Cleaning Vintage Safety Razors: DO's and DON'T's

I wanted to create a thread that people could use to post questions and tips/tricks about cleaning old vintage safety razors. I've recently acquired a bunch of old vintage Gillette safety razors. I think I may have went a little overboard because I now have about 9 of them, most of which are in need of some cleaning. I've done a bunch of research about how to clean them and I've found a lot of good information.

One question I had was regarding the following statement I found on this wiki:
http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Razor_cleaning_and_restoration

"One recommendation, even if you can do it, NEVER take your razor apart to clean it. You may very well find yourself buying another one in short order."

Why is this important? I would think that for instance taking apart a 3 piece Gillette Tech and cleaning each piece individually would be easier than cleaning the razor when it is put together.

I'm pretty sure that applies to TTOs only ... and good advice IMO.

They say there's some unholy gunk to be found in the shaft of vintage Gillette TTOs. You probably don't want to see that.

The one thing that finally killed off my interest in TTOs was a thread I saw showing disassembly of a Fatboy and the awful gunk that was lurking inside.

What are your thoughts on rubbing alcohol? I recently used it to clean a vintage rocket and it worked very well.

This is my system.

Cleaning & Restoring Vintage Double Edge Razors:

Soak in hot, not boiling water with Dawn dish detergent until water cools. Scrub with tooth brush and rinse.
Spray with non-bleach Scrubbing Bubbles. Let sit until bubbles start to disappear. Scrub with toothbrush and rinse.
Repeat if needed.
Apply Flitz or MAAS if additional polishing is needed. Buff with micro-fiber cloth.
Repeat Scrubbing Bubbles, rinse, dry with towel.
Load blade and enjoy.

Works for me.........

Good post Bobcat. That's basically what I've been doing for the most part and it's been working very well.

What polish do you guys prefer, Flitz or MAAS? You mentioned using microfibre cloths to polish, is that the best way to apply and buff using polish, oppose to a cotton cloth?

newkie said:

What are your thoughts on rubbing alcohol? I recently used it to clean a vintage rocket and it worked very well.

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Rubbing alcohol is generally very safe. I might be cautious about using it on old gold plating with varnish/shellac/lacquer, though...

newkie said:

What are your thoughts on rubbing alcohol? I recently used it to clean a vintage rocket and it worked very well.

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This is what I'm going to do as well to disinfect my vintage razors. Isopropyl alcohol I think is even more concentrated than rubbing alcohol so that's what I purchased. A lot of people also use barbricide.

Ethanol or isopropyl alcohol is fine and indeed recommended for TTOs. It really rips out the goo out of the shafts and will make the razor literally squeaky clean.

I would avoid using alcohol on gold plated razors due to the lacquer coating.

Bobcat - Nice, concise post. Great summary of simple cleaning method.

Bobcat said:

This is my system.

Cleaning & Restoring Vintage Double Edge Razors:

Soak in hot, not boiling water with Dawn dish detergent until water cools. Scrub with tooth brush and rinse.
Spray with non-bleach Scrubbing Bubbles. Let sit until bubbles start to disappear. Scrub with toothbrush and rinse.
Repeat if needed.
Apply Flitz or MAAS if additional polishing is needed. Buff with micro-fiber cloth.
Repeat Scrubbing Bubbles, rinse, dry with towel.
Load blade and enjoy.

Works for me.........

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Perfect. I use an ultrasonic which heats it to 160 for about 1/2 hour. Also a Q-tip cut in half to get under the space of the adjustable base plate helps get the gunk out in that hard to reach area. Also a toothpick helps now & then for black beauty or the tto of red tips/blue etc. One can "pick" the soap scum free. Trust me all the ultrasonic with not dislodge the grey scum in the red tto handle sometimes without possible damage to the paint.

How does one disinfect a gold plated razor then if alcohol is not a good idea?

jayc_07 said:

How does one disinfect a gold plated razor then if alcohol is not a good idea?

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Dish soap or scrubbing bubbles. But I've quickly swished gold razors (70% alcohol)then let air dry quickly without ill effects. Does NOT mean scrub with a toothbrush in alcohol. A quick swish and that's it.

My $0.02, steps are similar to some of the steps above plus what I gathered from reading a bunch of tutorials on B&B and from razor restorers on razor cleanings, below is what I do (your results and procedures may vary).

I own a Keurig coffee brewer, which is set to heat water to 194 degrees F. I run it first for a full cup of water to clean any coffee residue.

Cleaning:

1. Grab a large coffee mug (mine holds 16oz), squirt some (~1/2 teaspoon) of Dawn or Palmolive dish washing liquid, fill the mug with about 10oz to 14oz of hot water (194 degrees F) from Keurig. Water volume will vary depending on your mug size, just make sure all your razor parts can be submerged in water.

