Do electric shavers really need cleaning stations or is it just hype?

[Jason smooth]

I am wondering if this is just a marketing thing where the companies make more money off you when you continue to buy refills. I mean if you just run your shaver under water, is that really all we need to do? Does the cleaning station really make that much of a difference. Does it really help add the life of the cutter.

The other thing is, it is more beneficial to a foil shaver that has that cutter in the middle under the cover? Rotary shavers like the newer Norelco Prestige which cuts so well, maybe it is not as helpful with this type of shaver.

What are your thoughts?

 

[Chandu]

Hype for sure for the Panasonic Arc5. Has a built in cleaning mode that cleans it to like new condition.

I see cleaning stations as an unnecessary expense and something demanding space that I refuse to give up.

 

[Atlantic59]

It's a gimmick, IMHO. You can clean an electric razor with a soft brush and a few drops of mineral oil. You don't need to be protected from your own germs.

If you need something stronger, just mix some isopropyl alcohol and water in a spray bottle. You can use this on your mirror and your countertop, too.

 

[shave/brush]

What about all those razors that are not water proof? All of a sudden they are no good?

 

[jbjbrown]

As previously noted, definitely not necessary for Panasonics (I have the arc5). But I would say not needed with most any brand really.

I'm a bit of a nut. After each (daily) use of my shaver I do a full cleaning, let it dry for half a day and then re-oil.

Method:
I use either dish soap or hand (pump bottle) soap. A few drops and then get it into sonic mode and then run it under water. After that, I use canned air to blow out as much water as possible. Then I let it air dry all day until I get home from work. Then I assemble and apply oil (wahl clipper oil)...
...GOOD AS NEW [emoji41]

 

[Omarz]

they don’t, soft brush bit of water remove foils obviously but it’s just a gimmick. They will argue it’s needed but it isn’t I use witch hazel works fine.

 

[Scaramouche]

They're not necessary - you've probably noticed the major manufacturers make lots of shavers without stations that are virtually identical to their "station included" counterparts. But they're very convenient. Rotaries in particular are a pain to clean, and require separating blades and cutters, cleaning them individually, and ensuring the blades and combs are matched back up correctly. Braun's newer cassettes make it impossible to separate blades and foils, so you have to rely on just rinsing to clean them thoroughly - which it probably doesn't. Panasonics are much easier to clean manually, with separate foils and cutters, and even have a cleaning mode to assist, so arguably stations benefit them the least.

Manual rinsing is probably adequate with any of them, but probably also doesn't remove all debris, and the cleaning stations reduce or eliminate odors caused by any leftover "stuff." The other important function that the stations provide is lubricating the cutters and foils/combs, which in fact does prolong their life. Braun also touts their alcohol-based system as "sanitizing" the shaver head, which it likely does if that interests you. Again, not necessary. Then there's the matter of additional cost for a station - for the station itself, and recurring costs on the order of $4-5 or so monthly (unless you refill the cleaning cartridges or just use them intermittently, which reduces that) - and the additional space occupied on your counter. Cost for electricity is negligible.

So it's a matter of personal preference, with the station eliminating the need for disassembling the shaver head, touching the blades, potentially damaging or dulling them, and manually lubricating the head. My morning routine consists of shaving, briefly rinsing the shaver, then dropping it into the cleaner and pressing the "Start" button. My shaver is cleaned, dried and lubricated for the next morning's shave with no other effort on my part. At a cost of about $50 annually. Worth it, to me. Maybe not to you. As with all things shaving, YMMV.

 

[Flyboybob]

A cleaning station is not just a gimmick but a profit generator for the manufacturer. I have been using electric shavers since 1962 or 63 and cleaning stations weren’t available until the late 1990s. Those savers lasted years with no problems nor were they washable

Cleaning stations take up valuable bathroom counter space, use additional electricity and serve no other purpose then to sell you a supply of marked up fluid which is mostly isopropyl alcohol and fragrance. As other posters have mentioned it’s a convenience at best. Although my Braun 7893s shaver is waterproof, I never use it wet nor clean it with water. I basically follow Braun’s dry cleaning instructions in the owner’s manual. I tap out the cuttings from the cassette onto a piece of tissue paper and then brush out the top of the shaver with the cassette removed after each shave. This takes about ten seconds and the shaver doesn’t require lubricantion. I bought the shaver in April and the it doesn’t smell and it shaves just as close and comfortable as it did on the first shave.

