Thread: clippercide/barbercide Vs. rubbing alcohol?

If I have rubbing alcohol, will that work just as well to disinfect a razor as the clippercide that everyone mentions on this site?

I use rubbing alcohol and it works just fine.
I clean my razor before and after shaving, just before going to the strop.

X

Two good groups of chemicals for disinfecting are the phenols and gluteraldehydes (sp?). If Barbercide or Clippercide contain either of these (I don't know whether they do or not) you should be good to go. You can actually grow certain bacteria in rubbing alcohol. In the medical/dental fields it's not considered a good disinfectant, just a good agent to clean things with. It will kill some families of bacteria but it's not as effective as either the gluteraldehydes or phenols.
It has been explained on this forum before but disinfecting kills most of the bacteria on an instrument, whereas sterilizing kills all the bacteria. In order to sterilize as opposed to disinfecting something with the "cold sterilizing solutions" mentioned above, usually the instrument must be left in the solution for 24 hrs. There are heat/pressurized steam autoclaves commonly used in the medical fields that can sterilize instruments in a matter of minutes, but many straight razor scales would never survive such temperatures. Also, common bleach is a very powerful disinfectant but can cause metal to corrode. Hydrogen peroxide is an equally potent disinfectant but just remember to wipe it off as it can corrode instruments the same as water. I'm by no means an expert on this subject but I use both cold sterilents and autoclaves daily and I'm somewhat familiar with their properties and uses. Hope this helps.

Tom

Originally Posted by straightman

Also, common bleach is a very powerful disinfectant but can cause metal to corrode. Hydrogen peroxide is an equally potent disinfectant but just remember to wipe it off as it can corrode instruments the same as water. I'm by no means an expert on this subject but I use both cold sterilents and autoclaves daily and I'm somewhat familiar with their properties and uses. Hope this helps.

Tom

Tom, I generally wipe my blade with a 50/50 mix of common household bleach and vinegar. I read somewhere that the vinegar makes the bleach acidic and helps kill bacteria that bleach alone will not destroy. I always rinse the blade and thoroughly wipe the blade dry.

do the barbacides effect the scales--plastic or wood?

Originally Posted by glrerun

do the barbacides effect the scales--plastic or wood?

I don't have a clue... I only spray the blade.

RT

Originally Posted by jim28277

Tom, I generally wipe my blade with a 50/50 mix of common household bleach and vinegar. I read somewhere that the vinegar makes the bleach acidic and helps kill bacteria that bleach alone will not destroy. I always rinse the blade and thoroughly wipe the blade dry.

This is a bad idea, as the fumes can kill you. I would also guess that the resulting mixture is not acidic, just a weaker base (bleach has a very high PH). However it does release chlorine gas, which does help disinfect but is also hazardous to your health or deadly.