Though I certainly don't know more than other people here about traditional wet shaving, I think I might know something about cleaning old metal. I've worked as a conservator and curator of rare items, including historical artifacts from as far back as the fourteenth century. I generally wasn't the go-to guy for metal objects -- I was more in the rare books business -- but I still was around the shop when the metal cleaning was going on. (Usually it stunk, if I remember correctly.)
So I thought I might just concoct some procedures and try them out. I haven't destroyed anything really valuable, not yet, and I'm having a great time learning to clean up old razors. I'm restoring razors and other finds I got at a few antique junque stores. I haven't gone so far as to boil anything -- that seems rather drastic, although it also seems recommended often on these boards. Instead, my two main weapons of choice are the products
CLR and
Blue Magic.
CLR ("calcium, lime, rust") is essentially a scum dissolver. It works a lot like Lysol soap-scum remover, but I find CLR a bit more effective on a wider range of horrors, and it comes in larger jugs. In addition, CLR is the KING for dissolving rust or corrosion on brass, steel, etc. Let it sit and soon enough the shiny under-metal shows right through! You can get a two-gallon at the larger hardware stores (Lowe's, Home Depot) or a pint at a drugstore in the cleaning aisle. I soak razors (and other items) for maybe thirty minutes in a glassful of CLR, perhaps diluted with water 50/50 if I feel the razor is delicate. This tends to soften all the built up soap scum and other forms of "slime" and "residue." Left to soak long enough, CLR will "eat off" all the corrosion -- which we usually call "rust," at least on iron-based metals like carbon-steel and chromed steel. You have to buff stuff down after it's been soaking in CLR, but (depending on how soft the goop has gotten) sometimes all that's needed is a wipe with a paper towel. Sometimes after I wipe or scrub away as much as I can get rid of with one glass of CLR, I have to then soak the razor in CLR a second or even third time and buff again. Generally you can get CLR at 28 ounces for about $8, it's made by
www.jelmar.com .
Blue Magic is a chrome polishing paste. In my estimation it is NOT an abrasive -- it has no microscopic particles to gently buff a surface, as far as I can tell; rather, it is some kind of electrolytic agent (suspended in an odd and stinky opaque light-blue formaldehyde gel) which, as it says right on the label, is safe for electroplated and chromed items. It won't make chrome or gold plate flake away. When I found this at an auto supply store in the detailing aisle, I was delighted. It has turned out to be wonderful. For example, I buffed to a high shine a Gillette gold Tech with no loss of covering or sheen, no damage to the finish. It handled standard chrome, steel, and brass razor surfaces equally well. Blue Magic has an odd action -- as you rub away the blue gel, a black powdery paste appears, not unlike soot off a match. Beneath that, as you wipe away, appears shiny metal. A seven-ounce jar cost about $7. Also comes in liquid form. It's not very good for wide, large surfaces -- it requires some elbow-grease, and doesn't spread easily, but clings to surfaces like toothpaste. So I'd say it's really good for a small thing like a razor, not so hot for a large thing like a car hood. What I've read about MAAS metal compound makes it sound quite similar to Blue Magic. Both are, as well, not water soluble. You have to wipe away all the excess, with Q-tips or rags or paper towels. Rinsing just leaves blue goop.
The more abrasive "household" metal compounds -- Brasso, Tarn-X, Twinkle, many automotive aluminum cleaners -- are simply gels with microscopic abrasive dust in them. They grind away rust, yes; but also anything else in their path. Don't use them! Those formulated for a specific metal (Twinkle Copper Cleaner versus Twinkle Silver Cleaner, for example) are simply mixed in such a way as to be softer than the intact metal but harder than any deposit of corrosion ON the metal. This would be fine for a razor, IF you knew exactly what was the degree of hardness for all the undesirable residue. Do you know if the soap scum is harder than the rust? How much has it dried, and can you calibrate it? I don't think so ...
