Disinfecting a secondhand razor

I've recently bought a vintage Sheffield razor from a guy who seems fairly trustworthy, he hones all the razors and makes them shave ready. I think I got it for a fairly good price for a vintage razor (30$).

I then became worried due to the risks that come with with a vintage razor, specifically viruses and bacteria that could be left behind from a previous user.
I know it sounds far fetched but I really don't see the point in taking risks. I then contacted him and asked him how he disinfects his razors.
He told me that he disinfects his razors in an ultrasound cleaner with a mix of detergent and bactericide.

Now, forgive my ignorance if I'm wrong but from what I know; bactericide only works on bacteria, which alcohol can handle all by itself. Viruses are a big issue and can live on surfaces for well over 5 years; even longer if they are in a wet place. So, I've browsed google and have seen people recommending pressure cookers and autoclaves; I can't do either of those however due to the fact that the razor has a plastic handle which the intense heat would most certainly warp/melt. The two other most popular suggestions were Cidex which from what I hear is hard to obtain/dispose of (even more so since I live in Canada). The other choice is barbicide which advertises that it kills Hep and HIV. After mentioning barbicide to the seller he told me that it was an alcohol based sanitizer and it wouldn't work well.

If any of you guys could shed some light on the situation and recommend a solution I would be extremely thankful.

Oh since I'm posting this i'll add another newbie question in. I've recently been browsing ebay for a strop and I don't want to spend alot of money however I also don't want to get a lousy strop; a really cheap Zeepk strop caught my eye. Now, I've read the newbie post telling people to stay away from Zeepk Razors, but what about the strops?

Yay first post. I also feel like I should apologize for these walls of text; I've never really found a way to post text on a forum comfortably.

Edit: Bought it from this guy's site: http://www.theinvisibleedge.co.uk/

Bleach will kill everything. Just make sure to clean it afterwards.

I have a zeepk strop and wouldn't recommend it. The leather side is not smooth and is too stiff for my taste. I would recommend going to a cobbler and getting some leather or getting another beginner strop. Yes, I currently use the strop but I'm planning to make my own very soon. I just hope I haven't done any damage to the razor in the mean time. :shrug:

Thank you very much for the quick replies.
I recently saw an episode of mythbusters where they fill a gas tank with bleach which rusted it to hell.

Will that happen to the blade? How long should I keep it in the bleach for? Should I mix the bleach with water?

Edit: Would a wider strop be better for a beginner?

Bleach is fine. Barbacide is fine. The ten minute soak isn't going to rust your blade. Soak then let air dry with barbacide or any other alcohol based sanitizer.

Also, clean the razor first, although your refurbisher probably already did that.

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Originally Posted by They Call Me Blockhead

Bleach is fine. Barbacide is fine. The ten minute soak isn't going to rust your blade. Soak then let air dry with barbacide or any other alcohol based sanitizer.

Also, clean the razor first, although your refurbisher probably already did that.

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Two caveats:
1)Alcohol does not kill viruses.
2)If you soak the blade in bleach, do not air dry it. Rinse it off with a lot of water remove the bleach, otherwise, depending on the blade, it may rust.

Most viruses die within minutes of contact with air... they need a cell to live in. alcohol will kill bacteria and these cells.
The remaining risk is hepatitis, and it has been reportedly found live on surfaces as far out as 6 months, but not 5 years...
most viricidal agents strong enough to kill hepatitis would rot your scales right off the razor. however hepatitis doesn't have hands... it can't hold on to a surface, so hot soapy water will remove it from all but the most porous surfaces.
this only leaves the pivot area, and there just isn't much we can do about that...
hot soapy water followed by an alcohol dip will remove 99.9% of everything on the blade. if it has pits, pay extra close attention to them, but really beyond that, you have little to worry about.

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Originally Posted by claytor

I have a zeepk strop and wouldn't recommend it. The leather side is not smooth and is too stiff for my taste. I would recommend going to a cobbler and getting some leather or getting another beginner strop. Yes, I currently use the strop but I'm planning to make my own very soon. I just hope I haven't done any damage to the razor in the mean time. :shrug:

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+1 Agreed.

