Thread: Alcohol Dip

I dont think alcohol will hurt your blades but it also aient going to serilize them either.

I use 99% rubbing alcohol to wipe down new to me blades after polishing and honing. Even 99% alcohol contains 1% water... I would not leave a blade in it for a long time... might be cause for some corrosion.

As for the time it takes to disinfect.... when you get a hypodermic shot, the doc/nurse swabs your skin with alcohol for less than 5 seconds. If that's good enough for the pros, it's good enough for me..... I do carefully rub the blade with a swab to give it some mechanical cleaning but considering I've already ground away the surface of the the bevels, there's presumably little left to worry about except whatever might be on my hone/strop.

I agree we should never be careless about this sort of thing, but really... when was the last time you swabbed your hand and your kitchen/pocket knife before cutting yourself in the kitchen/shop? Personally, I get nicked or cut on almost a daily basis at work and there is no possibility of having what I have to work with, cleaned. I'm a letter carrier and I have to deal with 300 old "Approved by the Postmaster General in 1872" type sheet metal mailboxes with lots of sharp edges on the inside (there are times when I'm actually thankful for things *NOT* being made like they used to! ) and I'm always getting cut..... Fortunatly for me, I'm still here to complain about it!

Just my two cents worth.....


Regards

Christian

Alcohol will actually displace water and encourage evaporation, even if there's water in the alcohol

Originally Posted by kaptain_zero

I use 99% rubbing alcohol to wipe down new to me blades after polishing and honing. Even 99% alcohol contains 1% water... I would not leave a blade in it for a long time... might be cause for some corrosion.

As for the time it takes to disinfect.... when you get a hypodermic shot, the doc/nurse swabs your skin with alcohol for less than 5 seconds. If that's good enough for the pros, it's good enough for me..... I do carefully rub the blade with a swab to give it some mechanical cleaning but considering I've already ground away the surface of the the bevels, there's presumably little left to worry about except whatever might be on my hone/strop.

I agree we should never be careless about this sort of thing, but really... when was the last time you swabbed your hand and your kitchen/pocket knife before cutting yourself in the kitchen/shop? Personally, I get nicked or cut on almost a daily basis at work and there is no possibility of having what I have to work with, cleaned. I'm a letter carrier and I have to deal with 300 old "Approved by the Postmaster General in 1872" type sheet metal mailboxes with lots of sharp edges on the inside (there are times when I'm actually thankful for things *NOT* being made like they used to! ) and I'm always getting cut..... Fortunatly for me, I'm still here to complain about it!

Just my two cents worth.....


Regards

Christian

What, you think they dont disinfect the needle too?
The swab is to clean your arm...the needle has already been cleaned by the time you see it.

Use this Hydrogen Peroxide H2O2 Secrets THEY Don't Want You to Know then soap and water and let dry.

Me, I used the new blade out of the box and then washed it with soap and water. I hope I don't die now.

This is my process:

- clean the blades (soap and water)
- immerse 20 minutes in Hydrogen peroxide. Usually the blade only. I experimented with some old black rubber scales and found that several days in Hydrogen peroxide will eventually cause them to discolour but a 20 minute bath seems ok.
- rinse with water, dry
- wipe down thoroughly with isopropyl alcohol.

Originally Posted by Mvcrash

Use this Hydrogen Peroxide H2O2 Secrets THEY Don't Want You to Know then soap and water and let dry.

Me, I used the new blade out of the box and then washed it with soap and water. I hope I don't die now.

Do not do this, guys... oxidation is the last thing I want to promote on my blades, and H2O2 will destroy any steel... I use to dip the blade on formaldehyde (10% formalin) for about 10 minutes and wipe off any remaining fluid with a cotton swab. Formaldehyde destroys both protein and DNA/RNA so nothing alive remains, and evaporates completely without leaving residues.
I do not perform this often, just when I suspect they're contaminated with something "alien-to-shave den". I live on a tropical country and there is a lot of critters here... almost impossible to control 24/7. Bugs, roaches, slugs and fungi abound here, and sometimes I forget a razor on countertop after shaving, without returning them to the dry jar. I oil them only at rainy season with pure mineral oil. Never got a problem this way.

Barbicide??

Originally Posted by Phoenix51

Barbicide??

Barbicide is the best...kills everything and has an anti-rust component...whenever I get a new blade, it's gets a twenty minute bath in the stuff....it's Barbicide...that's what it's made for LOL!

Originally Posted by Doc

I dont think alcohol will hurt your blades but it also aient going to serilize them either.

Being a Doctor and all I guess you would know.

It sounds like a waste of perfectly good alcohol to me! I would prefer to drink it over getting my blades soused as they are pretty mean drunks!!