 

[slybrewguy]

Need it? Nope, not at all.

Love it and use it every time? Absolutely!

If you don't use one, and you wash your shaver head with water/soap/etc, make sure you occasionally add a drop or two of lubricating oil.

I have really oily skin as well as the humidity level in my home causes wet metal to rust very quickly so I like using the cleaning station as it cleans, disinfects, lubricates, and dries (even if it doesn't have a fan, alcohol absorbs/displaces water causing it to dry quicker) all in one kick butt push of a button.

 

[Flyboybob]

Need it? Nope, not at all.

Love it and use it every time? Absolutely!

If you don't use one, and you wash your shaver head with water/soap/etc, make sure you occasionally add a drop or two of lubricating oil.

I have really oily skin as well as the humidity level in my home causes wet metal to rust very quickly so I like using the cleaning station as it cleans, disinfects, lubricates, and dries (even if it doesn't have a fan, alcohol absorbs/displaces water causing it to dry quicker) all in one kick butt push of a button.

You make a good case for a cleaning station in your particular situation with having oily skin and living in a high humidity environment. However, I still can’t figure out the reason for washing the head of your shaver with water. Also, why do you need to disinfect your shaver? You’re not doing surgery with it and you’re not going to cut yourself as long as the screen is intact? Electric shavers work on the same principle as a pair of scissors. If you want to trim your hair do you disinfect your scissors? You could make a case for disinfecting if you are sharing your shaver with your closest friends. Otherwise the cuttings are your own hairs.

I washed the head weekly of my previous Panasonic shaver with a little liquid hand soap and running water. After the head dried it began to develop a slight odor which I ignored. Panasonic makes no mention in their owner’s manual about using any lubricant and I never used any. It’s the only time a shaver I owned developed an odor. Shaving dry and just brushing out the cuttings has never developed any odor nor required lubrications.

If it makes you happy to buy and use one, then it’s worth the money. To me it’s just another high tech gadget. If it makes you feel squeaky clean and sanitized then enjoy it.

 

[Jason smooth]

I just saw a video on the Braun cleaning station. With everything inside and attached, I can see why using a cleaning system can be helpful to get all the debris out. Not sure how effective running water is vs the cleaning station.

I agree that to disinfect your shaver is not needed unless you share your shaver with others in your family.

Lubrication it would appear to be a good thing. I agree the station takes a lot of room on the sink. I would store it underneath the sink or in thr bathroom closet. I used to have be a Braun shaver with the cleaning station. The shaver bottom tip you had to lock in to the connection for it to charge.

Another minus is the loud noise it makes when cleaning. If you get up early to shave, the cleaning process is noisy and your wife will hear it if she is in bed

Leaning towards buying the Norelco Prestige shaver. I use their old sensor shaver but the Prestige cutters fit on my shaver.

 

[Scaramouche]

Just to amplify on the sanitizing thing, discussed to a fare-thee-well in other razor threads on this site (reference Barbicide). This coming from a medical professional with a little experience in infectious diseases. Sterilizing, or even sanitizing, a DE or SE blade, electric shaver or even a straight razor is not absolutely necessary unless you are aware that the razor/shaver you are going to use has been exposed to an infectious source (an HCV patient for example), and depending on time elapsed, perhaps not even then. You are unlikely to die or even contract a serious illness from using an unsanitized, unsterilized blade or electric shaver, although interestingly as a historical oddity, it has occurred (the most famous being Lord Carnarvon who bankrolled the discovery of King Tut's tomb). But overall, the odds are with you.

That said, there are any of a thousand or so species of human skin flora, mostly bacteria, living on your skin right now, including in hair follicles. These organisms include Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus, and Streptococcus species, which are pathogens, as well as bacterial and fungal spores. They happily reside there all the time, and showering or bathing will not remove most of them (they live in the top layers of epidermis). Soap, although a good cleanser and surfactant, will not kill them. And you disrupt them every time you shave, even with an electric shaver, potentially exposing the deeper layers of tissue to these organisms, even with an electric shaver. And some of them will transfer to your shaving implement, and stay there.

If you are a blade shaver, you have cut yourself at some time. If you're an electric shaver, perhaps you are familiar with the term "razor burn." This is where the top layer of your protective epidermis is removed. Exposing your inside, to organisms that should be outside. And they are indeed your "own" organisms, as some will argue. That specifically means nothing, because you have an excellent chance, statistically someday if you live long enough, of dying from an infection from your "own" organisms, being in a place they shouldn't be, or overwhelming your immune system. In other words, our "own" organisms will statistically kill many or most of us, eventually. So don't get too comfortable.