After the CLR and the Blue Magic, I basically do as I choose. For some razors I've put on a light coat of S-100, which is a carnauba-based shining wax (got it at a Harley dealer) designed to give "that showroom shine" to fancy cars and motorcycles. I used to apply S-100 as a preservative on my fancier road-racing bicycles, though I haven't been a roadie for a long time now. For other razors I've dunked them in mineral oil, as suggested in many places, in the hopes of that "glittering shine," but that hasn't really impressed me. I think a better buffing wax like S-100 is a more effective way to seal the metal from general atmospheric humidity and moisture. For a couple of razors, particularly the gold-plated few that I own, I didn't do anything else. Cleaned up and left to dry, they look like new and the non-coated twinkle is a delight to the eye.
I do notice that mineral oil lubricates moving parts. (Aside: Sometimes too much. For one old screw-top, also called "three-piece," I found that, after a dunking in mineral oil, the parts were so slippery that they simply glided past one another and never stuck in place. The head wouldn't stay put! I had to get in there with a tiny wedge of kleenex and remove the oil, so it wouldn't be so well lubricated and would therefore work right.) Generally, a little mineral oil nicely brings barn doors back to life; beyond that, I'm not keen on the utility of mineral oil. I like my S-100.
If I wanted to shave with any one of these razors, I think I would want to sterilize it first. I believe dunking in a 32:1 solution of water to Barbicide for maybe twenty minutes, jiggling thoroughly at least once, should be enough. After all the compounds and rubbing, above, I can't imagine any bacteria lurking about that would survive Barbicide.
I did notice a rather nasty corner of chrome sticking up right on the edge of the head of one Gillette travel razor that I cleaned up. Though my cleaning regimen did nothing to exacerbate this burr, and did get it nice and shiny (of course!), I don't think I'd ever recommend shaving with something like that. This burr would rest almost directly above the blade edge, and so would likely contact the skin at certain angles of shave. Its sharp edge might cut, and then the cut would be derived not from a nice safe modern razor blade, but from a corner of ancient goop-concealing flap. You basically can't glide this razor's head over your face without risking contact from the burr. That's not a weakness of the cleaning regimen, it's a mechanical problem. To me, it means never shaving with this razor. To some other daredevil, perhaps it means applying a careful twist with a tiny pair of pliers, but I'm not going to risk it for myself. So even after Barbicide, some razors simply aren't fit for shaving.
I read a lot on the forums about substances more antiseptic than Barbicide. My personal (entirely and utterly non-medical) opinion is, this isn't necessary. Its the razor blade that does the cutting, not the handle or the head (except in the case of something like my unusable travel Gillette, above, and as long as I own that, it won't be cutting anything ever). On those few occasions when old evils hiding in goop might get into a cut made by new blade, then simply make sure there IS NO OLD GOOP in the first place, and only clean metal, in which case Barbicide is sufficient. Verification by magnifying glass can confirm, no old goop anywhere that would get into a new cut. Just my opinion, of course, but informed enough that I personally am quite comfortable living by it. (I am enough of a hygiene stickler that I use Barbicide even on my new DE blades, by the way, regardless of the razor head in which they'll be held, ancient or vintage or modern or new -- 32:1!)
Oh, and never use those old carbon-steel blades that come with vintage razors, is the consensus throughout all the forums; no matter how carefully cleaned or honed, they cannot be so healthy as to be useful. Rusty cut = certain death.
I hope all of this is food for thought. I don't think most of the other outlined cleaning regimens are necessarily negative to the razor, I just have my own short-cuts, and I'm glad for the chance to share. With CLR and Blue Magic, I think, you really won't go wrong. So far I believe that these products do not interact negatively with the black plastics of many vintage razors (CLR cleans this stuff up like a breeze! and Blue Magic isn't doing squat but sitting there), though I haven't ever applied either to true 1930s Bakelite. I'll let you know.
To summarize:
1. Very hot water yes; boiling no.
2. Soaked in CLR and wiped or buffed clean, several times if necessary.
3. Buffed with Blue Magic, never Brasso
et al..
4. Mineral oil as a lubricant?
5. Disinfected with 32:1 water:Barbicide if you're going to shave with it.
and / or
6. Coated with a nice wax or oil, S-100 is my preference, maybe more mineral oil, if you're going to show it.
As problems develop I'll certainly advise. But I'm happy with CLR and Blue Magic. I even got a cheap set of toothbrushes (4 for $2) that had a variety of colored handles, so I could use the colors matching the different cleaners!