Thread: blade antiseptic

If you do soak your razor in alcohol, I would recommend just immersing the blade, not the entire razor.

Alcohol may damage your scales--if they are immersed in it.

Originally Posted by jhenry

If you do soak your razor in alcohol, I would recommend just immersing the blade, not the entire razor.

Alcohol may damage your scales--if they are immersed in it.

If you are unsure of the scale material and how it will react with alcohol, I absolutely agree. However, if you know the material they're made of, you should be able to ascertain how they'd "handle" it. Stainless steel would obviously be fine in alcohol, as should most modern plastics (remember isopropyl alcohol is stored in a plastic bottle). Now if your scales are made from an animal product, plant product or other porous material, I'd be a little more careful. You may also want to consider what dies, varnishes, sealers, etc may have been used in their manufacture.

If one had to make a blanket statement for all scale types, yes avoid soaking them in alcohol. But with a little research on each particular material, users should be able to make an educated choice on a case by case basis. For example: I have a new Dovo with a black plastic scales(my only razor so far), and if I were to let another person use it, I wouldn't bat an eye at immersing the whole thing in some isopropyl.

Another thing to consider is frequency. Disinfecting with alcohol once or twice a year when you let someone else use your razor is potentially WAY different from soaking it for 10 minutes after every shave.

No chemicals are needed. You use soap to shave. You wipe the soap off the blade multiple times during the shave. Soap kills germs, and a clean blade has nothing that can grow germs. Down in the pivot pin germs could grow, but you never touch your face with the pivot.

I shaved for months and months and never got any zits afterward. Then I switched back to a DE for a while and occasionally I would get pimples because there was bacteria growing inside the buttferly action of the razor and I hadn't changed the blade.

What barber's do to comply with public health regs, we have no need for.

It's possible the "zits" from the DE were actually pseudofolliculitis barbae (PFB), or more commonly know as "razor bumps." And I would only disinfect my blade if it were shared among different people. Shaving soap is generally not antibacterial so it will not kill germs; what it will do is remove organic matter (skin cells, hair, blood) so the germs have no "food" to grow on. I would alcohol dip it if I were to loan it to someone, but otherwise, hot water and shave soap satisfy my hygienic needs. Now, regardless of disinfectant use between, I'd never knowingly share my razor with someone who had one of the nastier, harder to kill bugs (TB, Hep B, Hep C, HIV, etc).

good thread,

Kirk

I know that sharing razors is a transimission hazard for Hepatitis B and C. Regular alcohol will not kill these viruses, but a 1:10 bleach water solution will.

This happens every time this type of discussion comes up. The nuclear option of bleach is NOT a viable option if you don't know what you are doing with it. So, you've got to ask yourself one question. "Do I feel lucky?" Well, do ya?

DO NOT BLEACH YOUR RAZOR...

unless you are prepared to watch your razor rust before your eyes. Yes, it is possible to successfully disinfect a razor with bleach if you do the right things afterwards to remove the rust caused by the bleach and to stop the continued formation of rust, but too often this just leads to a trashed razor.

As far as razors go, bleach equals rust.

Originally Posted by Utopian

This happens every time this type of discussion comes up. The nuclear option of bleach is NOT a viable option if you don't know what you are doing with it. So, you've got to ask yourself one question. "Do I feel lucky?" Well, do ya?

DO NOT BLEACH YOUR RAZOR...

unless you are prepared to watch your razor rust before your eyes. Yes, it is possible to successfully disinfect a razor with bleach if you do the right things afterwards to remove the rust caused by the bleach and to stop the continued formation of rust, but too often this just leads to a trashed razor.

As far as razors go, bleach equals rust.

+1 on this.

Bottom line do not share kit. By not sharing kit
sanitizing is the right language.

After any application of a sanitizing agent rinse well
in hot tap water and after drying well lightly oil the entire
blade including the pivot area, jimps and tail.

When I first got started with a straight razon over 30 years ago, I started with a 60 dollar one and use water to clean it. Wrong, wrong, thats a no, no, steel rusts (even stainless steel rusts) and if you think about it, the edge is so thin.... don't know how many microns, but its so thin that the rust will form on that edge during your shave. I don't even use alcohol on my 100 dollar blade, stroping it will remove anything on there. Now if your a barber thats different, all the barbers here in florida use replaceable blades, but for home use I don't see the point unless your shaving your friends.

Always use soap on you face and refesh the soap if it drys, I know soap drys quickly in places where the climate is dry or in the winter. You want the blade to move as soon as it comes in contact with your skin other wise it will draw blood (cute) I've never cut myself yet in and thats mainly because of the lenght of the blade and surface pressure on your skin.

I'm guessing there might be some water in with your soap. If not, that's going to be a fairly uncomfortable shave. Sure you want to prevent corrosion but there is a point of diminishing returns that certainly is crossed if you avoid all water contact on your blade.