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.