Thread: Autoclaving a used razor(?)

whats good.

i was gonna post this in the newb section but i figured i might have better luck here since my question is kinda technical...

i've been shaving using a straight razor with disposable blades and finally got my technique down to where i can shave anywhere on my face/neck with confidence and more importantly the patience to do it right. so i did my research and saw that it might be smart to get a used razor and practice with that on the strap rather then spend $150-$250 on a nice razor and ruin it before i even get to enjoy it.

being that i was a body piercer for some years and get tattooed almost bi-weekly the first thought that came to my mind was crosscontamination when buying a used razor. i have access to an autoclave and thought i could use it on the raozr to kill any and all germs and microbes that might be on it (lets face it, you never know if someone had something or cut them self when testing). if the razor sits in a machine that produces 400-1200 degrees in heat and 30lbs of pressure, is it going to get messed up?

Probably. Think thin warpable plastic scales. Any other scale material I can think of would fare worse except the few stainless scaled razors out there. I don't know if it would do anything to the blade, as far as dull it or anything.

THe good news is that a couple of days in the open air will kill most microbes. Then soap and water will get most of the rest, add an alcohol wipe down and I think the chances are great anything on there is well decontaminated.

If there are enough nooks and cranies on the blade to support life by the time you have polished and honed the razor back to usefulness you have probably scraped the life off along wih the layer of steel removed in the polishing process.

I've done a fair amount of research on autoclaving razors. First of all, there are three types of autoclaves: steam, dry heat and dry heat with quartz balls. A steam autoclave operates at about 275 °F, the dry heat autoclave at about 375 °F and the dry heat with quartz autoclave is the hottest at about 475 °F. All the autoclaves will melt plastic scales. You could remove the scales, sterilize the razor in a steam autoclave and repin them. In my opinion, the dry heat autoclaves are too close to the tempering heat of steel and I wouldn't recommend them.

Now, I really don't think a used razor needs to autoclaved. I think that dipping the blade in boiling water for a few minutes ought to be enough. The only time a razor would need to be autoclaved would be if it were used in a barbershop to shave the public.

Be careful with boiling water......I did it to two razors I had honed by somebody and in just a few minutes, rust appeared on them and the edges were damaged.
I would just run boiling water over them and dry them immediately.

And from the "how to straighten warped scales" experiment that gssixgun did, you'll have to clean the scales pretty well if you boil them because the minerals in the water will turn them chalky white!

I agree with Tim - no need to go crazy here - just soap and water, and then a little rubbing alcohol. Also, as mentioned, the honing will probably remove most anything anyhow.

Mark

...and just in case you're interested, here's the link:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...ed-scales.html

just remember that this is what happens after just a few seconds in boiling water - so while you can straighten them, I'd also say the reverse is true (i.e. they can warp in boiling water).

Mark