Barbicide and Brass Razor Handle

[hairless wonder]

I cleaned some of my razors with Barbicide last night. Tonight, I was looking at my WCS 79BR, which I cleaned last night. It looks like whatever WCS uses to coat the handle to prevent tarnishing reacted with the Barbicide and became slightly blue. It's not a big deal, and the blue can be scraped off (though, I suspect this also removes the tarnish preventing coating).

 

[FarmerTan]

Following....

I used Barbasol back when I was cutting hair, and soaked my stainless steel scissors in them ALL the time they weren't in use, literally YEARS.

But that stuff will EAT chrome if you leave it in overnight!

That "blue" tarnishing I couldn't even see my friend. I'll bet if you soak it in some REALLY weak Dawn solution it would help. You don't want to hurt that protective coating. Unless you are like me and kinda like the tarnish look....

 

[hairless wonder]

Following....

I used Barbasol back when I was cutting hair, and soaked my stainless steel scissors in them ALL the time they weren't in use, literally YEARS.

But that stuff will EAT chrome if you leave it in overnight!

That "blue" tarnishing I couldn't even see my friend. I'll bet if you soak it in some REALLY weak Dawn solution it would help. You don't want to hurt that protective coating. Unless you are like me and kinda like the tarnish look....

Oops! I meant Barbicide, not Barbasol. I've edited my post to reflect the right product.

I'll try the dish soap trick later if the blue tint bothers me. But in all honesty, I really wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't taken a closer look at my razor handle tonight. It's on the ridges, especially closer to the bottom of the razor.

 

[FarmerTan]

Oops! I meant Barbicide, not Barbasol. I've edited my post to reflect the right product.

I'll try the dish soap trick later if the blue tint bothers me. But in all honesty, I really wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't taken a closer look at my razor handle tonight.

Lol, l knew you meant "Barbicide" and I even typed it wrong!

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the Cosmetology Board for the State of Michigan wouldn't have been okay with me using Barbasol as a disinfectant!

 

[hairless wonder]

Lol, l knew you meant "Barbicide" and I even typed it wrong!

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the Cosmetology Board for the State of Michigan wouldn't have been okay with me using Barbasol as a disinfectant!

Lol! You never know, the Cosmetology Board's members could've owned stock in Barbasol.

 

[luv2shave]

I cleaned some of my razors with Barbicide last night. Tonight, I was looking at my WCS 79BR, which I cleaned last night. It looks like whatever WCS uses to coat the handle to prevent tarnishing reacted with the Barbicide and became slightly blue. It's not a big deal, and the blue can be scraped off (though, I suspect this also removes the tarnish preventing coating).

I've learnt early on that barbicide will act funny with razor of any metal or plating. I usually scrub any razor with a toothbrush and dish soap for pretty long. I don't think anything can survive that scrub. If a handwash with soap is recommended to end a pandemic, what's more to fear ?

 

[Rhody]

My barber had a glass jar filled with that blue stuff and combs. I’m assuming that’s barbicide. I don’t see the blue on the razor handle but I’d be more concerned about removing the coating. Maybe shoot WCs an email and ask about the coating. I use a brass polish on my karve every 6 months or so to keep it clean. I’m not a fan of the patina.

 

[BigJ]

I've learnt early on that barbicide will act funny with razor of any metal or plating. I usually scrub any razor with a toothbrush and dish soap for pretty long. I don't think anything can survive that scrub. If a handwash with soap is recommended to end a pandemic, what's more to fear ?

+1! Much safer approach!

 

[Dog Whiskerer]

Why would you disinfect your own razors?

 

[Scaramouche]

You didn't specify, but Barbicide exposure time Is 10 minutes for disinfection (outlined in the instructions). Not 9, not 10 1/2, not hours and not days. And more is not better - many quaternary disinfectants and oxidizing solutions, including water and alcohol, will damage razor components, including plastics, metals, platings and coatings with extended exposure. No material is completely impervious to prolonged exposure (even stainless steel and Titanium), but specified contact time is more critical for some - Aluminum for example - and some materials are not suitable for chemical disinfection, such as porous materials that might absorb dyes (Barbicide) or some very delicate plating or historically valuable items. Used according to protocols, chemical disinfection is perfectly safe and effective for approved materials for the correct contact times.

 

[sakaltras]

I have put some brass and zamak razors in a desinfection stuff called Sacrotan in Germany. Zamak razors became brown (although chrome plated) and brass razors pink

For desinfection purposes I either boil in how water for few minutes or use a desinfection solution for hand desinfection...

 

[Scaramouche]

I have put some brass and zamak razors in a desinfection stuff called Sacrotan in Germany. Zamak razors became brown (although chrome plated) and brass razors pink

For desinfection purposes I either boil in how water for few minutes or use a desinfection solution for hand desinfection...

Sagrotan (trade name Dettol except in Germany) is primarily a phenolic compound (chloroxylenol). Dettol contains about 5% of the active ingredient, plus castor oil, pine oil, isopropyl alcohol and water. It's a fairly efficient surface disinfectant as a phenol, but not really intended as an immersion disinfectant solution, and phenolic compounds are reactive with some metals as you discovered. It's not ideal as a disinfectant solution, and there are better products for soaking a razor to disinfect (quaternary solutions or alcohols). I wouldn't recommend boiling water for a number of reasons (effective immersion time for disinfection is 20 minutes at a full boil, minimum, for example), but it certainly is effective on solid metal that is thick enough to prevent distortion with temperature change, although is inherently dangerous and will damage many materials with non-metallic parts.

