it damage the razors at all? What about the black handle? Would I risk damaging the finish either with boiling or autoclaving?

divotmax · Post by **divotmax** » Sat Apr 16, 2005 7:39 am

Hi;

A weak mixure of CLR or LimeAway works fine to clean razors, about a tablespoon to a glass of water. After that, you can boil the razor if you want, but probably not necessary. You can autoclave the metal razor, but don't know about the plastic handle one. I've touched up razor heads with either Flitz or Maas, or some other polishing compound and they make them like-new shiney. I wouldn't do this with gold-colored razors because it will take off the plating, but stainless steel or chrome seems to work fine.

BobS

hedonist · Post by **hedonist** » Sat Apr 16, 2005 7:41 am

For those of you who don't have CLR, all I do is soak the brush in some some soap scum/mildew removing solution overnight, such as Scrubbing Bubbles or similar formula.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » Sat Apr 16, 2005 9:32 am

What also works is good automotive chrome and metal polish such as Blue Coral or Mothers. Buffs out and looks great.

JackieMartling · Post by **JackieMartling** » Sat Apr 16, 2005 10:51 am

Thanks for the replies. Bob, I'm pretty sure the black-handled one is still stainless steel, rather than plastic; I think the black is painted on. I was just wondering if high heat and/or pressure would run the risk of causing the paint to flake off, or if the color is pretty well set.

JackieMartling · Post by **JackieMartling** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 12:39 pm

I just thought I would add a counterpoint to Randy's suggestion to do a bleach soak. I tried this last night (the solution was more around 20% than 10%, to be fair), and the solution ate through parts of the finish and was causing instantaneous, superficial corrosion in certain parts. The structure of the razor was unharmed, but the finish - which, fortunately, was not all that great to begin with - is definitely worse for wear. What effect this will have on its long-term life is hard to say. Had this been a prized razor, I would be crying in my beer right now. (Hmm... Beer in the early afternoon. What a nice idea!) I don't know if my solution was too strong, or if the finish of the razor was already unstable, but bleaching now strikes me as a risky proposition in general, but especially for use on older razors where the stability of the finish is questionable. User beware.

Blue As A Jewel · Post by **Blue As A Jewel** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 8:21 am

I just received a black handle Gillette adjustable which I purchased on eBay. It was in pretty good condition to begin with but did have some groadies and a tiny little bit of rust on the inside - I boiled it for approx. 5 min. then dried it off and immersed it in full strength CLR for approx. 2 min., removed and scrubbed with a toothbrush. Finally rinsed, dried and poliished with Flitz metal polish - looks almost brand new.