Thread: Cleaning blood off the blade.

I had my first nasty cut today, and ironically it wasn't my face. I'd done a bit of stropping prior to a shave, and, with the blade still in my hand, I went to adjust the strop. I felt a string and looked at my thumb to see it, along with my hand, coated in blood. The actual cut isn't that wide or deep but it bled furiously. After patching myself up, I noticed my razor was soaked in blood too. I ran it under water, but is still blood on it. I've tried wiping it with a cloth, but there are small dots of blood that just refuse to come out.

I'm just wondering what the best method is to get this blood out.

Thanks

Out out damn spot

Sorry just having a Shakespeare moment ... have you tried Maas (or similar) ?

Barney

My incredibly not funny English teacher tried to claim that this line was directed at the dog. NO ONE LAUGHED.

Originally Posted by peas_and_corn

My incredibly not funny English teacher tried to claim that this line was directed at the dog. NO ONE LAUGHED.

Damn ... now I've got to clean my screen ... and back we come to "out out damn spot"

Originally Posted by peas_and_corn

My incredibly not funny English teacher tried to claim that this line was directed at the dog. NO ONE LAUGHED.

Hah and I thought it was bad when we did that during a 9 minute production of Macky B at a ren faire. in the classroom I'd have to start throwing stuff.

If it will not wash off then it is not blood, but the corrosion caused by the blood. MAAS or Autosol should do it.

These guys might be right, you might need to polish the blade, but I think I'd give it a wash with hot soapy water first. Might just be stuck fast and not come out easily.

The best way to clean off blood is to wipe it off immediatly after extracting it from a body so that it does not have time to congeal.

In your case, I'd raise a slurry on my coticule or belgian blue, put that on a piece of wet cloth and manually polish the blade.
That is gentle enough not to damage the edge or any etching or wshing, while still being abrasive enough to get rid of superficial spots or scratches.

"No, Son. The blood stays on the blade," Liam Neeson as the Priest in Gangs of New York.


Of course, if you actually sliced your cheek with a straight razor with the pressure exhibited in the movie, you wouldn't need to go outside and have a street fight with Daniel Day Lewis - you'd freakin' bleed to death!

BTW my worst cuts have been on the thumbs when making a careless transfer from one hand hand to another.

Ouch--both at the cut and the Shakespearean joke ... (which I have to remember so I can annoy my kids with it) ... but I have to say, Dan, this shows you're a true straight shaver, when the focus of your post isn't "Damn! I got such a cut!" but "How do I get the blood off my blade?"

I have not (yet) faced this exact situation, but what with raising five kids, you can imagine I've dealt with blood. Have you tried washing with cool-to-tepid water? Hot water actually tends to set blood. If you need to try one of the other methods given here, I guess my only addition would be, try doing it at a fairly cool temperature.

The other technique I've used with stubborn blood is adding salt to the water, but I'd be afraid to try that with a blade--it just seems like something that could do more harm than good.

~Rich