Best Method For Sanitizing razors

I am about to acquire several DE razors from eBay; I officially have RAD. Can anyone tell me the best method for sanitizing, sterilizing and cleaning them?

Thx,
David

There is a good thread on this here under Forums/Safety Razors: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=30131.

I have found the sequence (i) Scrubbing Bubbles, (ii) soap water & toothbrush and (iii) Barbicide to be good advice. But you should read through the thread for variations on this, and especially for the warnings about what solutions to avoid when cleaning gold-plated razors.

There is also information on DE razors under the wiki and under the forum on safety razors with good pictures to help identify. Good luck with your acquisitions.

Boiling for 5-10 minutes seems to work well.

You have to be careful and you need to research, depending on what razors you have.

You do not want to boil gold razors or razors with plastic parts.

Most folks here recommend a good cleaning with Scrubbing Bubbles, followed by a soak in 70% rubbing alcohol (or Barbicide if you prefer), a nice rinse in warm water, and maybe a clean up with soap and water.

A search: http://www.badgerandblade.com/vb/search.php?searchid=1483289 turns up plenty of info on safely cleaning a new razor.

Congratulations on your new stash!

There are threads on it in which a lot of good ideas were thrown back and forth and, in the end, there were a lot of good ideas thrown back & forth.

I can tell you what I've been doing on old (non-gold, non-colored) DEs that I'm happy with:
Dish soap and a toothbrush...GENTLY, especially on the silo doors
Then, CLR and a toothbrush if there's rust stains or discoloration
I've used a little brasso, diluted, very gently, on knurled handles
Really funky ones get soaked down with scrubbing bubbles before any of this
More soap & water

I have stuck them in a 225 deg. oven for about a basketball game, cooling them down gradually. I don't know how much that does to sterilize them, but it hasn't hurt one yet.

If there's any stickiness/squeakiness, I have used some mineral oil.

I've been happy with these techniques and had a lot of fun tinkering and seeing what I get when I'm done, but there might be better ways (fellas?)
YMMV, and all.

Guys...thx for your help and advice..I have been DE shaving for approx 3 weeks and get BBS shaves every time..it took me about 10 days to really perfect my technique...I use a Merkur 38c,currently using a merkur blade but I have the sampler pack and will be experimenting with other blades, and I alternate between Tabac soap and TOBS Almond shaving cream....it is a truly great experience...I actually look forward to shaving.

thx...I will check it out...David

I boiled my first razor, but noticed a little bit of discoloration, and haven't done it since. For sanitzing, I use a heavy mix of barbicide picked up from a local beauty/barber supply place for about 6 dollars. It's supposed to go 2 oz barbicide to 32 ounces water. I added one ounce to a large baby food jar of water, and dunked the razor(s) in, one at a time. With the head down, you can see the mixture eventually creep up the shaft, and fill the whole thing. My bottle says it will kill HIV-1, HBV, HCV, staph, salmonella, Trichophyton, Herpes, and Hep B+C if soaked for ten minutes and air dried. I dip/dry cycle them at least three times. I also rinse and take a toothbrush with some dish soap and/or Barkeepers Friend to them to get rid of the grime.

Spit on it and wipe it on yer shirt

Sorry

Cheers

Mat

Definitely Barbicide soak for at least ten minutes. Followed by ultrasonic cleaning in a jewelry cleaner. Followed by another Barbicide soak. That's my technique. Although I did use the spit and wipe technique at first!

thx for the info...others have spoken about Barbicide, however, I had no idea where to get it....David

Dht36 said:

thx for the info...others have spoken about Barbicide, however, I had no idea where to get it....David

Click to expand...

Sally's Beauty Supply, usually located next to a Target or WalMart. Or ask your barber for a cupful, it is very concentrated and doesn't take much.