Disinfecting new razor

[kmain]

I bought a new Gillette red tip razor on Etsy from The Vintage Razor Shop owned by a B&B member here..

http://www.etsy.com/shop/VintageRaz...age=2&ga_search_type=vintage&ref=sr_gallery_2

I'm curious as this is my first vintage razor, I'm assuming its already disinfected by for my peace of mind what would you all recommend?

In the house atm I have some Hydrogen Peroxide and 70% isopropyl alcohol....

So far I boiled the razor for 4 minutes then took it out after trying to keep it from making contact with the bottem... after that I moved it to a alcohol soak.... should this be enough? if so how long should I soak it for?

 

[Seadooer]

Boric acid is used for that exact thing your attempting. Can be purchased at Pharmacy.

 

[tfinch]

No need to soak the razor in the alcohol. Just dip it in and set it out in the open to air dry.

 

[Attila]

I use Barbicide. But Alcohol kills most things and should be fine for you. Scrubbing Bubbles brand cleaning solution can also be used to finish.

 

[AlanL]

So far I boiled the razor for 4 minutes

There's nothing left alive.

 

[KodiakAttack]

Take it to your local barber, ask them if they could drop it in their Barbicide while you get a haircut. Maybe tip him an extra dollar or two. You should be good to go after that. Barbicide pretty much kills anything.

 

[Lion and the Fox]

Barbicide can be purchased at your local Sally's for about $7.99. It is a concentrated formula with 2 ounces mixed with 32 ounces of water. This will disinfect it totally. I purchased a glass jar from my local Target for this purpose ($5). Good luck!

 

[Henrik]

No need to soak the razor in the alcohol. Just dip it in and set it out in the open to air dry.

+1 Spent hours on this topic (if that sheds some light on the subject..)

 

[RaiserLiebe]

http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Safety_razor_maintenance
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/186435-Blood-borne-diseases?p=2760207#post2760207

 

[BennyVega]

Barbicide

 

[Robert45]

It's clean...done

 

[BBrad]

Any cooties that were on the razor were quite dead by the time you first opened the box. You then cooked the dead cooties, and took them out for a drink. Soaking the razor in barbicide would only serve to kill the dead cooties some more. I'm glad you didn't use vinegar or boric acid. Then the dead cooties would then be on the surface of damaged plating.

The thing that has to be done is to physically remove the already dead cooties from the surface. This is done by physically scrubbing them off with a brush. Very hot water and dish soap works wonders to loosen and break the bond between the dead cooties and the razor's surface, making it easy for the brush to lift them off. All this done without risking damage to the razor by extreme heat or corrosive solutions.

Soaking in barbicide for a few minutes will kill any live cooties, like ones that could be found on barber's tools after a haircut. Soaking for long periods will damage plating. Alcohol kills by drying - a dip and air dry will kill live cooties and displace moisture, an alcohol soak is corrosive. Vinegar, boric acid, or bleach may also kill live cooties, but will certainly harm the plating if used for a soak.

In the quest for sterility (which isn't the case for a brand-new razor fresh from the factory) people do things that cause harm and damage to their razor, when in most cases a simple cleaning is all that was needed. Sorry for popping off, but did I mention the cooties were already dead?

 

[Toothpick]

+1 to every post. load it up and shave.

 

[oxford1833]

DISCLAIMER: I'M NOT A SCIENTIST!!!

I have to be the voice of dissent. Look at some scientific papers and you'll quickly find that isopropyl alcohol doesn't cut it for virals, and boiling for even 15 minutes doesn't kill everything. Even Barbasol doesn't fully do the trick with blood-borne pathogens. Sure, you're probably okay based on the dry survival time of most cooties, but why take a chance?

I have several friends who are NIH scientists, and they suggest that the best approach is heavy steam for 21 minutes. I'm a theologian and not a scientist, so I can't explain the science. However, based on their advice, I use a bamboo steamer (so that the razor has no direct contact with metal that may be hot enough to damage it) on the stove-top, placed over a large saucepan with an inch of boiling water and time it at 21 minutes from the start of heavy steam. No chemicals and no damage thus far, although I would exercise more caution for a razor with plastic parts.

Go ahead and call me crackpot! It's better than a crack pipe.

 

[Toothpick]

bamboo steamer

this made me chuckle. 1 vote for your custom title.


and if you are a Mysophobe or a Hemophobe it will NEVER be clean. only good enough for peace of mind. which any of the above methods will work and that's what most of us go for.

 

[BBrad]

Steam is good for killing pathogens, since it is hotter than the boiling point of water. In order to produce steam, however, one requires a pressure vessel. The bamboo "steamer" is only cooking the razor in hot water vapor which is lower than the water's boiling point. An autoclave, used to sterilize medical equipment, reaches temps around 245 degrees. A household pressure cooker is also capable of higher temperatures, but one must still keep the razors from contacting the much hotter vessel walls to prevent damage.

In the case of blood-borne pathogens, the key word is blood. Their survival time in a dry environment is quite short. Also, the razor hardware is not the part that cuts - that honor goes to the blade, which should not under any circumstances be used except from a newly opened package.

So often we read here about razors destroyed by their owner's well-intentioned efforts to sanitize or sterilize a newly-purchased razor that only required a proper physical cleaning before use. In this case, the OP bought his razor from a fellow hobbyist whose razors look to be clean and ready-to-go . . . though most folk still give a "new" razor a bath before use!

 

[Mad Man]

Just buy a new razor already....

 

[kmain]

eh I think its sterile after the boil and alcohol... if I go on base this weekend (its snowing here in germany!)... I might ask the barber if I can get some barbacide and say I'm willing to pay for some.

 

[cb91710]

DISCLAIMER: I'M NOT A SCIENTIST!!!

I have to be the voice of dissent. Look at some scientific papers and you'll quickly find that isopropyl alcohol doesn't cut it for virals, and boiling for even 15 minutes doesn't kill everything. Even Barbasol doesn't fully do the trick with blood-borne pathogens. Sure, you're probably okay based on the dry survival time of most cooties, but why take a chance?

I have several friends who are NIH scientists, and they suggest that the best approach is heavy steam for 21 minutes. I'm a theologian and not a scientist, so I can't explain the science. However, based on their advice, I use a bamboo steamer (so that the razor has no direct contact with metal that may be hot enough to damage it) on the stove-top, placed over a large saucepan with an inch of boiling water and time it at 21 minutes from the start of heavy steam. No chemicals and no damage thus far, although I would exercise more caution for a razor with plastic parts.

Go back to those friends and ask how long pathogens survive outside of the human body.
Most bugs are dead within 48 hours.
Everything is dead within 14 days.

The primary risk is with bugs that are hanging out in congealed blood and tissue that may be dormant while dehydrated. If the item has been cleaned to "dishwasher" standards and it's been more than 14 days since it's last use... it's clean.

 

[Go West Young Man]

When you go to a restaurant you put their forks and spoons directly in your mouth, yes?
Those were cleaned with soap and hot water, that's good enough for a razor.