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Caring for your Carbon or Stainless Steel Razor

Caring for your Carbon or Stainless Steel razor

So, a single straight razor can, and will provide generations worth of smooth shaves with minimal care/maintenance, but what maintenance is required for Carbon VS Stainless steel razors?

Carbon Steel


Although they require more care/attention than a stainless steel razor, care is still by and large trivial. Personally, I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and have never had an issue with humidity, and even on my most sensitive straight razors with gold washes/inlays (depending on the Karat, gold often tarnishes/attracts rust quicker than the carbon steel) I do not need to apply any anti-rust/corrosion product and do no have to do any extra maintenance on my Carbon steel razors. I simply thoroughly dry off my razor after each shave. If you live in a VERY humid climate however you may need to coat your razors blade with a protective oil, such as Dovo Sterol (see picture right) after each shave: however this is only required in the most humid conditions.


An easier method many employ, is the use of a product called Tuf-Glide which comes in a small bottle, or Tuf-Cloth which is a cloth impregnated with the Tuf-Glide liquid. Tuf-cloth/glide are basically rubbed into the razors steel, allowed to dry, then buffed (with a paper towel, or cotton towel) to a shine. The "Tuf" products "micro-bond" and provide quite a bit of protection against rust/corrosion, and do not have to be applied very frequently, say every few months if used daily in a very humid climate. Whenever you store a carbon steel razor for extended periods of time however, make sure to give it a good coat of Dovo Sterol. RIG Gun Grease, or Tuf-Cloth before putting it in a drawer for extended periods of time.





If you happen to live in an exceptionally humid environment, coating your blade with oil after each shave isn't very practical, and a coating of Tuff Cloth (or glide) may not make you comfortable enough for you expensive, and treasured razors. What to do? Well, I recommend creating a de-humidifier for your razors, which is quick, easy and inexpensive. Basically, the idea is to create a reverse humidifier, so you can actually use a Cigar Humidifier, or any container that is air-tight or somewhat close to air tight. Get Sylica Crystal bags, or a dehumidifier pack which you can find at guns stores (gents put them in their gun safes to keep their prized firearms rust free) and sporting good stores for well under $10. If you really want to get fancy, for $24 Remington makes a Mini-Dehumidifier that is electronic. However it has no wires, and you plug it in every 2 months or so, and it recharges itself and this will keep your razor storage container bone dry. Just to be obsessively safe, apply some tuff cloth/glide to the razor every few months. Basically, day to day maintenance this method in a very humid environment is merely shaving with the razor, thoroughly drying it on a towel, then placing it in your special "razor dehumidifier" box. Every few months, re-tuff cloth/glide the blade, and you're good to go! Thiers Issard, and several other companies make some pretty handsome razor boxes with glass lids as well, which can be converted into dehumidifiers if you so desire, to have a very sharp looking setup.

Stainless Steel


Stainless steel razors typically do not require any special oiling/treatment for most area/conditions. Stainless steel however CAN rust/corrode, as it is not stain-proof steel, it is stain LESS steel. In VERY humid conditions, you will still need to keep a coating of protective oil on the blade, or periodically tuff cloth/glide the blade/pivot. For most however, a stainless steel razors blade will never need to be oiled/protected.

No matter what type of steel the razors blade is made of, or the conditions the razor is stored in, periodically apply a VERY small amount of oil to the hinge to keep it in good working order.

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