Thread: Sterilizing "New to Me" razors

Originally Posted by Sunsi

Would there be any reasons to use or not use iodine?

If it touches the scales they could be ruined.
Even plastic absorbs enough that it could be visible for ever.

My wife once dropped a small bottle of iodine on the bathroom floor.
There were spatters everywhere, and they were there to stay.
Luckily the bathroom is one of the unfinished parts of the house, so no lasting damage is done.

Barbercide was designed for dipping sheers and razors by barbers I would have thought it was safe for the most common scales out there... I don;t remember seeing Alcohol in the ingredient list of my Marvicide either. I'll have to check

Boiling water anyone?

Originally Posted by Taz

Are you sure about that. My bottle does not list alcohol. I have only done about 7 straights but had no problem, maybe just been lucky.

Well, the MSDS (Materials Safety Data Sheet) available on King Research's web site all list Isopropyl alcohol as an ingredient. Admittedly, after mixing the barbecide or barbecide plus concentrate with water the concentration in the mix will be low. Clipercide is about 45% Isopropyl alcohol and since it is used straight from the can, probably has the worst risk.

As far as I know, the risk is only to celluloid handles. Other materials, such as bakelite, bone, ivory, wood and other plastics are probably safe, but I will stand corrected if someone else knows more.

MSDS's for Barbecide, Barbecide Plus and Clippercide

Barbicide_MSDS.pdf

Barbicide_Plus_MSDS.pdf

Clippercide_Spray_MSDS.pdf

I use rubbing alcohol before the first shave and after every every shave. That's it. I don't think that's underestimating the power of the virus. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

If you want to be sure you can take this advise. I don't know who gave it first, but I quote it here for you:

"Having worked in the medical field for 20 years, 7 of which was in Microbiology, I'm going to get in my 2 cents.

The only way to sterilize something is with an autoclave as was mentioned earlier. This would turn scales into a pile of worthless melted goo. You need high temperature and pressure to kill any spores that might be present.

A 10% solution of bleach and water is all that is required to kill 99% of all bacteria and viruses out there. The only thing it can't get is the spores that require the heat and pressure that was mentioned above. 10% bleach is approved by all agencys that monitor our medical labs and we are required to clean our work benches after every shift with it. Using a stronger solution isn't any more effective because the spores can survive even straight bleach.

Bleach is not a good solution to use on metal though and over a period of time you will start to see pitting on the surface. We have stainless steel counters in our lab and at first glance they look pretty good but on closer inspection, you can see the damage that the bleach has slowly done.

Boiling water is very effective in killing organisms as is lysol, listerine, and any good anti-bacterial hand soap. Boiling a kettle of water and pouring it over the razor blade does a great job and I have done it many times. I just keep it off the scales because I'm not sure how the heat would affect them.

I have no idea what is in the barbercide but I doubt that it will kill any harmful spores. They resist everything short of autoclaving. Having said that, spores are generally airborne and the chances of having any on a blade is pretty slim. If you were to receive a razor that had lots of spores on it, you would have already been exposed to them by just opening up the box and moving the razor through the air.

The HIV virus is a very fragile virus and cannot be exposed to air for more then a couple of minutes before it dies. You would have to take a razor from an infected person and use it within minutes to have even a small chance of contracting it.
The Hepatitis virus is a little heartier and could hang around on a used blade for awhile. Hepatitis is alot easier to contract then HIV. Hepatitis was the main concern with Barbers and is why they had to go with disposable blades. It is the main hazard in my field also, I have been stuck with 4 dirty needles over the past 20 years and fortunately I haven't contracted anything.

Bottom line, your skin is a pretty good barrier against organisms. If you clean your blade with a good disinfectant or use boiling water, your chances of getting anything is slim. I would bet a good soak in a glass of original listerine would kill the same amount of bacteria that the Barbacides do"

A quick search for 'autoclave' also reveals this.

X

Originally Posted by FredS

Boiling water anyone?

How temperature resistant are the scales? Steam or boiling water would be at 212 deg F at sea level. I believe most autoclaves run at about 250 deg F, which is also where most kitchen double boilers run.

The Texas Barber Code calls for sterilization with 12 minutes of live steam. This could probably be done in a vegetable steamer provided the scales can take the heat.

Listen I work in a medical practice, I have worked in the medical feild for a long time. You would need to autoclave at 250 to 270 degrees F. at 200 psi for at least 15 min. What do you think that would do to a scale, Let alone a high carbon blade, If you really want to see, Send me a razor and I will take pictures. The HIV Virus is very fragile, If exposed to air, it dies in about ten seconds, Hep is a different story, But it is not sterilising that kills it, Getting it out of the area is the best thing. That's why we "WASH" instraments befor the autoclave, and I do not know of any surgical cleaner that is geranteed to kill either virus.

By the way, Live steam will only give a good medium for bacteria to grow once it cools, bacteria love warm, moist, places.
my2 cents
Phil

Originally Posted by floridaboy

Listen I work in a medical practice, I have worked in the medical feild for a long time. You would need to autoclave at 250 to 270 degrees F. at 200 psi for at least 15 min. What do you think that would do to a scale, Let alone a high carbon blade, If you really want to see, Send me a razor and I will take pictures. The HIV Virus is very fragile, If exposed to air, it dies in about ten seconds, Hep is a different story, But it is not sterilising that kills it, Getting it out of the area is the best thing. That's why we "WASH" instraments befor the autoclave, and I do not know of any surgical cleaner that is geranteed to kill either virus.

I agree that you cannot kill spore forming bacteria with live steam. As to the autoclave and its effect on the scales:

The pressure doesn't matter, it's the temperature that causes the harm. 250-270 degrees in an autoclave would be the same as exposure to 250-270 degree superheated steam at atmospheric pressure. The pressure in an autoclave simply allows you to produce saturated steam at the elevated temperatures. Incidently, at 200 psig, you would need to have a temperature of 388 degrees F to generate steam. At 250-270 degrees, the pressure could only be 15-27 psig for an all steam atmosphere.

I'm not sure how temperature resistent scales are, probably different for different materials.