I was very disappointed with the Zeepk strop. Unfortunately I purchased it before finding SRP, so I was unaware of my mistake until it was too late.

As claytor mentioned, the leather is very stiff, and mine actually had a crease in the leather (rendering it pretty much useless) AND it was mishapen.

I'm not sure if everyone has been disappointed by Zeepk strops, but in my personal opinion...stay away.

I like to clean my razors using the following approach:

An acid bath
80 grit to 2000 grit
4 kinds of "rouges"
alcohol rinse
soap and water

I'm not quite sure where bleach fits in.

suggestions are welcome.

You could just replace the acid bath with a bleach bath, bleach is just a powerful base as opposed to powerful acid, so you'll get the same effect.

But the phosphoric acid eats rust :)

Then don't switch. I had only named the first thing that came to mind that would kill anything it came in contact with :w

I just use antibacterial soap, rinse, alcohol, rinse well and dry, then oil.

Thank you all for the quick replies.

With the following information I'll go with a:

antibacterial soap cleaning with toothbrush
Bleach bath for 10 i
Rinse with water
Alcohol for 10 mins
rinse with water
Clippercide it
soap it up again and rub some alcohol on it.
then oil.

Also, I'll stay away from the zeepk strop.
Any cheap ones you guys might be selling?

http://straightrazorpalace.com/showt...ight=disinfect

So where does one acquire phosphoric acid from? Also, obviously with acid, what precautions do you have to take when handling and disposing of it? I think I remember from Chemistry if diluting acid add acid to water not the other way around because it's an exothermic reaction that will release a lot of heat and cause it to splatter around.

^^ Good question bevansmw. I'd like to know as well.

Also, pardon my ignorance, but what is the oil useful for? Thanks!

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Originally Posted by myslin

antibacterial soap cleaning with toothbrush
Bleach bath for 10 i
Rinse with water
Alcohol for 10 mins
rinse with water
Clippercide it
soap it up again and rub some alcohol on it.
then oil.

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Or you could get a psychology textbook and look up "displacement".

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mike_ratliff

Most viruses die within minutes of contact with air... they need a cell to live in. alcohol will kill bacteria and these cells.
The remaining risk is hepatitis, and it has been reportedly found live on surfaces as far out as 6 months, but not 5 years...
most viricidal agents strong enough to kill hepatitis would rot your scales right off the razor. however hepatitis doesn't have hands... it can't hold on to a surface, so hot soapy water will remove it from all but the most porous surfaces.
this only leaves the pivot area, and there just isn't much we can do about that...
hot soapy water followed by an alcohol dip will remove 99.9% of everything on the blade. if it has pits, pay extra close attention to them, but really beyond that, you have little to worry about.

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+1

Growing up with a microbiologist and my wife having completed pre-med I can say just about everything in this post is spot-on target.

With barbicide do you put the entire razor (scales and all) into it and let it soak or just the blade? Will it discolor or adversely affect scales like ivory or others?

Just the blade. Especially if your scales are not plastic.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cwrighta70

...what is the oil useful for? Thanks!

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To prevent rust overall and keep the pivot smooth, especially useful in humid climates. Mineral and Camellia (tea seed) oil are pretty popular.

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Originally Posted by KingHarvest

Bleach will kill everything. Just make sure to clean it afterwards.

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Why do I not believe that bleach is the solution.. maybe it's because people don't use bleach for everything, even though bleach is available and cheap.

Clean and dry is the key.

I would never use an acid or bleach on a razor I treasure. Too much risk that the stuff will stay behind somewhere and ruin it, especially at the pivot.

There is only one sure way to completely sterilize a razor: remove the scales. Then you can sterilize the blade with heat/pressure or UV or by cleaning it completely and allowing it to dry.

You can soak the scales separately in Barbasol, and scrub them very clean and allow them to dry also.
Then, a session under UV light (outside in bright sunlight or in a toothbrush santizer) will make the scales safe.

But, if you don't take the razor apart, it is not possible to be assured that no germs remain behind in the pivot and around the pins.

If you can't take the razor apart, you must attempt to get as much dirt out of the pivot area as possible. I do this by inundating it with antibacterial dishwashing liquid and opening and closing the razor scores of times, and then rinsing while opening and closing the razor. This gets out a lot of dirt and corrosion.

