How do I clean and restore an old safety razor?

My mother has just given me my grandfather's old razor. It is an old Gillette that opens butterfly style with a spin of a knob at the bottom of the handle.

It has quite a bit of grime and some corrosion on it. What are some recommended ways to clean this up and make it useable? Or should I just leave it alone to it's own demise?

First of all welcome...secondly check out this link, it should help you out. Good Luck!

http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Razor_cleaning_and_restoration

J-in-TX said:

What are some recommended ways to clean this up and make it useable? Or should I just leave it alone to it's own demise?

Click to expand...

Try the method here http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...he-Open-Comb?p=4166413&highlight=#post4166413 You will clean and disinfect it so that it will be safe and look good.

Cheers!

Never give up on it. I am sure that you can clean it up. Share some before and after pics!

Umm.. Sorry no "before" pictures. I just didn't think about it.
But some "after" pictures I can do. I just have to charge up the camera. And then figure out how to post them.

Wish I could get to the second link. The forum won't let me. Thanks

Starr said:

Wish I could get to the second link. The forum won't let me. Thanks

Click to expand...

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...he-Open-Comb?p=4166413&highlight=#post4166413

all,
Just received a very soiled Gillette New bar handle. Thanks to the suggestions here I cleaned it up and wanted to show before and afta pictures.
By the way, first shave with it yesterday and, man oh man, it was a great little shaver (after cleaning) loaded with red Personna.

BEFORE:

...as you can see, the gold plate was GONE in a lot of areas. Therefore I modified my restoration, because I was not concerned with perfect preservation of gold plating. If you have a gold plated razor, I was advised to avoid metal polish. Alo advised to be careful with scrubbing bubbles, as that can also be destructive to thin gold plating.

Steps in order:
1. Soak in dishwashing liquid and hot water 20 min, scrub with soft toothbrush.
2. Repeat #1.
3. Soak in Scrubbing bubbles 10 min, scrub with soft toothbrush.
4. Repeat #3
5. Disinfect- soak 1 hour in 91% isoprpoyl alcohol. Rinse and dry.
6. Disinfect again- soak in Barbicide (thanks Sally's!) 1 hour. Rinse and dry.
7. Because the dirt was still there, I broke out Maas polish. Tried with newspaper but that didn't seem to work too well, so I scrubbed the Maas in with fingers and more toothbrush.

AFTA:


I was pleased with the result since this was an experiment. The gold was gone on the cap before I started, so again I was not concerned about destroying the finish. Also because this will be a user, not a museum piece.

Cheers!
Mike from Detroit Shave your beard, not your face.

looks great. The bare metal looks good IMHO

Hey guys, This is how I clean, polish and sanitize my Vintage razors.

Thanks for watching

NorthernShave said:

Hey guys, This is how I clean, polish and sanitize my Vintage razors.

Thanks for watching

Click to expand...

That was great, we appreciate that you took your time to do this for B&B.

NorthernShave said:

Hey guys, This is how I clean, polish and sanitize my Vintage razors.

Thanks for watching

Click to expand...

Are you from toronto?

We're looking forward to your "after" pictures. To post photos, just put them on your computer and then click on the little picture icon above this text input. It is very easy.