All leading up to the fact that if you wish to sanitize your shaver or razor blade, there are excellent reasons to do it, probably more with an electric shaver than a blade, because there are more crevices for organisms to hide. Sanitizing a shaving device simply reduces the bioburden of organisms on the shaving device, for that shave on that day. Which is arguably a good thing, for all of the reasons above, and not completely unnecessary, for all of the reasons above.

 

[Flyboybob]

I just saw a video on the Braun cleaning station. With everything inside and attached, I can see why using a cleaning system can be helpful to get all the debris out. Not sure how effective running water is vs the cleaning station.

I agree that to disinfect your shaver is not needed unless you share your shaver with others in your family.

Lubrication it would appear to be a good thing. I agree the station takes a lot of room on the sink. I would store it underneath the sink or in thr bathroom closet. I used to have be a Braun shaver with the cleaning station. The shaver bottom tip you had to lock in to the connection for it to charge.

Another minus is the loud noise it makes when cleaning. If you get up early to shave, the cleaning process is noisy and your wife will hear it if she is in bed

Leaning towards buying the Norelco Prestige shaver. I use their old sensor shaver but the Prestige cutters fit on my shaver.

“I can see why using a cleaning system can be helpful to get all the debris out. Not sure how effective running water is vs the cleaning station.” My thought is why it’s necessary to get all the debris out? I can see some debris in the cutter/screen cassette which doesn’t seem to affect the quality or comfort of the shave. If it was unhealthy then it would develop an odor. I assume that your shaver cassette is not harbor for bacteria or mold.

 

[Flyboybob]

Just to amplify on the sanitizing thing, discussed to a fare-thee-well in other razor threads on this site (reference Barbicide). This coming from a medical professional with a little experience in infectious diseases. Sterilizing, or even sanitizing, a DE or SE blade, electric shaver or even a straight razor is not absolutely necessary unless you are aware that the razor/shaver you are going to use has been exposed to an infectious source (an HCV patient for example), and depending on time elapsed, perhaps not even then. You are unlikely to die or even contract a serious illness from using an unsanitized, unsterilized blade or electric shaver, although interestingly as a historical oddity, it has occurred (the most famous being Lord Carnarvon who bankrolled the discovery of King Tut's tomb). But overall, the odds are with you.

That said, there are any of a thousand or so species of human skin flora, mostly bacteria, living on your skin right now, including in hair follicles. These organisms include Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus, and Streptococcus species, which are pathogens, as well as bacterial and fungal spores. They happily reside there all the time, and showering or bathing will not remove most of them (they live in the top layers of epidermis). Soap, although a good cleanser and surfactant, will not kill them. And you disrupt them every time you shave, even with an electric shaver, potentially exposing the deeper layers of tissue to these organisms, even with an electric shaver. And some of them will transfer to your shaving implement, and stay there.

If you are a blade shaver, you have cut yourself at some time. If you're an electric shaver, perhaps you are familiar with the term "razor burn." This is where the top layer of your protective epidermis is removed. And they are indeed your "own" organisms, as some will argue. That specifically means nothing, because you have an excellent chance, statistically someday if you live long enough, of dying from an infection from your "own" organisms, being in a place they shouldn't be, or overwhelming your immune system. In other words, our "own" organisms will statistically kill many or most of us, eventually. So don't get too comfortable.

All leading up to the fact that if you wish to sanitize your shaver or razor blade, there are excellent reasons to do it, probably more with an electric shaver than a blade, because there are more crevices for organisms to hide. Sanitizing a shaving device simply reduces the bioburden of organisms on the shaving device, for that shave on that day. Which is arguably a good thing, for all of the reasons above, and not completely unnecessary, for all of the reasons above.

There are bacteria everywhere in the environment including your skin, your hair and beneficially in your gut. Most of them are harmless and don’t cause any problems. In some cases they boost are immune system and outnumber all of us. The bottom line is that I have been shaving with an electric shaver for nearly 60 years and I never had any reaction from an electric shaver that could remotely be caused by the head not being sanitized. Only in the last few years could I rinse the shaver which didn’t make any difference than just brushing out the debris. All those shavers never developed any odor as long as I kept using and cleaning them without water. I’ve gone back to not using any water on my current Braun 7 series shaver and there has not been any detrimental effects. Just fast, close and comfortable shaves.

