Severe rust after 3 days

just bought my first straight razor ... a Thiers-Issard Spartacas. I shaved about three days straight with it ... lightly coating in mineral oil each day. Then I put it in its case for three days rest after coating with mineral oil. After these three short days it is severely rusted ... I can see deep pits in the cutting edge and on the spine. It is far too bad to shave with or even for me to begin to attempt to clean it up. The rust pits are deep, and have gone far beyond cosmetic damage. This was in a motel so I don't know if the maid maybe splashed water on it while cleaning ... or left puddled water around the razor in its case ... but it was dry and rusted when I pulled it back out.

I am really shocked that such an expensive item can so deeply corroded in such a short period of time.

I don't have any reason to believe I was intentionally ripped off by the dealer, but I am new to this and am trying to sort out how this could have happened. I contacted the dealer I bought it from who ignored my questions on how it could have corroded so quickly and offered to restore it for over $70. I really don't want to sink an additional $70 into something so delicate especially since I live in a very humid place. Is this type of quick severe rusting normal in straight razors? Did I buy the wrong brand? a bad steel? could mine been some sort of quality defect from the factory? Could I have been duped with a cheap counterfeit knockoff? Any help or advice appreciated. Thanks!

Bummer. I feel your pain.

Doesn't sound normal to me. I keep a fair few razors in my bathroom closet and haven't had any rust problems. I shave, then rinse the razor under HOT water for 10 seconds or so, wipe it dry on a towel and strop on denim for 5 laps then on leather for 20 and put the razor on the shelf. Never use oil except for long term storage or shipping. If someone got the box wet that could do it though.

You might want to throw a couple pictures up. Might not be as bad as you think. I have seen some pretty banged up razors come out alive.

i don't think you were ripped off either by the vendor.. i kind of doubt it was bad steel or counterfeit.. you would likely know if it was counterfeit, if you have seen other pictures online (lord knows it can be hard to tell sometimes on certain issues though ) but likely the grind, shape and scales would be a dead giveaway..

can you post a picture?

if there was water on the blade before you pot on the oil, it could have trapped it there...

are you sure it's deep? do you have some access to metal polish, like "white lightning"? maybe it'll polish off..

if you can stop the corrosion you should be okay, the spine isn't really an issue, but the edge is.. a refreshing hone job would probably suffice while you figure out what you want to do..

I am betting your razor was handled with uncaring hands while you were not in the room. As far as defective is concerned I highly doubt it. Bare unprotected high carbon tool steel (razor steel) will begin to rust at an amazing rate of speed under poor conditions.

Post an image. Hard polished carbon steel doesn't rust that easily in a short time unless exposed to oxidizers or acids.

Cheers, Steve

thanks for the replies. here is a picture .. should have posted it on the first post ...

Wow! That's a lot of rust!

it really is. Short of the maid pulling it out of the case to look at it with draino on her gloves I cant imagine what could have happened.

Alejandro Salemandro said:

Wow! That's a lot of rust!

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That's a bummer. Was the razor in it's case when the maid came through? I'm wondering if a cleaning agent might have got on it.

Edit:
Looks like I was a couple minutes too late.

What kind of case did you store that poor razor in? Is there a chance it was wet? Perhaps wet leather?

That razor almost had to be wet when it was put away, or got sprayed with some chemicals that reacted badly.

I've never seen something rust that quickly unless it had salt on it

I have heard that TIs rust very easily so I have heard. What kind of oil did you use?

The rust line seems to exactly follow the scale line. Leather is not the best thing to store razors in too.

NM I read mineral oil

Kentos said:

I have heard that TIs rust very easily so I have heard. What kind of oil did you use?

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OP says mineral.

i have had 2 or 3 TIs with no issue, and havent heard much like that. thats a tough looking situation.

Here is what happened while you were in the hotel, I can almost guarantee it.

The maid came in and cleaned, and while doing so gave everything, including your razor, a good squirt of cleaning product that was mostly bleach.

There is no way straight water would cause that rust so quickly, unless maybe the cardboard box was wet, and there was a reaction involving the acids in the cardboard.

But my feeling is, unless you took it for a swim in the ocean, that razor has been squirted with a bleach based cleaning product.

Yeah, the scale line and the unprotected edge at the other side of the scales look like they got misted with a nasty cleaner. Does the other side look the same?

Oxidation happens very quickly, like immediately after getting wet. You can get noticeable water spots in 10 minutes.

ALWAYS THOROUGHLY DRY UOUR RAZOR FIRST. Your pretty face will be there to put fancy balms and beauty creams on after you've dried and properly stored your razor.


And the "shave of the day" counter top display look may be OK at home. But Id never EVER trust a hotel staff to not futz around with gear I left outside of my suitcase (I travel quite a bit on business).