wife: used razors bring infection

My wife is grossed out that I buy old razors and fix them up for use. She says that razors are 'personal' items that should not be used by more than one person.

I explained that these are not cartridge razors that get gunked up with stuff like the cartridge razors and that she has nothing to worry about. The next argument was that I was going to get an infectious disease from using them. I tried to explain that a) Hepatitis B only lives outside the body for about a week...there's no way that a 100 year-old razor is going to carry the disease. Even then, I've been vaccinated for HepB. b) HIV/AIDS wasn't even around 100 years ago, so there's no worrying about that, besides, the HIV virus dies within a couple minutes of being outside the host. c) I've explained that once the blade is sanded, polished, and then honed, that the metal underneath has never touched another person.

She's still leery.

Anybody else have this problem?

I don't lol. She's stubborn, huh?

Also, there is such a thing as Barber-cide. You can also just soak them in rubbing alcohol or hydrogen-perioxide (or both) and they'll be sterile enough to perform surgery with. I wouldn't recommend the performing surgery, but shaving with them is a good idea :-)!

Tell her to stop borrowing them then.

I'd say that marriage is much more dangerous considering you run a high risk of getting a tumor that will afflict you for 18+ years.

I bet she's not trying to stop you from being married.

Redirect her concern by buying used underwear from a thrift store.

Does she throw away all forks, spoons and knives whenever you have had people over for a meal?
They put these things in their mouths... Yuck...

;)
Bart.

Tell her the internet said she is wrong....


Usually by the time i finish restoring/honing a blade, i've removed enough steel that i'm not worried about it. I have clippercide if i'm feeling paranoid.

I've never worried about it personally. I have a large collection of vintage tobacco pipes that were well smoked by someone before I got them. After I am gone someone else will be smoking them too. :) I do clean those up fastidiously before I use them though.

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Originally Posted by keenedge

Redirect her concern by buying used underwear from a thrift store.

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LOL ... Sounds like a cure all here...LOL :)

And if you mention the make-up testers in stores, you'll probably get a good hidin' :D. There's cooties everywhere!

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Originally Posted by Deryan

LOL ... Sounds like a cure all here...LOL :)

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I think this is a good idea. I have found from personal experience that a wife needs something to worry about. As a husband you have done something wrong. It's just a matter of how much incessant nagging your wife needs to do before she finds out what you are doing wrong.
Your wife obviously thinks you are doing something wrong by using a razor that has been used by another person. There is no point in trying to argue the point, especially with your wife. I would suggest diverting her attention by doing something like leaving your dirty underwear on the floor or not putting the toilet seat down. Do this for a few weeks and she will forget all about how you are using a used razor.

Two things:

1) Barbicide. Not to mention you hit all the salient points already when it comes to the survivability of these viruses/infectious molecules. But Barbicide should take care of residual.......paranoia. *ahem* (hey, I have barbicide to take care of mine) Just keep presenting her with the facts. She's just concerned based on misinformation; she obviously loves and just wants the best for you, but just keep giving her facts. Some people just get misinformation, and when they get the truth, they ease up.

2) I wonder if your wife believes all those surgical and medical instruments used in her gynecologist's/general practitioners office and hospitals are disposed of after one use?? Is there anything more "personal" than some of those instruments?

I worked as a hospital pharmacist for 14 years (before sliding into software development.) When working under the laminar flow hood preparing intravenous preparations, everything had to be sterile. We would swab the top of a vial, for example, with isopropyl alcohol 70% and let it sit for a minute. It was sterile!

Swab the blade with isopropyl alcohol and you'll be OK. Tell her to ask her friendly pharmacist down the street if she doesn't believe Ol Lar!

I have discussed this with 3 doctors and this is what I was told. Germs don't live on surfaces very long, but some have a longer life span than others. Most germs are killed with just soap and water or sanitizers of some kind. Aids is a weak virus and dies quickly, like within a day. So the only real threat is hepatitis which can live on surfaces where there has been blood contamination for a longer period of time, like a week or 10 days. They all told me that the best protection was to give things time to die. On old razors that no one has used in years and you are sure that no one has cut themselves with, no problems. 0n razors that have been restored and test shaved with, or sent out for sharpening there is more risk. Ask yourself, would you feel comfortable using a tattoo gun that had been used on someone you did not know and then wiped down with alcohol? I am not trying to alarm anyone as this is not a topic that should cause alarm. It is a topic where good information and common sense will make it a no brainer. The routine that I came up with, with the help of my doctors is that I soak my blades down with chlorhexidine( this is a solution used by physicians to sterilize their cold pack surgical instruments) for 20 min., then wipe them down with Clippersol to make sure they don't rust, and then I give them a rest for a couple of weeks before I add them to my rotation. A lot of you guys will probably consider this overkill & maybe it is but I sleep well at night & have enough razors that I can wait 2 weeks for a little piece of mind. Take this for what it's worth it's just the best information I could come up with. My suggestion to everyone is that you get information from your doctor on your next visit, so you can make an informed decision.

