Cleaning/Sanitizing a DE

[acb13013]

Yo.

I'm watching a couple Gilliette fatboys on ebay, and some of the sellers mention that their items have been sanitized. Naturally, the ones that haven't are a bit cheaper. Hmm.

Is cleaning and sanitizing a razor something I can do at home? Do I need special equipment or chemicals, or is a bath in boiling water sufficient?

 

[rschul2]

Yes, you can sterilize a razor safely at your home. You can boil the razor for at least 15 minutes and you are good to go. If the razor can't take 15 minutes of boiling, you can give your razor a good thorough cleaning with 10% chlorox in water. Just add 1 part chlorox to 9 parts water.

 

[acb13013]

Excellent. Sounds much easier than I thought.

It's funny - I work in a hospital, and I was about to ask around about sneaking an ebay-bought razor or two in to the sterilizer with the scalpels!

 

[DoubleE]

Just add 9 parts chlorox to 1 part water.

I think Randy meant 1 part Clorox to 9 parts water.

 

[rschul2]

I think Randy meant 1 part Clorox to 9 parts water.

Oops! Thanks for the catch Jerry!
ACB1303, if you can get your razors in the autoclave, that would be the best way.

 

[guenron]

YO!
Randy Schul is absolutely correct. Even after autoclaving, I believe that a treatment with Spectracide or some other viricides is a great idea for piece of mind.
BTW, is Nathans still there? Go get some good cherrystones, a Nathans Hotdog, and fries for me! Man, that was living..

 

[ouch]

YO!
Randy Schul is absolutely correct. Even after autoclaving, I believe that a treatment with Spectracide or some other viricides is a great idea for piece of mind.
BTW, is Nathans still there? Go get some good cherrystones, a Nathans Hotdog, and fries for me! Man, that was living..

I had a friend who worked at the original Nathan's on Surf Ave. He claimed that the reason the fries taste better there than anywhere else is due to the fact that they never change the oil. Their volume is so great that they just keep replenishing the fryers.
On one hand, that would mean that you stand a chance of having a few molecules of the original oil in your order of fries. On the other hand...............

 

[SSLStudio]

Loooool 2 much... about the oil... never change oil..

anyways I cleaned my Gillette adjustable like this.. hotwater boiling + added vinegar. because there were some Rust spots. 5-6 minutes boiling. Then I have a steam machine. used the steam machine to get out all the crap between everything and on everything (my razor came already polished but just with water is my guess ) then I used some RVS Cleaning Creme on it and let soak in a bit. then got some sponge (the ones with iron wires ! ) and cleaned off the handle , got some ear tip sticks and got inside to clean out the rust spots.. then back into the boiling water with some vinegar.

Last step used plenty of Silicon oil to oil all the parts. Silicon oil is transparent and odorless. though I thought I was getting the FATBOY.. I still want one. hope I dont bid against you :-( !

 

[acb13013]

You wouldn't know until the end... I'm a sniper

 

[SSLStudio]

You wouldn't know until the end... I'm a sniper

Oh boy that makes two of us.. dont you get any sleep ? oh like I get any sleep?
I wait the last 10 seconds and usually get away with it ! if the computer doesnt do a one minute im death micro$oft Crap OS on me... hahahah..but Chris go ahead and get that Fatboy , im pretty happy with my thin handle and buying a fatboy from another member here at B&B and I might get another fatboy Cuz I want one as back-up incase the other one craps out.. this member who I wont mention adviced me against Vision because of the steep price. I like the futur aswell the looks never used one ! but I hate its not a TTO !!!!! that sucks and the fatboy is TTO ! Im now on to my third wetshave and Yieeeeks im a bit closer now . Bought some D.r Harris creme and G. F Trumper creme from UK. I hope I dont get as looney as Joel here he is da Man or Nick for that matter..true Junkies.. Oh Lord......

