Not sure if I got a good deal on some vintage razors, but happy with them.

I never bought a vintage razor and know nothing about them. I was required to be out of the house with my son for 2 hours for a wedding shower, so I passed a big flea Market and decided to stop. I walked for about 2 hours, and I did not see any vintage shaving items. I walked by a big booth with all kinds of cast iron cooking items and some glass cases that had all kinds of knives, and the cases and booth were a mess, I saw one cheap straight razor in the pile of knives, so I ask the guy if he knew of anyone here carried any vintage shaving razors. He pulled out an old metal lunchbox filled with what looked like rusty old razors. The only thing I knew to check was if the doors opened, and for the adjustable's I made sure the bars were not bent and the adjustments worked. I found 8 razors that worked perfectly, but were a mess. They looked incredibly dirty and thought the insides were rusty. Since this was the first vintage razors I have bought, I had no idea how to figure out the date codes. When I asked the price for all 8 he said $150, and I decided to get them.  I brought them home, cleaned and sanitized after watching YouTube video on how to clean a vintage razor and watching videos from Ken Surfs, Tobin Fetters and Matt at razor emporium. I was amazed how much gunk came off.  So, after getting home and researching I discovered I picked up a 1959 adjustable Gillette fat boy, 3 adjustable Gillette slim’s from 1964-1968, 3 adjustable super slims with black handle, one with the long handle, I think from 1966-1972, and a Gillette flare tip with a black handle from the 1970's. $150 for all 8 a good deal? I have no idea, but I cleaned, sanitized, polished, and oiled the razors and wow they came back to life. All of what I thought was rust damaged came off and they look amazing. The polishing cloth removed all the water stains, and the razors almost look new. The paint in the numbers are gone but I will see if I can fix that. I did not take before pictures but attached are pictures of the finished products. They all shave fantastic, because I tested them, and only one door sticks a bit but still shaves fantastic. I feel it was a lucky find and caught the guy in a good mood on the Saturday. On Sunday he was not in such a good mood. Not sure if $150 is a good deal, but it's amazing the craftsmanship of something that cost between $1.50-$1.95 when it was new 60 years ago, and still works incredible today. I found an old tin in my shop to display the razors in, and this is a fun and functional addition to the shave den.  Sorry about the big pictures.

Dan

Beautiful job cleaning even without seeing before pics. I know how they can look. Great price for an instant den for the price of a single modern razor. Congrats !

Thank u a fun addition to the den!

Great work cleaning them up. They look great! You have done well price wise in my opinion. Price discussions and appraisals are not part of DFS, but if you do a quick search on a popular auction site, you will likely see that you paid a fair price, and your extra work add to their sale value to a buyer.

I never bought a vintage razor and know nothing about them. I was required to be out of the house with my son for 2 hours for a wedding shower, so I passed a big flea Market and decided to stop. I walked for about 2 hours, and I did not see any vintage shaving items. I walked by a big booth with all kinds of cast iron cooking items and some glass cases that had all kinds of knives, and the cases and booth were a mess, I saw one cheap straight razor in the pile of knives, so I ask the guy if he knew of anyone here carried any vintage shaving razors. He pulled out an old metal lunchbox filled with what looked like rusty old razors. The only thing I knew to check was if the doors opened, and for the adjustable's I made sure the bars were not bent and the adjustments worked. I found 8 razors that worked perfectly, but were a mess. They looked incredibly dirty and thought the insides were rusty. Since this was the first vintage razors I have bought, I had no idea how to figure out the date codes. When I asked the price for all 8 he said $150, and I decided to get them.  I brought them home, cleaned and sanitized after watching YouTube video on how to clean a vintage razor and watching videos from Ken Surfs, Tobin Fetters and Matt at razor emporium. I was amazed how much gunk came off.  So, after getting home and researching I discovered I picked up a 1959 adjustable Gillette fat boy, 3 adjustable Gillette slim’s from 1964-1968, 3 adjustable super slims with black handle, one with the long handle, I think from 1966-1972, and a Gillette flare tip with a black handle from the 1970's. $150 for all 8 a good deal? I have no idea, but I cleaned, sanitized, polished, and oiled the razors and wow they came back to life. All of what I thought was rust damaged came off and they look amazing. The polishing cloth removed all the water stains, and the razors almost look new. The paint in the numbers are gone but I will see if I can fix that. I did not take before pictures but attached are pictures of the finished products. They all shave fantastic, because I tested them, and only one door sticks a bit but still shaves fantastic. I feel it was a lucky find and caught the guy in a good mood on the Saturday. On Sunday he was not in such a good mood. Not sure if $150 is a good deal, but it's amazing the craftsmanship of something that cost between $1.50-$1.95 when it was new 60 years ago, and still works incredible today. I found an old tin in my shop to display the razors in, and this is a fun and functional addition to the shave den.  Sorry about the big pictures.

Dan

I’d love to know what you did to get them cleaned up so well without impacting the black-painted handles much!

I first used the dawn platinum power wash and a toothbrush. I spayed then and let them sit 5 minutes and scrubbed them, I then put dawn dishsoap in a container and dropped all the razors in them. I put hot water from the tap into the container and then poured hot water I brought almost to a boil and let them sit for 15 minutes. Next I scrubbed again with a toothbrush and rinsed.  I then scrubbed with toothpaste and rinsed and let them dry. I put them in the dishwasher for about 30 minutes. I then had to carefully scrap areas that looked like it was covered in rust. I saw a video where Matt from Razor emporium said the rust was actually from leaving blades in the razor and will come off. After that they looked ok and I then dunked the head in alcohol for the final sanitation. The next day after letting them Dry I oiled them and the looked ok, I went back to the flea market because the guy had 2 gold fat boys an adjustable and non adjustable but I think he thought I knew what I was doing and wanted $250 for the 2 razors. The adjustable did not work. He had  3 Gillette open Combs that I realized from research were 1903-1920 range, but he would not make me an offer. Anyway, I found a booth that sold the polishing cloths with the chemicals in them. The package said safe for nickel. I came home and spent about 2 hours using the cloth on the inside and outside of the razors. I was blown away at how the cloth removed all the water stains and other marks the rest of the process could not get off. The nylon brush with firmer bristles and the toothpaste worked wonders on the black handle. When I first soaked the razors in the hot a water, the soap bubbles on top of the water were brown from all the dirt and gunk coming off. Incredible transformation.

I ordered the kit from razor emporium for $12 with the polishing cloth, but the one I found at the flea market worked incredibly well.

You could sell those for double in their current condition. You got a solid deal.


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First, Welcome to DFS, Dan.

Second, wow, you got some great razors and you did a fantastic job cleaning them up!

Third, I love your avatar!! I have had a few soaps that smelled so good (like MacDuff's Birch + Root) that I almost did that same thing as a supposed adult!!

Danblacksher , Mate those vintage razors after you restored them are frikkin' gorgeous. What a terrific haul Brother.