O-rings and Orthodontic (Dental) Bands

I can't speak for others but I do have some Edwin Jagger heads that are flaking apart on the bottom plate where the handle contacts the plate.  I also have some aluminium razors that have a color to them (ATT) and I would like to protect those finishes as well.  Will I use it on stainless steel as well?  Probably, just to see what its like.  It just makes sense to me which doesn't necessarily means its correct :-)

I would imagine that the little buffer between two pieces of metal could really help in situations like these.

I primarily use them on three (not two) piece razors and find they just really help in preventing any chance of over tightening. The washers also prevent any problems between different metals. Aluminum handles, stainless heads type of stuff. I just find they are a ‘gentle’ addition to overall razor care.

Great points, thanks for bringing these up! I’ll edit the original post to include the overtightening.

I'm a little late to the party on this but [ recently had a Gillette Tech recoated by North Shore Razors and they put on an "O" ring called 70A Durometer 5/16th outer diameter and 3/16ths inner diameter to prevert overtightening and making marks on the base plate. I just ordered 100 (smallest amount I could buy) 008 Buna-N "O" rings from Amazon for $6.24. North Shore Razors is alot like Delta Ecko in that they specialize in recoating razors. I hope this helps in some way.

The Mongoose razors shipped with an O-ring between the handle and head, which I thought was brilliant. I found out that it was only meant for shipping, and other users seemed to think I was out of my mind when I said I would continue to use the O-ring when shaving with the razor. I liked it for all the reasons stated above in the OP, but mainly because it kept the usual scratching from occurring when two metal pieces twist against each other.

I do this, but I use a white nylon washer as the O-rings can be a SOB to peel off if too tight a fit. I feel it makes for a more precise torque as well as mar prevention.

Well, I certainly learned a lot from this thread.

johnz3333 and gnocchi, thanks for chiming in! I hadn’t heard before of any manufacturers shipping out products with an o-ring in them. Kind of nice to hear that the idea I had wasn’t completely off the wall…

Since I’ve seen vtmax and BPman mention the nylon washers, I think that’ll be something to try, as well.

...Since I’ve seen vtmax and BPman mention the nylon washers, I think that’ll be something to try, as well.

Take a razor head to the hardware store and buy a thin nylon or rubber washer that slips over the post with room to spare so that it will fall off easily when taken apart so as to permit the threads to dry. Peeling off a snug O-ring from that threaded stud is pain in the butt.

Thanks for the tips, BPman.

Perhaps a good note to add to the use of the rubber rings is to not leave them on indefinitely. I won’t leave them on the razor for more than about a week at a time, and haven’t seen any staining or rust issues, but I’d hate to hear of anyone else experiencing such. It’s always good to carefully inspect and clean those razors from time to time.

I stopped today at a local hardware store and bought eight white #8 nylon washers for this purpose, four for the razor heads in my rotation and four spares. 88 cents.

Sounds like a good deal, John. I'll have to do the same, soon. I'm interested in seeing how the o-rings and washers compare.