Rene

 

[illustratedman]

Found this while researching a way to disinfect a recently acquired Gillette FATBOY. It gives tips on proper disinfecting/sterilization of razors among other things.

http://www.nbdhu.on.ca/en/Personal Service Settings/barbicide.htm

 

[SSLStudio]

Id go safe I read its a lowlevel disinfectant. at work I have access to Alcohol 97%. I used it to clean the de-hydrator parts if it gets on your hands ! it dry's out your hands like incredible. dangerous stuff ! it does melt certain plastics even so make sure you only soak in alcohol this high level with pure razors not having plastic parts thus Fatboys and the like.

 

[acb13013]

SSL,

It's been about a week since I checked these threads, and in that time I have snagged (sniped?) a Gillette fatboy, thin handle, long handle, a Parker 90R, and even a Vision ($85 shipped!). I caught RAD in a bad way and yes, it has affected my sleep!

But by far the coolest thing I found (for $12 shipped) is the Stahly Stroke Saver. It's a wind-up, vibrating DE that predates the M3 Power and Fusion Power by a good 50 years. It's awesome, except for the fact that I destroyed the head while cleaning (d'oh!).

I didn't want to endanger the mechanism, so I unscrewed the head and boiled it by itself. I followed that with rubbing alcohol and a toothbrush, then more boiling, then a soak in a 10:1 water-bleach solution. I performed this ritual on my other ebay razors (following the bleach soak with another boil and scrub, if necessary) with no problems, but the bleach was disastrous for the Stahly.

Like some older Gillette traveling razors, the top part screws into the handle and holds down the safety bar and blade receptacle. The problem was that the receptacle was connected to the safety bar with two thin slivers of metal (I presume to dampen the vibrations, but who knows?), which dissolved entirely in the bleach.

Rats!

I'll post some pics later. Anyway, I might grab a Merkur traveling razor and see if it will attach to the Stahly handle. My favorite part of my former Gillette (modern) patronage was how nice the subtle vibrations felt on my face. I hope I can rescue this unique razor...

 

[SSLStudio]

Hi Chris,

awesome wins, yes I saw the vision aswell, but for the shipping price to get it here id only be $10 cheaper and for that id rather not risk loosing a full warranty on it. like sending it back again to USA if something is wrong such a hassle with such an $$$$ razor

I lost the long handle yesterday $0.50 kinda stoopid I played like a rookie ebay'r even though im a Veteran... its ok there will be others.. if it was a toggle that be something else... !

>>> or $12 shipped) is the Stahly Stroke Saver <<<<

I thought this wasnt an XXX site ,, bollocks it seems everywhere I go it turns to .. XXX..

- Rene

 

[TAsunder]

Is it really necessary to sanitize a razor? I'm the only one using it...

 

[Kyle]

Is it really necessary to sanitize a razor? I'm the only one using it...

Sanitation is entirely your decision, but when purchasing a used razor it sure makes a lot of sense. The last person who owned it may have been diseased or may have used it to shave a Yettie's grundle hair. You just never really know what your getting, so why take a chance?

 

[rtaylor61]

Is it really necessary to sanitize a razor? I'm the only one using it...

As Kyle mentioned, if it is used, who knows who or what used it before. You know...you don't know where that razors been! However, even if you are the only one using it, think about where it is stored. Not necessarily the cleanest room in the house! I don't "sanitize" mine every day, but on Sunday when I change the blade, I do give it a clean up with Soft Scrub (which contains a very small amount of bleach) and an old toothbrush.

Randy

 

[TAsunder]

There are a lot of things in the bathroom I don't sanitize. Toothbrushes, hair brushes, shaving brushes, sponges, etc. My DE was purchased new so I really don't see the motivation to sanitize it. Clean it, yes.

 

[PoshRichM]

See if it makes a difference. Ron suggested at one troublesome point in my learning curve that I sanitize my DE each morning, and it did make a difference to how irritated I got from my lacking blade technique.

I've since held my shaving area to a higher cleanliness standard (and refined my technique) and so no longer have the problem, but I would never have known I needed to without giving it a shot.

-Rich

 

[TAsunder]

What was your technique? Hopefully not boiling for 15 minutes. That's a good 30 minutes right there if you include waiting for the water to boil.

I'd consider sanitizing if it was easy and took < 1 minute.