I then rinse the blade under full hot tapwater for 20 seconds and then dry it thoroughly and set it aside to completely dry.

Then I repeat the same thing with sewing machine oil, opening and closing the razor and blotting out the excess oil with a paper towel.

I personally believe that after a treatment or two like this, the razor is clean and safe.

For antique razors I sell, I have been known to take them apart and re-pin them so that I can make sure they are completely clean.

Paul

I've been using a Dettol Disinfactant Spray that claims to Kill 99% of bacteria &viruses.You just spray it on the blade & allow it to dry .I usually follow up by Rinsing the blade under a very Hot tap ,Then follow with drying the blade with tissue until its completely dry .This seems to be Ok.
This is the same kind of disinfectant that is used in Hospitals.
Hope this is of help .Paul

While I am always careful, I would guess that honing would physically remove most of the metal any nasties are hanging out on.

If they manage to survive that, the ammonia in MAAS should knock them out.

If they can make it past that and a final wash and rinse with regular dish soap, then we're all screwed! :P

I have discussed this with 3 doctors and this is what I was told. Germs don't live on surfaces very long, but some have a longer life span than others. Most germs are killed with just soap and water or sanitizers of some kind. Aids is a weak virus and dies quickly, like within a day. So the only real threat is hepatitis which can live on surfaces where there has been blood contamination for a longer period of time, like a week or 10 days. They all told me that the best protection was to give things time to die. On old razors that no one has used in years and you are sure that no one has cut themselves with, no problems. 0n razors that have been restored and test shaved with, or sent out for sharpening there is more risk. Ask yourself, would you feel comfortable using a tattoo gun that had been used on someone you did not know and then wiped down with alcohol? I am not trying to alarm anyone as this is not a topic that should cause alarm. It is a topic where good information and common sense will make it a no brainer. The routine that I came up with, with the help of my doctors is that I soak my blades down with chlorhexidine( this is a solution used by physicians to sterilize their cold pack surgical instruments) for 20 min., then wipe them down with Clippersol to make sure they don't rust, and then I give them a rest for a couple of weeks before I add them to my rotation. A lot of you guys will probably consider this overkill & maybe it is but I sleep well at night & have enough razors that I can wait 2 weeks for a little piece of mind. Take this for what it's worth it's just the best information I could come up with. My suggestion to everyone is that you get information from your doctor on your next visit, so you can make an informed decision.
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Since long and thorough answers have already been given I'll go with my first impulse and say:

Spittle and a sleeve is what you need!

Is it me or does it seem that a lot of the responces here seem to border on OCD?

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Originally Posted by Doc

I have discussed this with 3 doctors and this is what I was told. Germs don't live on surfaces very long, but some have a longer life span than others. Most germs are killed with just soap and water or sanitizers of some kind. Aids is a weak virus and dies quickly, like within a day. So the only real threat is hepatitis which can live on surfaces where there has been blood contamination for a longer period of time, like a week or 10 days. They all told me that the best protection was to give things time to die. On old razors that no one has used in years and you are sure that no one has cut themselves with, no problems. 0n razors that have been restored and test shaved with, or sent out for sharpening there is more risk. Ask yourself, would you feel comfortable using a tattoo gun that had been used on someone you did not know and then wiped down with alcohol? I am not trying to alarm anyone as this is not a topic that should cause alarm. It is a topic where good information and common sense will make it a no brainer. The routine that I came up with, with the help of my doctors is that I soak my blades down with chlorhexidine( this is a solution used by physicians to sterilize their cold pack surgical instruments) for 20 min., then wipe them down with Clippersol to make sure they don't rust, and then I give them a rest for a couple of weeks before I add them to my rotation. A lot of you guys will probably consider this overkill & maybe it is but I sleep well at night & have enough razors that I can wait 2 weeks for a little piece of mind. Take this for what it's worth it's just the best information I could come up with. My suggestion to everyone is that you get information from your doctor on your next visit, so you can make an informed decision.
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My brother is a doctor and he made the same point about letting it sit for a while.