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Flea Market Finds

My wife and I were wandering around the flea market Saturday and naturally I had my eye out to feed my new addictions, shaving related items and fountain pens. I had a couple of good finds. First for $5 I picked up what looks to me to be an unused 3 piece Tech with a black plastic handle. It's date code is W1. Next I found a gold new model. It has a box (assuming the box goes with it) but unfortunately it's missing the top insert but is otherwise in decent shape. The razor is definately used and shows wear to the top plate and a little to the handle end. Still for a whopping $1.50 I think I did ok on it. :biggrin: I want to make sure I don't damage the gold razor so is there anything I should avoid doing when I clean it??
 
As you indicated, the cap on the New Gillette appears to have some wear, so I'm not sure how much can be done to restore it's original appearance.

To clean any razor, I recommend putting it is a shallow dish and spraying it with Scrubbing Bubbles and let it soak for ten or fifteen minutes and then gently use a old soft toothbrush to get into any hard to reach areas and into the knurling on the handle. If you don't have any Scrubbing Bubbles, let it soak in any dish washing detergent and water for a while and then use the toothbrush. The SB works the best for this. It is formulated specifically to dissolve soap scum which is what the gunk on an old razor consists of.

Some folks recommend boiling a razor as a first step in the cleaning process. I don't find that to be necessary. Most everyone will agree that you should never boil a gold plated razor.

Whenever you have a gold razor, you want to simply clean it . . . do not use any type of polish if you want to maintain the gold plating. Gold doesn't oxidize (tarnish) so, if the plating is intact, it should only need to be cleaned. Gold plated razors were very thinly plated and then a coat of lacquer was applied in an attempt to protect the plating. Any polish will quickly cut through the lacquer and the plating.

If the gold plating on the cap is really beyond keeping, you could polish it all off with metal polish. The base metal may be brass, which can be polished up to look quite nice. On a New, however, you may find that the base metal is copper which, of course, can also be polished up, but it will have that reddish color of a new penny. You may find that the bar handle is also mostly copper, rather than brass, under that gold plating.

Regards,
Tom
 
Nice finds........

I've used silver polish on gold that was in really really bad shape on a couple of old razors, but you do have to be very very careful. I'd definitely go for the SB and light toothbrush scrubbing first.
 
Great finds. I just can't wait for for the spring/summer fleamarkets here in Denmark, we have a long tradition for huge fleamarkets - I remember having seen quite a few good razors over the years (including a few NOS/mint ones) that I now regret having passed :001_smile


Regards.

Jakob
 
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