What's new

Scrubbing Bubbles, never again!

I get really good results from soaking old gunky razors in hot soapy water. But, I've heard that Scrubbing Bubbles work well, so I have started adding that to the routine.

I have probably cleaned about 8 razors with Scrubbing Bubbles and not noticed anything bad. So yesterday I dropped 5 vintage Gillette's into a container with Scrubbing Bubbles, and I am pretty sure the Bubbles hurt the finish on the Razors! :cursing: :cryin:

It may be that the finish was hurt before and I never noticed it. But, I find this hard to believe, I did two soaks in soapy water before doing the Bubbles phase and never noticed the blemishes. Sure, next time I could soak for less time and use a lighter concentration, but why risk it?

My concentration was about 70% Bubbles, 30% water.
The Razors were soaking for an hour.
There was also a War Time Plastic handle Tech in at the time (if that makes a difference).

Maybe I am wrong, what do you think? Was it the Bubbles or did I just not notice the blemishes before? Maybe it has something to do with the TupperWare container? Anybody else experience anything like this? Any thoughts welcome.

Aristocrat Jnr.!!! (The blemish is the copper)
full

full


Travel Tech Head
full


This is the setup
full
 
Last edited by a moderator:
That's got bleach in it. I never have seen that version.

I use the Scrubbing Bubbles in the Green aresol can. Never had a major problem.

The big green aresol can is $3 or $4.

Sorry for your loss..
 
It doesn't take the finish off of the chrome fixtures in the bathroom. The directions on my bottle says only to leave it on for a few minutes, so maybe a little less time in the bubbles?

My method is bubbles for a few minutes, then rinse, then toothpase scrup with a toothbrush until I'm happy with the look, last the alcohol bath.
 
Like bakerbarber said, I think you want the stuff in the can that foams up when you spray it. I've never had it damage a razor.
 
It may be that the finish was hurt before and I never noticed it.

Likely the scrubbing bubbles removed the gunk that was hiding the plating loss or the plating was already undermined (i.e. ready to flake off) and it did not matter what you did to the razor as it was just a matter of time.

If the cleaner was going to have any kind of chemical reaction with the plating, it would have been the entire razor which was affected.

Sorry it had to happen, but if it provides any solace I do not think that you directly caused damage to the razor.
 
the aerosol can cannot hurt your razors.this bathroom mildew eater has bleach,it corroded your finishes.....polishing will not help now,but you can have a cherished razor re-plated for about $35....it will be like new
 
It doesn't take the finish off of the chrome fixtures in the bathroom. The directions on my bottle says only to leave it on for a few minutes, so maybe a little less time in the bubbles?

My method is bubbles for a few minutes, then rinse, then toothpase scrup with a toothbrush until I'm happy with the look, last the alcohol bath.

This is more or less what I do. Only a few minutes with the SB (from the can) then some light scrubbing with a toothbrush. I've cleaned many razors and never had a problem. Could it be that those SBs just revealed something that was already there? Either way, sorry for your troubles.
 
I think that the hour soak might be the real culprit. If this has bleach that probably reacted with the finish and will cause exposure to areas that the plating was in a weakened state before you started.

I use Marvicide for 10 minutes at the concentration stated on the bottle and have not had any issues. If I use Scrubbing Bubbles it is in the can (not a spray bottle). I only use it to start a cleaning job with gloves and a toothbrush before using hot water then Marvicide.

I am sorry that this happened.
 
Thanks for all the input. I had no idea that there was SB without bleach!!!:huh:
I just read about everyone using it, and like a blind drunk sheep I decided to go for it.

In the future I will just stick to soap and water, I am too shell-shocked right now to buy the non-bleach SB. Years from now when my grandchildren yell at me for not preserving some vintage DE razors for them, I'll tell them this story - then mumble off about something while they laugh at me.... :incazzato
 
Yow.
I scrub mine with SB and a toothbrush every time I change a blade then rinse immediately. The only real problem I've had is leaving the SB toothbrush a little too close to my regular toothbrush...ecch!

Best,
Jeff
 
+1 for the FOAMING type (green bottle in canada). shake, spray, leave for a minute or 2 (no longer), toothbrush scrub and rinse.

i wouldn't trust bleach on too many items, and not a razor. it's too harsh.
 
I'm not really sure why bleach would do anything. A lot of bathroom fixtures are nickel and have no problems with bleach.

Your concentration is pretty strong though at 70%. You really only need to cover the razors with a couple of sprays, not soak them in it.
 
Last edited:
The Scrubbing Bubbles I use is the one shown below. I've never had any problems. Just a couple sprays and a light scrub with a toothbrush has worked well on all the razors I have tries it on with no problems. Sorry about your razors. The Aristocrat Jr is still a great shaver.
 
Last edited:
Bleach and ammonia will rust chrome, stainless steel, aluminum, and a lot of other metals. It works quickly, and also accelerates or thickens any rust that's there. I've read about how aluminum is sometimes bleached to turn it black and/or allow color dyes to penetrate. Thing is, this is done with very clean metal, not metal that's got a protective oxide layer on it. The bleach content of that stuff is probably not strong enough to get through the metal surface, and chrome's used because it's good at stopping it, except it'll penetrate where the surface is already weak, and once it does that, it can corrode the whole thing from the inside. As someone mentioned, it looks like it went through areas that were already weak. The colors in the picture all look like plain rust, but if you had some dye in there from the plastic, it might take hold. That spot on the side looks like rust, but could also be the color of some component in the plastic that dyed the bleached area. I have some blue and black clothing that usually turns brown if I do some cleaning wearing them and get bleach or ammonia on them.
 
We don't have Scrubbing Bubbles here Down Under so I tried to find an equivalent cleaner. It had bleach, I had the same problem :mad3:

A small blemish was magnified immensely - so stay away from bleach!
 
Hobbiest use bleach to remove chrome from chome plated plastic, so it's plausable. Take a pice of plasti-chrome and soak it in Clorox. The chrome will disolve in minutes.
 
Top Bottom