Newbie Photo Tutorial--Guide to Cleaning a Gillette Super Speed Flare Tip

I haven't yet been able to find Maas, so I picked up some Weiman Metal Polish and tried it on a late '40s Tech. So far, the gold color of the head has changed to a coppery color. Is it just that it's not done yet, or should I stop using this Weiman MP?

Great job on the clean up and great job on the pic tutorial. I'm feeling a bit of the RAD right now, luckily I'm broke so I can't afford to go and buy anything off ebay. If I do manage to get a used DE I'll definitely be referring back to this post and the maintenance wiki.

Denim, I don't have much experience with cleaning gold but I've got plenty of experience using brasso and some stuff that I used on the rims of my truck when I was 18 and I'm pretty sure if its gone coppery in color you should definitely stop using the stuff you got. Someone smarter and more experienced with metal polishing can correct me if I'm wrong on that though.

Unfortunately, the gold is gone and copper is what base metal the gold had been plated on. It's not a very durable plating process. Any metal polish would have taken the residual gold off most likely, so I wouldn't fault Weiman in particular. One of my Techs came to me with a nice shiny copper top, all the gold finish gone, it's very common.

I picked up two of these. I started with the razor I thought was in worse condition, as I figured I wouldn't lose much. So Maas would have done the same thing? Is the other razor in danger from this stuff? What can I use which is less of a problem?

I have not used MAAS so I can't compare it to Weimans. I don't think Weimans is overly aggressive, but I could be wrong. I would think Brasso would be more aggressive. I would be wary of doing much polishing at all above cleaning off soap scum of gold plating as it's very thin on these razors.

Thanks, Dave! Now I know what to do if I ever pick up an antique from a flea market.

denim said:

I picked up two of these. I started with the razor I thought was in worse condition, as I figured I wouldn't lose much. So Maas would have done the same thing? Is the other razor in danger from this stuff? What can I use which is less of a problem?

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With gold razors, you generally want to use a gentle cleaning method and no polish. I usually just use some Scrubbing Bubbles and call it good.

I did not give your razor much hope. Wrong! Nice job. You have to love the MAAS. Great stuff

mmack66 said:

With gold razors, you generally want to use a gentle cleaning method and no polish. I usually just use some Scrubbing Bubbles and call it good.

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So be it. Can the one I "polished" still be used? That is, if I clean the rest of it, is the damage only cosmetic?

denim said:

So be it. Can the one I "polished" still be used? That is, if I clean the rest of it, is the damage only cosmetic?

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Yes.

Great, thanks. Maybe I should get it stripped completely and replate it with something else.

Great job

shiny!

I have recently acquired some vintage razors that are in need of a good cleaning. This thread has been very helpful - thanks!

Congrats here also! I do resto's also. A little trick I've learned when a razor has alot of rust is (baking soda & white vingear for nickel) & (baking soda & lemon juice for gold).
Mix it together and make a paste. Takes the rust right of with a soft toothbrush, no waiting, less time. Be cafeful with goldplated razors, it will get down to the finish. I'm not a big fan of scrubbing bubbles. Lime-Away takes off all the soap scum & hard water deposits almost instantousily without brushing, brush for a thorough clean! Wonderful job on the SS.

"I didn't use a toothbrush as suggested in the Wiki due to a couple facts:
1. Didn't have a clean old one."

You could have used the wife's toothbrush! I would have! LOL

Is MAS good for Brass also?

Fantastic post, thank you for the effort...opens up some new possibilities that I probably would have just taken a pass on...bravo!

Cheers,

Mark

Great post, good to hear you like the flair tip, it's my razor of choice at the moment.

I reccently cleaned up a couple of Goodwills and a Tech(I think) that I got on Ebay.
It was very satisfying to see the end result.

In Australia I couldn't find scrubbing bubbles so after much deliberation I decided on Shower Power and I used a polish called Metal Magic.

Cheers
Lynchy (Snr)

That's awesome!! I just bought the same razor for $12 at an antique shop yesterday! I'm gonna take some time tomorrow eve to clean and this is a great tutorial!! Thanks!!