 

[jbjbrown]

There are bacteria everywhere in the environment including your skin, your hair and beneficially in your gut. Most of them are harmless and don’t cause any harm and in some cases boost are immune system. The bottom line is that I started shaving with an electric shaver for nearly 60 years and I never had any reaction from an electric shaver. Only in the last few years could I rinse the shaver which didn’t make any difference than just brushing out the debris. I’ve gone back to not using any water on my current Braun 7 series shaver without any detrimental effects. Just fast, close and comfortable shaves.

For me it's about keeping the blades and foil lubed. The problem with hair, dead skin cells, etc, is that it potentially hinders proper lubrication. Dirt gets trapped by oil and thus increases friction. So I clean the blades and foil more to get the debris out, so I can put fresh clean oil on the metal contact surfaces.
I don't worry about germs. More about decreased performance from mucked up blades.

 

[FireDragon76]

It's more of a luxury feature, not something you really need. It was invented as a revenue stream for Proctor & Gamble, because electric shaver sales were slumping in the early 2000's. Gotta keep the stockholders happy, ya know...

I have a can of Clippercide I use if I really need to sterilize parts. You can also dip them in diluted Biocide briefly. You can also submerge the head of the shaver in 91 percent rubbing alcohol and run it a few seconds. A poor man's "cleaning station".

 

[FireDragon76]

For me it's about keeping the blades and foil lubed. The problem with hair, dead skin cells, etc, is that it potentially hinders proper lubrication. Dirt gets trapped by oil and thus increases friction. So I clean the blades and foil more to get the debris out, so I can put fresh clean oil on the metal contact surfaces.
I don't worry about germs. More about decreased performance from mucked up blades.

Biokleen Parts & Chain lube works well for that. Any gun or knife CLP will also work, just as long as you don't get it near rubberized parts (some methyl esters could cause those to swell). I typically clean the parts, even foils, with a Q-tip and some kind of lightweight CLP. I save the nylon brush for removing hairs from cutting blocks. Never use a nylon brush on the foil, as it's too delicate.

Cassettes can simply be rinsed out once in a while, left to air dry, and lubed with something lightweight (I have found Super Lube Extra Lightweight Synthetic Oil to be the best, and it's completely non-toxic and relatively inexpensive).

If you do have problems with skin infections, from something like acne, using a cotton round and some witch hazel after the shave is a good habit as an aftershave treatment. It's also good for removing any residue from the shaver (which can happen, I have a Remington that tends to leave grime behind).

 

[Jason smooth]

After reading some other threads on electric shavers, I've come to the conclusion that a lot of it is on your personal preferences. Some people just want to use a Bic razor a with a can of shaving cream and save alot of money and are happy with the results, Others want to use multiple cartridge types and are happy with a particular shaving cream can. Others want to use a $50 badger while others want the 200 Silvertip one.

Bottom line is the higher-end products give you have a more luxurious feeling and some people enjoy being pampered and that they're getting the very best, Even if it's an incremental difference. I admit I am one of those people.

If I buy a Braun Series 7 shaver and I'm not 100% satisfied with how I shaved my neck, in the back of my mind I would wish I had a 9 series. With less strokes I would have a more efficient shave. Other people would say why spend that extra money for the 9 series when the 7 Series is 95% as good. I don't want to waste my money.

 

[jbjbrown]

After reading some other threads on electric shavers, I've come to the conclusion that a lot of it is on your personal preferences. Some people just want to use a Bic razor a with a can of shaving cream and save alot of money and are happy with the results, Others want to use multiple cartridge types and are happy with a particular shaving cream can. Others want to use a $50 badger while others want the 200 Silvertip one.

Bottom line is the higher-end products give you have a more luxurious feeling and some people enjoy being pampered and that they're getting the very best, Even if it's an incremental difference. I admit I am one of those people.

If I buy a Braun Series 7 shaver and I'm not 100% satisfied with how I shaved my neck, in the back of my mind I would wish I had a 9 series. With less strokes I would have a more efficient shave. Other people would say why spend that extra money for the 9 series when the 7 Series is 95% as good. I don't want to waste my money.

Check out the Panasonic arc line. Much more bang for buck than braun, imo.

 

[shave/brush]

I agree with @Flyboybob. post #8. I too have used an electric razor since 1969. As he said, back then they had no cleaning station and they were not washable. My razors worked just fine for years and all I did was brush out the hairs and tap the head on a hard surface. The blades lasted for years also.