Thread: Barbicide & Razors

I just purchased a new Goldbug razor (per Lyn's recommendation in his video) that is in pretty good shape on eBay ($42.08--is that a good deal?) with just a tiny bit of rust on the metal inside the scales. The scales are gold in color and I believe plastic. My questions are:

1. Is there usually any problem submerging an entire razor in barbicide, scales and all? I want to sanitize this and other razors I've bought off of eBay with a variety of scales and want to minimize any probability of issues with discoloration or hardening, etc. of scales, spacers, etc..

2. Is there any problem with rubbing and maybe lightly buffing Maas on the blade and scales to shine razor blades and scales? Is there a possibility of Maas discoloring or hardening the scales or spacers?

Thanks,
Mike F.

If you are sure the scales are plastic then it should not be a problem however if they are celluloid I wouldn't do it. No problem with metal polish on the blade and you can do light rubbing to shine up the scales but there again if they are celluloid the rubbing needs to be very light and I'm not sure I would use metal polish which contains heavy duty chemicals. Some jewelers rouge or cape cod cloths might be better in that case.

Thanks BigSpendur. Now for what may seem like a silly question...is there an easy way to tell for sure if scales are plastic versus celluloid? Is plastic normally harder than celluloid, or less see-through-able (if that's a word)?

I think celluloid will be a bit stinky when you rub it. You should find out when the razor was made to help.

If they are original they are celluliod...

Just rub them with a cloth vigorously and sniff...
Celluloid gives a slightly mothball (camphor) like smell
Plastic smells like??? , well like warm plastic

You really can't tell by looking but like Glen said by their age if they are original scales assume they are celluloid.

Okay, drumroll please...here's how it turned out. I went on the wild side and submerged all three razors I had which were previously used into Barbicide (in the sink) and then polished them with MAAS. Two of the razors (the Gold Bug and a King Cutter) were fine after soaking for approx. 10 minutes. The third (a no-name Sheffield steel razor with yellowish cornstalk-looking scales) came out with slightly bluish scales. I rinsed all in hot water, which made no difference in coloration. I was surprised at the cornstalk scales' discoloration, as it is a hard handle and didn't seem "porous"... guess that goes to show you, you can't judge a book by its cover.

I used MAAS on each razor's blade and scales. This removed some tarnish and left them all shiny; however, on the King Cutter (which had gold writing on the blade), the rubbing action with the MAAS started to smear/remove the gold coloring. So, I'd recommend being careful around gold or colorations on blades.

I will use these for shaving and not so much for show, so no big deal, but it was a learning experience. Thanks for the advice.

Originally Posted by EdgeWorks

Okay, drumroll please...here's how it turned out. I went on the wild side and submerged all three razors I had which were previously used into Barbicide (in the sink) and then polished them with MAAS. Two of the razors (the Gold Bug and a King Cutter) were fine after soaking for approx. 10 minutes. The third (a no-name Sheffield steel razor with yellowish cornstalk-looking scales) came out with slightly bluish scales. I rinsed all in hot water, which made no difference in coloration. I was surprised at the cornstalk scales' discoloration, as it is a hard handle and didn't seem "porous"... guess that goes to show you, you can't judge a book by its cover.

I used MAAS on each razor's blade and scales. This removed some tarnish and left them all shiny; however, on the King Cutter (which had gold writing on the blade), the rubbing action with the MAAS started to smear/remove the gold coloring. So, I'd recommend being careful around gold or colorations on blades.

I will use these for shaving and not so much for show, so no big deal, but it was a learning experience. Thanks for the advice.

Next time I would just put only the blade in Barbicide for any razor, because you don't need to sterilize the handle since there is no chance you will cut yourself on it.

Next time I think I will do just that, only immerse the blade. However, I think it's a trade-off. I figured dunking the hole razor (scales and all) would be more hygeinic, as I figured if someone did have a nasty (HIV, etc.) and cut themselves, the blood could have not only gotten on the blade, but other parts of the razor as well. Hence, all parts could be potentially infected. Do you think I'm off on this thinking?