Thread: Disinfecting

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

Very sensible approach Joe. I used to give my razors 15min bleach/alcohol baths but it took too much work to restore the finish afterwards, so I started doing pretty much what you do, but i do my cleaning with Lysol, a rinse, dry and then alcohol.

Lysol is good... it contains phenol which is a powerful disinfectant. I understand they changed the phenol compound about 35 years ago (which has reduced it's effectiveness to a minor degree while making it safer) and that some Lysol products no longer contain phenol at all... so read the ingredients.

I use alcohol too, but I primarily switched to Clippercide due to it's rust inhibitor properties... for me it kills two birds with one stone (germicide and rust inhibitor in a convenient aerosol spray). It's not very expensive... $5-6 for a can that seemingly lasts forever. You can find it (or an equivalent) locally in most beauty/barber supply stores and some pet stores... probably anywhere they sell clippers and hair cutting supplies. (Note: the can is heavy, so shipping will be a expensive if you by it on-line.)

That's good to know. I'll look into some beauty supply places locally.

When I got my straight Razor I used soap and water but when My Great Grandfather gave me his Gillette DE safety razor I let it Boil in water for 2Mins Dunno if i would do that to a Straight might mess up the Scales (may melt them if they touch the bottom of the Pot depending on the material)

I use an all-in-one hair clipper cleaner/disinfector, specifically http://www.bowmanbeauty.com/store/sh.../1-24000/12590It has an oily base, but wipes off very easily. The bottle is cheap and will last forever.

You all do realise just spraying clippercide on is just a waste of clippercide, unless you keep the razor wet for 10 minutes or longer, right?

The ingredients in Clippercides (Barbicide, Marvicide, etc) require time in contact to kill. The spray stuff has been reported ineffective because it dries too fast.
There's another thread here relating to Barbicide in Canada, how it's shown unreliable. If you read the argument then read the directions on the bottle, you quickly see why it is less than effective in their argument. They assume (I'm sure correctly in some cases) that the user's are not following directions.

Many virus' and bacterium can survive outside the body for several days. Some can go into dormancy for extended periods and revive when a contact a host. While a virus is easy to kill when it's damaged, it's not like we can easily damage or injur every virus cell on an item. An infection is typified by larger quantaties of a virus or bacteria, but it only takes a few (sometimes 1 single cell) to start an infection. If you know without fail that the razor in question has been stored a long time and kept from pathogens I wouldn't hesitate on a simple boiling water and soap, but if there's any question at all what's a 10 minute soak in a quart of fresh Barbicide going to hurt. It will atleast give you piece of mind.

Thanks for the info - I've been using the product as an anti-rust agent. I didnt know about the extended contact times to be an effective disinfectant.

Originally Posted by M Guthner

Thanks for the info - I've been using the product as an anti-rust agent. I didnt know about the extended contact times to be an effective disinfectant.

Check the can, it should say. The can I picked up at the local beauty supply did. I was comparing the brands and ingrediants the other day.

If you look long enough you can find a study which supports almost any position you want to take. If you start reading them all, eventually you will conclude no product or procedure is safe. I've even seen studies that indicate autoclaves don't kill everything.

However, when I get to that point in my thinking, I step back and wonder why the hell I'm not dead? I must be one lucky mutha!

It's not that I don't believe the studies... I just don't think many of them apply to the situation most of us are in. Read the details of the study and then ask yourself if the procedure used in the study is anywhere close to what you're doing with your razor. If it is, then I guess you should be afraid.

For the past 50+ years I've been going to barbers every 2-3 weeks to get a haircut... say 900 visits so far in round numbers. Maybe 25-30 different barbers and stylists in my lifetime, spread throughout the world. I don't recall a single one of them ever using a clean sanitized comb or brush except when I was the first guy in the chair in the morning. Everything went into the barbicide at night and came out in the morning.

I've never seen their clippers sprayed with anything other than a lubricant or Kool-Lube. My current barber does use Clippercide... but to lubricate, not to disinfect! She says it looks good when the inspector comes around, though.

I've never had a barber do anything other than rinse off the razor they used around my ears and neck. I asked my barber last year if she was using replaceable blades on her razor and scissors for disease prevention... she said no, it was cheaper to use the replacement stuff than to send them out to be sharpened!

I don't mean to be overly cocky about this... but I'll bet there are about 100-million other men in the world with exactly the same experience.

I've asked several barbers over here about straights - they have to use disposable-blade straights by law.

I've never done it myself, but has anyone ever asked a barber if they could chuck their straight into that autoclave thingy that a lot of them have? Do you think they'd let you?

James.

Originally Posted by Jimbo

I've asked several barbers over here about straights - they have to use disposable-blade straights by law.

I've never done it myself, but has anyone ever asked a barber if they could chuck their straight into that autoclave thingy that a lot of them have? Do you think they'd let you?

James.

Just guessing, due to liability probably not. The heat might damage your scales as well.


Scott