Thread: used razor questions

Good morning SRP,

i was on my way to purchase my first straight razor and got a question from my wife. She wanted to know if there are any risks associated with purchasing a used straight razor. Particularly, she was worried about any potential diseases such as Hep B. Can anybody shed light on whether or not her fears are valid?

Also, i must say that she is trying to prevent me from spending money on a razor because she thinks i won't like it. i've told her before that i don't like shaving my face because it gives me wicked razor burn and the regular razors dull so fast.

i'm going to go to a barber today and have my face shaved with a straight razor and ask him/her a bunch of questions.

What do you think?

Sincerely,
Vincent

Worrying about potential germs is valid.

Take a small jar/cap and ask for some Barbicide. Read the bottle and mix an appropriate amount of Barbicide and water and soak the blade for 10 minutes.

Another approach is take the razor to the barber and have him spray it with Clippercide.

Either method will sterilize the blade.

Good luck and post a pic of what you buy.

I completely agree with Dave's suggestion. The only thing I can add is that few cooties can survive longer than a few hours on a dry surface, so there is very little risk of a razor transferring any disease. However, Barbicide will kill any remaining fear you or your wife may have.

+1 on what Utopian and Rolodave said. No doubt some other "alleged" infectious disease expert will weigh in and contradict them, BUT the truth is that Barbicide, mixed correctly will disinfect anything possibly living on a razor, especially given that the razor has already spent a week transiting from some other locale in the mail, or sitting in a display case in an antique store, and likely has no germs living on it anyway.

So many ways to prevent infectious disease contamination. Yes Barbicide is tried and true also many other products that share its active disinfecting ingredients such as Lysol and Scrubbing bubbles for example. Hibiclense ( CHLORHEXIDINE ) is an excellent wash as well and is used in surgical wound prep etc and readily available at the pharmacy. All of these types of disinfectants are good at killing Hep B and more. Ultraviolet light also effective if you have access to one. if one is really paranoid about contracting Hepatitis B go and get vaccinated at your local big chain pharmacy it lasts for life. As a health care professional I was required to do so in my field because of its general persistence on surfaces. Usually after a razor is cleaned and honed until new metal is exposed whatever could of been on that razor is gone so rest easy. A little judicious cleaning goes a long way to prevent any sort of infection.

+1 on the Hibiclense, but barbicide works just as well I suppose.

Interesting thought, glad my wife is not a hypochondriac! I use rubbing alcohol to clean all razors that I get, figure that would kill just about anything that survived the trip.

I know your in Sac but I purchased a can of clipperside at Herman's Barber Shop and Supply in San Jose. May be able to find some locally or you can buy barbicide at a lot of beauty supply shops (like Sally's). I spray down any new razors, razors I'm selling or anything that has left the bathroom for any amount of time, just in case.
Like others have said, it is pretty low risk that something from 50 - 100 years ago has live bugs on it. But you never know about the guy that thumb pad tested the razor before you walked in. Better safe than sorry.
Besides, it is another thing to aquire with all the money you will save wet shaving

So, have you used an ATM lately?

Not only did I use an atm but used a large public bathroom then decided my strop needed a good palm rubbing.