Thread: Sterilizing Razors

I leave mine soaking in barbicide for at least a day if it's used. Barbicide will destroy any oil or other lubrication on the razor. This goes for adjustable safety razors, too. It turns it into some kind of weird gel. In another post just like this one, somebody had the temps for loss of temper and somebody else said that they use surgical soap. I think that thread started as a barbicide thread, or one about sterilizing a brush...might have been on b&b now that I think about it.

Going back to sterilization of razors. First and foremost, do NOT use bleach on your razors ever, especially at 30% dilutions. Complete sterilization is almost impossible to achieve under normal household conditions. Sterilization of razors is not required to prevent infections during shaving, especially if you are the single user of the razor. There are chemical methods that are are widely used by the food industry that could potentially be used to sanitize razors. Chemicals used to sanitize razors should contain a surfactant to penetrate microscopic crevices in the metal, that is why antibacterial soap works well. Perhaps there is a need for a portable gamma ray sterilization unit ;-). This could be a great business opportunity ;-).

Al raz.

After I buff and polish with my dremmel there is no way anything can be left alive on my razors.

bj

I sell restored razors. What I do after shave testing the razor is to wash the whole works down in Betadine operating room scrub. Almost all of the methods here will kill 99% of everything. Even soap and water will do most of the work. There are only a few pathogens that Betadine won't kill - mostly fungi. The hardest part to clean - between the scales, if you choose not to dissasemble them. I usually go at them with a Q tip.

I've usually poured boiling water on the blade. Not sure if this is recommended or not.

Barbicide themselves say it won't corrode metals:

http://www.king-research.com/barbicide.html