Thread: Sanitation

I see a lot of threads pop up here regarding razors, strops, hones, brushes, shave soaps, aftershaves, and shaving technique. But one thing I never see anywhere is any mention of straight razor sanitation. So, what prompts this topic?

Well about 2 days ago I noticed a little hard spot just below my lip on the left side of my face. It was tiny, and not unlike an ingrown hair. I figured I would root it out later. The next day it had about quadrupled in size. This morning it was about the size of a dime, and I could feel it throbbing. Needless to say I lanced it (I.E. cut it with a straight razor before I really thought it through) and drained out the white and yellow goo. The throbbing is gone, the swelling is down, and I have an access point to get rubbing alcohol under there to fight the infection. So far it's clearing up quick, but I'll be keeping an eye on it in case a visit to old saw bones is warranted.

I can see this as one of 3 scenarios. Either this is literally the worst ingrown hair I've had in my life, I got bitten by a spider in my sleep, or there was bacteria on my razor and I got a sub-dermal infection the last time I shaved (3 days ago). If I was a betting man, I would put money on bacteria on my favorite straight razor that I literally never sanitize. I hone it, strop it, rinse it and put it away, but never truly sanitized it even though it was an Ebay find. Food for thought ladies and gentlemen, an alcohol bath once in a while is not a bad idea. I'll post a picture tomorrow when the lighting is better.

Side note: I'm not saying it was dirty because it was an Ebay find, I suspect were that the case I would've found out last year when I obtained it. It's probably gunk the razor picked up while under my care in the passed year.

Gee, I don't know, but I would certainly rinse the razor off in hot water after lancing that!

I don't plan on shaving with any of them until this thing on my face is healed and they've all been bathed properly. In the meantime, let the drinking commence!

I don't have one new razor, Mine are all Vintage razors and I've never sanitized any of them. They all get polished with metal Polish, and then sharpened to shave ready which reveals metal that has never ever seen the light of day. Call me crazy... Different strokes for different folks. Nothing wrong with doing a little sanitizing

I have a Barbercide jar, filled with a heavy mix of about 2/3 barbercide and 1/3 water (which is heavier on the Barbercide then typical). Any new razor I get from ebay, or from the classifieds, always gets about a 10 min bath in the stuff before I do anything with it... just in case.

Brushes get a nice wash several times with dish soap and water before use.

I have never thought about doing anything with used strops, creams or soaps... Not sure how I would sanitise those things, anyway.

There have actually been many razor sanitation threads. If you do a simple search you will find many options for reading.

In reality an alcohol bath every once in a while is not going to be of any use.

I believe I recently got bit on the sole of my left foot by a spider. It was only occasionally uncomfortable and only developed a small postule. I was cleaning out my garage and believed I stepped on one or two barefoot. All spiders have some poison on thier bite. This one was in the arch where the skin is soft.

My point is that spider bites can be very mild