Hi Seniors,
Recently I won a vintage Genco Geneva straight razor from bay. A few frnds of mine scaring me that the razor can contain a dangerous disease like AIDS and other harmful diseases.
My question to all seniors that is it possible, if yes, then what to do ??
Please help me.
Regards
Yes, it's entirely possible. All your questions are answered in this article: Sterilization - Straight Razor Place Wiki.
Happy reading.
Robin
What are you going to do with the razor? :)
If to have a shave, alcohol (95%) will be enough, if to cut veins it's possible to get ill.
IMHO.
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.
Doc, May be, I understood wrong. But what risk with restored razor? I use sandpaper, polish, hones. The microbes can not live inside the metal. After restoration, the razor like new.
Hey, Doc,
It's as they say, really: two doctors, three opinions. Or was that lawyers?
Anyhow, I would really like to encourage everyone to read the Sansnom's article in the Wiki. Thoroughly.
Sterilization - Straight Razor Place Wiki
"Suggested methods to sterilize a razor
Now then, to break it down to a simple regimen that will assuage all the paranoid ones out there I've come up with 2 simple regimens which you can use based on what you have laying around:
Ethyl Alcohol + Hydrogen Peroxide USP
1. Soak in Ethyl Alcohol (70%), 10 mins
2. Soak in Hydrogen Peroxide USP (3%), 10 mins
3. Rinse under extremely hot water.
Active Ammonium Chloride
1. Wipe with Clorox/CVS/(Whatever brand as long as it has the active Ammonium Chloride listed above and EPA registration numbers on the back) Disinfecting wipes, THOROUGHLY, and allow to air dry. If you have a spray, thoroughly spray down the razor, allow to sit for a few minutes (10?) and wipe clean.
2. Rinse under extremely hot water."
http://straightrazorpalace.com/srpwi..._chemicals.gif
Doc is referencing that most Restorers/Honemiester's test shave the razor...Quote:
Originally Posted by manah
Best insurance... buy a bottle of Barbicide... I think I paid around 4$ at my local barber's supply store. It's also sold on that... popular auction web site.
exactly thanks Glen!!!!!
Thank u all serniors. more discussion need for the topic. more discussion = more knowledge.
Regards all
...realized.
Thanks Glen and Doc.:)
I keep some clippercide around for when i am feeling paranoid.
But if i restore a razor i'm usually not too worried about it.
Let us know when they are up Glen!
There is one that you have to worry about.... it is RAD.... Razor acquisition disorder. I caught it and found that there is no cure. :cry: Excuse me, I have to go check my ebay and see when the next one is ending. :banghead:
Doc=Correct
Aids virus cannot live outside of the body for more than a few hours. Hepatitis lives for several days.
Unless someone cuts themselves on it while they are packaging it, shipping it, or delivering it, you should be ok as there shouldn't be any viable contagions remaining.
This is just what I remember from a few years of annual OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens training.
We're trained to put on gloves and wash any bodily fluids with a 10% bleach solution, so maybe that would work.
**Legal Fine Print: I'm no doctor, but I played one in college.
Zip
Just a correction - you cannot 'sterilize' a razor with ethyl alcohol, bleach etc etc etc. Sterilization is a process requiring the use of an autoclave and is a timed standard procedure. As it involves extreme heat it isn't suitable for razors in general as handles can be very badly affected. What is being talked about above is DISINFECTION, a different process to achieve much the same result i.e. the destruction of harmful bacteria.Quote:
Originally Posted by BeBerlin
Barbicide is a good bet as it is a specific solution for disinfection but sodium hypochlorite (common bleach) will kill just about any germ you care to mention though might no be to good on the handles!
My other half told me all about this - she used to work in the pathology labs at our local hospital and I used to take part in infection control regimes in a previous life as a supplier of commercial and industrial cleaning solutions and disinfectants - which we also supplied to hospitals.
also guys you want to be careful with Clorox as it will cause rust and pitting
The insight gained from discussions on this forum is of a high standard. However, as mother said:Quote:
Originally Posted by hothotpot
"You need to be able to sort the wheat from the chaff"
As someone who likes her piercings and tattoos, I've done a fair bit of research into this, which would apply to many other areas, like this one.
In the case of AIDS specifically. There has never - read: NEVER - been a recorded cause of HIV transfered by tattooing, or piercing.
Why?
Because the HIV virus is extremely fragile. It dies pretty much immediately when in contact with open air, heat, cold, or pretty much anything else. It requires a moist, dark space to survive. Even if a tattoo artist or piercer used the same needles for 100 clients, as long as they put it down for more than 20 seconds between uses, there is no risk at all. Not that I'm advocating careless safety precautions, as obviously there are other things to worry about, but just putting out a mind-easing truth.
Hepatitis is much tough virus, but it also has its limits. A strong disinfectant will do the trick. Intense sterilization (such as autoclaving) is only required when there may be very small nooks and crannies that are hard to clean intensively (such as the tiny spacers in a tattoo machine). Many hospitals, dentists, and body modifcation studios still autoclave even when it isn't strictly necessary simply because, well, they have access to it and it's better safe than sorry for the sake of your patients or clients.
But really, with something like a straight razor, there is no need at all to be that concerned about it.
HIV can't live without a host very long. Talk to a Virologist, but I'd ballpark a few minutes at most. I'm unaware of any BBP's that can live outside a host anywhere near long enough that a resold razor would be any threat. It's probably got the same bacteria any other piece of carbon steel is apt to have on its surface and that's all... I'd consider tetanus the highest risk, and as mentioned, Hep (C is it? the one you get from prison tats) on razors that were very recently used.
Stainless are even better as I seem to recall stainless being a very mild antibacterial (like silver, but weaker).
Want to be sure? I'm unaware of anything outside of some viruses discovered in magma that could live through fire. Don't go nuts with it and screw up the blade though. Remember the conductivity of steel.
I caught that one with my very first razor. I'm learning to live with it.Quote:
Originally Posted by JimmyHAD
I've got the cure - regular vaccinations i.e. the same pathogen until you build an immunity to them. That's how I ended with hundreds of razors. Works really well.Quote:
Originally Posted by Miner123
Thank all you guys. learn a lot. share more experiences here.
Just wondering if boiling water does the trick or can these organisms survive in such temperatures.
Cheers,
I'd rather dip it in alcohol than in boiling water. The heat can effect the tempering of the blade if I'm not mistaken. Might mess up the scales too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Frankenstein
I am not sure but boilling water may effect the temper of razor.
From my linited knowledge on the subject (being a paramedic) most of what has been said is pretty accurate. I plan to get some good old Barbacide and soak the blades. Do my restore send them to be honed and then throw them back in the Barbacide. I should be fine.
If it matters, in my line of work I am more concerned about TB and Hep C than HIV.
I use Lysol which supposedly kills all germs 99% on all razors I sell or buy, I just figure that's like bleach and should be enough to kill everything.
I'm not worried about my razors I'm more afraid of public toilets and sink handles.
Cheers
David