My wife's only concerned with how much I spend on the razors.

Well, since you have all the good advice you need, I'll provide something silly:

Tell her that you wear a condom whenever you shave. :D

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Originally Posted by New2CutThroats

she obviously loves and just wants the best for you, but just keep giving her facts.

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Now let's not jump to conclusions here! And I just can't in good conscience let the man think that giving his wife facts mights actually resolve anything.

I would try to focus on acknowledging how she feeeeeeeels about this, and how good and important her concerns are. And then she'll be fine with you keeping doing what you were doing.

:gth

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Originally Posted by radaddict

Well, since you have all the good advice you need, I'll provide something silly:

Tell her that you wear a condom whenever you shave. :D

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:roflmao .

I have been using a strong contact disinfectant that claims to kill 99% of germs & virusis on all the old blades that have come into my possesion & I have had no problems. Speaking to my barber he said that the stuff I was using was probably stronger than babercide. Paul

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Originally Posted by slt5103

Also, there is such a thing as Barber-cide. You can also just soak them in rubbing alcohol or hydrogen-perioxide (or both) and they'll be sterile enough to perform surgery with. I wouldn't recommend the performing surgery, but shaving with them is a good idea :-)!

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Not sterile enough for surgery. I was a certified central service tech for quite a few years. We would either use an ethylene oxide gas or autoclave to sterilize surgical instruments. These are two of the ways you can guarantee killing all pathological microorganisms. Spores are the hardest to kill. All surgical instruments are completely, I do mean completely, cleaned before any sterilization can be done. Some of them do get quite messy.

Has anyone taken the scales off then had the blade autoclaved to sterilize it?

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Originally Posted by Bart

Does she throw away all forks, spoons and knives whenever you have had people over for a meal?
They put these things in their mouths... Yuck...

;)
Bart.

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What he said. Btw, my wife doesn't mind at all. She is just glad I shave. And she's a supervisor in a microbiology lab. She knows what is safe and what isn't. If a razor is sterilized and cleaned properly, it is ok.

That said, most of my razors are restored by me. So after hours and hours of sanding, polishing and creating a fresh bevel... anything that was there is dead.

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Originally Posted by keenedge

Redirect her concern by buying used underwear from a thrift store.

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man that's funny

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Originally Posted by New2CutThroats

1) Barbicide. Not to mention you hit all the salient points already when it comes to the survivability of these viruses/infectious molecules. But Barbicide should take care of residual.......paranoia. *ahem* (hey, I have barbicide to take care of mine) Just keep presenting her with the facts. She's just concerned based on misinformation; she obviously loves and just wants the best for you, but just keep giving her facts. Some people just get misinformation, and when they get the truth, they ease up.

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I agree about the paranoia, but bringing up Barbicide with the wifey probably won't work since she'll throw it back as saying that it's not tuberculocidal so it can't be a hospital grade disinfectant.

heck, I could tell her I'll take all new blades to the dental office I work and autoclave them, or use Gluteraldehyde cold sterile... :shrug:

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Originally Posted by Boker

Not sterile enough for surgery. I was a certified central service tech for quite a few years. We would either use an ethylene oxide gas or autoclave to sterilize surgical instruments. These are two of the ways you can guarantee killing all pathological microorganisms. Spores are the hardest to kill. All surgical instruments are completely, I do mean completely, cleaned before any sterilization can be done. Some of them do get quite messy.

Has anyone taken the scales off then had the blade autoclaved to sterilize it?

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Never did.

For the sake of the argument: if you cut yourself completely open, and then forcefully shove the scales inside the wound, then you might indeed get infected, assuming that any dangerous pathogens survived years or decades in an environment that is as bad as it get for microbiological agents.

Spores don't die, but they was off. Now, of course, suppose your scales were tainted with anthrax spores, and you cut yourself, and forcefully insert the scales under your skin. Then it could get tricky. :)

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Originally Posted by radaddict

Tell her that you wear a condom whenever you shave. :D

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lol...comedy.:rofl2:

Originally Posted by radaddict http://straightrazorpalace.com/image...s/viewpost.gif
Tell her that you wear a condom whenever you shave. :D

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Originally Posted by red96ta

lol...comedy.:rofl2:

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I gotta second or third this one - that is hysterical

andy

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Originally Posted by Bruno

So after hours and hours of sanding, polishing and creating a fresh bevel... anything that was there is dead.

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This doesn't actually kill them. It removes the surface to which they were attached. They are actually GONE along with all the material that was removed.

She's actually right.





Once you buy a used razor, next thing you know you've been infected with RAD, and spend tons of time browsing Ebay, Cassified, antique stores.....

ah ha! I knew there was a logical reason for this....

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Originally Posted by Seraphim

She's actually right.





Once you buy a used razor, next thing you know you've been infected with RAD, and spend tons of time browsing Ebay, Cassified, antique stores.....

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Originally Posted by keenedge

Redirect her concern by buying used underwear from a thrift store.

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Now , that's funny. Of course I've done that, but it's still funny.