Thread: Prep for my new vintage razor!

You can not sterilize the razor without putting it through an autoclave. This would almost certainly destroy the scales and you probably don't have an autoclave anyway.

You can disinfect the razor with a number of different chemicals. Disinfection is defined as a process that reduces the number of pathogens to an acceptably low level but not to zero (sterilization is defined as eliminating all pathogens).

Alcohols are intermediate level disinfectants. They kill many pathogens, but are simply not effective against some, for example tuberculosis, anthrax, other spore forming bacteria.

Ethyl alcohol (70%) will kill almost all viruses
Isopropyl alcohol will kill all but hydrophilic viruses. The good news is HIV and hepititus C are not hydrophilic. I don't know about hep A or B, but you can (and should) be vaccinated against these.

For alcohol or any other disinfectant to work, the surface must be clean - that means free of dirt, grease, scale etc. So you need to wash it well with soap and water.

Once it is clean, it must be exposed to the disinfectant for a long enough time, for alcohols, this is usually 20-30 minutes. Since alcohols generally evaporate quickly, this means you cannot just spray or wipe the blade, it must be immersed.

Alcohol will attack celluloid scales, but not bakelite and most modern plastics.