 

[sakaltras]

I wouldn't recommend boiling water for a number of reasons (effective immersion time for disinfection is 20 minutes at a full boil, minimum, for example), but it certainly is effective on solid metal that is thick enough to prevent distortion with temperature change, although is inherently dangerous and will damage many materials with non-metallic parts.

That's true, thank you for your answer. I know that boiling is not perfect, especially with plastic parts. Later Gillette Slims for instance have plastic inner parts that could be damaged by heat.

Which desinfection solution would you recommend?

 

[sakaltras]

It's not ideal as a disinfectant solution, and there are better products for soaking a razor to disinfect (quaternary solutions or alcohols).

So ethanol as a alcohol will be sufficient for desinfection? I'm interested in desinfecting vintage razors bought at the bay for instance.

Thanks!

Sami

 

[Scaramouche]

That's true, thank you for your answer. I know that boiling is not perfect, especially with plastic parts. Later Gillette Slims for instance have plastic inner parts that could be damaged by heat.

Which desinfection solution would you recommend?

Commercial quaternary solutions like Barbicide or Marvicide are more than adequate for sanitizing razors, and even a 70-90% isopropyl or ethanol solution is effective. Note the word "sanitizing," because (almost) no liquid chemical disinfectant will sterilize immersed instruments. Sanitizing razors from unknown sources is debated here to a fare-thee-well, but nothing wrong with doing it if it increases your peace of mind, and scientifically and philosophically, it's not a bad idea. There's a forum thread somewhere on the topic, but I'll have to hunt it up. Table below for US CDC recommendations:

 

[SCh5]

Barbicide contains :
•Isopropyl Alcohol
•Dymethyl Benzyl Ammonium Chloride
•Sodium Nitrite

Barbicide Msds | PDF | Chemical Substances | Chemistry

Barbicide Msds

www.scribd.com

Avoid soaking brass parts and items in
liquids that contain ammonium ions .
Ammonium ions will form ammonia .
Ammonia is the main agent that causes stress corrosion cracking on
brass.The attack begins rapidly and
worsens the longer the brass is in
an environment containing ammonia.

Even if it seems most unlikely ,
the cracked vintage brass handles,
owe their damage to contact with
human skin .
Brass music instruments can be
damaged by human skin chemistry .


Vintage (usually hollow) brass handles
are made from 2 solid pieces and a piece of tubing .The two solid handle ends are press-fit into the brass tube
(handle middle section ) .
Press fitting creates stress at the tubing.Dead skin cells left by hands
on the handles do contain proteins.
Proteins while decomposing release
ammonia.Over the years of frequent
exposure to ammonia ,the brass tubing
is gradually corroded and cracks at the
area of stress.

Observations of Corrosion Product Formation and Stress Corrosion Cracking on Brass Samples Exposed to Ammonia Environments

The corrosion product formation and the stress corrosion cracking of brass in different ammonia...

www.scielo.br

( A bluish tint on brass can indicate the
presence of copper sulfate ,which
means that the brass has been corroded to a certain extend .
A pinkish hue denotes that zinc has
left the (brass)building and a fragile foam-like matrix of copper is what remained.)

Sodium Nitrite is also
a powerful stress corrosion agent
for brass,since it rapidly breaks down the passivity of brass .

Passivity breakdown and stress corrosion cracking of α-brass in sodium nitrite solutions

The stress corrosion cracking (SCC) susceptibility of pure copper and four α-brasses of different zinc alloy concentration in NaNO2 1M solution, at va…

www.sciencedirect.com

BTW , Titanium grades 1 & 2 are
attacked by Fluorine containing
agents .Nothing else can corrode
those two grades of almost pure
titanium
(at least not without the use of electric current .Under electric current
chlorine ions can cause pitting corrosion to Ti grades 1 & 2 )

 

[sakaltras]

Thank you very much for this valuable information. I really appreciate as I only have superficial knowledge and I, as already mentioned, destroyed some razors

Thank you!

 

[emwolf]

Commercial quaternary solutions like Barbicide or Marvicide are more than adequate for sanitizing razors, and even a 70-90% isopropyl or ethanol solution is effective. Note the word "sanitizing," because (almost) no liquid chemical disinfectant will sterilize immersed instruments. Sanitizing razors from unknown sources is debated here to a fare-thee-well, but nothing wrong with doing it if it increases your peace of mind, and scientifically and philosophically, it's not a bad idea. There's a forum thread somewhere on the topic, but I'll have to hunt it up. Table below for US CDC recommendations:

View attachment 1265594

I always laugh at the "sterilization' methods. My dad was a doctor and mom was a nurse. Growing up we were cleaner than most households I knew. However, we used suture scissors and bowel forceps as regular kitchen tools. If the bowel forceps were clean enough for my mom to serve dinner with, than washing a razor with dawn and hot water should be good enough for any face.

 

[Scaramouche]

Couple of previous threads:

Barbicide - alternatives | Badger & Blade (badgerandblade.com)

BARBER DISINFECTANT CHART | Badger & Blade (badgerandblade.com)

 

[SCh5]

Google : UVc LED mobile phone
steriliser .

Problem solved .