2. Take the razor(s) you want to clean and either take it part if it's a 3 piece or leave it open if TTO. Use tongs to hold or place pieces onto a spoon and gently place the razor or razor pieces into the mug full of hot, soapy water. Let it sit for about 3 hours or until the water inside the mug is not hot to touch.

3. Remove all razor parts, take a medium or soft stiffness toothbrush, rinsing it in hot water and dipping it into the soapy water in the mug, brush away, then rinse.

Disinfecting:

Since I'm a Germaphobe, I purchased a small container of Barbicide Disinfectant liquid (WCS sells it). Some people use Isopropyl Alcohol instead of Barbicide, it you do, use 70%, not 91% (long reason here, but 70% does a better job at killing germs here).

4. Next step is to fill the mug with water (I prefer hot tap water) ~10-12oz and add about 2 tablespoons of Barbicide, place razor parts inside mug and let it sit for 10-15 minutes (no less, no more), drain the water and rinse.

5. Fill the mug with hot tap water, mixed with a few more squirts of dish washing liquid, place razor parts inside and let it sit for about an hour, remove and scrub with toothbrush and rinse.

Cleaning:

6. If there are still signs of mineral or soap deposits on the razor parts, then repeat step#1 and #2, but instead of soap, I add a couple of tablespoons of Distilled White Vinegar and let the razor parts soak for about an hour. Remove, rinse. (Some people prefer to use Oxi products or Scrubbing Bubbles, I avoid these, since they have/produce bleaching properties/results.)

7. Repeat step #1, 2 and 3.

8. Let air dry for a day.

Polishing:

I only use Flitz and MAAS polishers to shine up all metal parts but ONLY on NON Gold plated razors (see step#11 for Gold). Flitz is more aggressive than MAAS, both are intended to achieve the same results and that is to let the metal shine and remove oxidation from it.

9. Put a small (1/2 pea size) drop of Flitz onto a cotton cloth, take a bunch of Q-tips, tab a Q-tip into the drop of Flitz, then work/rub a small section of a razor. Let it sit for ~10 seconds, then with either a cotton cloth or a clean Q-tip work the area to remove and polish the section, use wooden tooth picks to get into the small areas, repeat until all metal parts are clean.

Optional Polishing:

10. Once I'm happy with the results, I now repeat step#9 but using MAAS, this seems redundant but it seems to put a little luster onto a shine. MAAS has not worked well for me as a primary polisher.

11. For Gold plated razors, if this is absolutely needed, I dab a Q-tip into MAAS and with very, very light effort coat the razor, then very lightly polish it off with a cloth. I have turned Gold into what looks like Polished Brass from rubbing/polishing the Gold too long/aggressive using MAAS, so this is a step one needs to re-think before trying.

Lubrication:

12. Use Mineral Oil and drop one drop of it (I use a dropper) onto the top of the neck of a TTO razor or into the female threading of a 3 piece.

Plastic (black) handle clean up:

13. If the plastic handle on something like the Gillette Super Adjustable or the Black beauty lost it's deep, black color and shows whitish, faded look, I use either Mothers Back to Black liquid (look at car detail sections) or I rub a small amount of Peanut Butter onto the handle, then wash it off, the PB oil gives it the deep luster.

All done, razor is ready to use or be put away for viewing purposes!

I've done the above steps on about 14 used razors with great outcome and only damaged one Gold plated razor by polishing too aggressively, hope people can benefit from my experience as I learned majority of the above education from B&B members!

Badger Bill said:

Rubbing alcohol is generally very safe. I might be cautious about using it on old gold plating with varnish/shellac/lacquer, though...

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does that remove rust?

I'd like to add a hint ... take BEFORE pictures so you can show the difference that your cleaning made.

Are there any good methods for cleaning a vintage razor when you want to retain a beautiful patina that took many years to develop?

something better said:

does that remove rust?

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Leave that to a Q-tip and metal polish as your targeting a specific area . Using alcohol is a shotgun approach. Also it should be noted that you should allow the razor to dry for several hours or overnight on adjustable before you go turning the settings on it. This way it'll give the original paint time to dry without the numbers possibly sticking to your fingers.

Bobcat said:

This is my system.

Cleaning & Restoring Vintage Double Edge Razors:

Soak in hot, not boiling water with Dawn dish detergent until water cools. Scrub with tooth brush and rinse.
Works for me.........

Click to expand...

I do the same, sometimes repeating the process a few times. Then i use a little bit of toothpaste to do a final scrub.

It's worked for the 15+ razors i've had.