Darkening of razor during cleaning soak?

I have a gold plated Apollo razor that I was cleaning the other day with scrubbing bubbles then a soak in a dilute vinegar solution. When I pulled the razor from the vinegar bath I noticed that areas of gold plate loss which were initially silvery had become a dull dark grey. I was able to polish these areas up but the discoloration remained. Oddly enough had a similar thing happen to a vintage Hoffritz slant which I left in hot water/aluminum foil/baking soda bath (for too long, I guess).

Anybody know what's happening here, and if there is a way to reverse it? The discoloration of the Hoffritz was limited to the cap which was quite shiny previously and I presumed that I had damaged the lacquer somehow (are silver razors lacquer coated?). Can't quite explain what has happened to the Apollo razor.

The vinegar did that. Never soak in vinegar. The acidity of it will discolor. The color will polish out

Captain H said:

The vinegar did that. Never soak in vinegar. The acidity of it will discolor. The color will polish out

Click to expand...

This ^.
The acetic acid in vinegar accelerates oxidation.

Thanks for the replies, I saw in some thread someone mentioned soaking razors in dilute vinegar for cleaning, will have to avoid that now.

I have damaged razors in all sorts of ways trying to clean them now. I ruined a vintage Gillette aluminum razor after leaving it in a Barbicide bath for too long. Bonehead!

Silver razors are not lacquer coated.

Hot soapy water will clean pretty much any razor out there, and is guaranteed to not mess up anything that wasn't already messed up.