Do you use a full sink of water, or just rinse?

[IHopeWeCanShaveInHeaven]

I’m a full sink swisher. I’m personally not concerned. I appreciate your expertise and background, but I would imagine the act of blade buffing or going over a shaved spot on the skin more than once to be a much better transmitter of the bugs you speak of. Not the sink swishing.

One thing I do after every shave is towel wipe clean the sink. It has nothing to do with germs but it keeps the sink squeaky clean (from soap residue, toothpaste etc).

Very good advice. The towel cleaning the sink would help dry out and kill the bacteria, and whatever left over proteins won't be too worrisome. Blade buffing, I guess if that's what you call going over the same spot with a shaver, then certainly that will help irritate the skin. I use a 2$ bottle of all purpose body, hair, face oil that has some mix of 40 oils in it as a preshave. Got it at walmart, use like 3-4 drops as a preshave to lock in the moisture after showering.

Is swishing in the sink anymore unsanitary then brushing your teeth in the same room one performs myriads of bodily functions? Or using the same cup to rinse brushed teeth day after day? I swish. And I use disposable paper cups to rinse after brushing. We all have fears

I keep my toothbrushes outside of my bathroom and I use 2 typically. One soft and one hard brush. They dry on my cart in my room, and I alternate between the two every 2-3 days, and I soak them in the alcohol left over from soaking my double edge razor w/ blade before a shave. My sink is big enough for my to turn my head sideways and catch the water into my mouth without having to use a cup, or cupping my hands to rinse my mouth. I'll rinse my mouth after I brushed and flossed, brush the roof of my mouth after my teeth, and my tongue last. I'll make sure when I gargle the rinse that it gets the back of my throat and roof of my mouth by tilting my head up.

To repeat, I do turn the faucet on and off to rinse my blade between passes/strokes, though I do pull the stopper down when brushing my teeth just to see how much water I use. In south africa many people who have a tap supply generally don't have a consistent one, so they undo the U joint underneath and put a large round bucket underneath to use to flush their toilets., and many also stand in a bucket in their tub to shower in, and use that to flush their toilets as well. It's a very good solution but the only issue is if you ****, and there's splash back, it may be nerve wrecking.

 

[Ron R]

I have tried using the sink full of of water and find it a waste of time and water. I have tried just using the water facet valves to clean off the razor and that works. The best way I found is a combination of filling a plastic glade sandwich container with water and swishing the razor in it and using the facet valves to cold water rinse and it ejects the top suds out by overflowing the small container. The plastic protects the razor from bumping the sides of the metal sink and the sink is also protected. What I found is that I don't open and close the valve as much and so prolong the life of the facets and water consumption is drastically reduced. It also reduces cleanup of the sink because if you have a sink full of soap suds and pull the sink plug the soap scum and hair just coats the whole sink were as the container just over flows a smaller are and the foot print for clean up is greatly reduced YMMV. I also like to use a hot face cloth for pre-shave prep and folding the face cloth and placing the cloth in the plastic bowl takes hardly any time to heat up also so this is the method that has worked for me and will be this way for a long time to come looking forward.

 

[Saxonbowman]

I said sink full, but I guess its only 1/3 full. I rinse frequently so rather not turn the tap on and off.

 

[WarriorMonk]

Full sink. Been doing so for years.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I have a combi boiler, so turning on the tap to rinse every time, would fire the boiler back up every time, even though I'm only using the hot water remaining in the pipes between the sink and boiler.

It's far more economical to run the water hot, and fill the sink deep enough to swish the razor (not completely fill it), so the boiler is only running once. The only other way, would be for me to rinse with cold water, but I prefer the comfort of the hot.

As to the hygiene aspect, I've been shaving this way for thirty years. If there was some adverse health issue with this practice, I would have thought I'd have noticed by now.

 

[GoodOutcome]

I prefer to rinse in between passes. Even if I was the only one using my sink, it would disgust me to reuse water for rinsing my face/hands/razor.

 

[Luecke2326]

Whew, this is an old thread, Circa 2010!

Personally I run hot tap water the entire time, but in my Mach 3 days I had a sink of whisker soup looking back up at me. How I have changed....

 

[bberg100]

Sink full. Soak my bowl & brush so they are warm. A hard swish of the razor completely cleans it. I do as final rinse or the razor, brush, and bowl under the tap before putting to all away. Anything in the sink came off of me so I don't understand the paranoia some have about the water in the sink.

 

[gwsmallwood]

I started out filling the sink to swish my razor, but over the past couple of years I've gone to tap rinsing. Probably made the shift around the time I started cold water shaving.

 

[IHopeWeCanShaveInHeaven]

I have a combi boiler, so turning on the tap to rinse every time, would fire the boiler back up every time, even though I'm only using the hot water remaining in the pipes between the sink and boiler.

It's far more economical to run the water hot, and fill the sink deep enough to swish the razor (not completely fill it), so the boiler is only running once. The only other way, would be for me to rinse with cold water, but I prefer the comfort of the hot.

As to the hygiene aspect, I've been shaving this way for thirty years. If there was some adverse health issue with this practice, I would have thought I'd have noticed by now.

Excellent. I think I'll do the plastic tupperware as someone else does. The only reason for paranoia for the same water is if you nick yourself a lot. Even then, rinsing it won't rid of surface bacteria. The thing is, as long as you don't nick alot (take your time), and don't have stress and other loads on your body, then you will be just fine sink swishing.

 

[FlScott]

I have my own dedicated shaving bathroom in the house and I clean the sink daily. I've used several methods over the years.

When I first began shaving I had a sink full of water which I placed ice cubes. I'm generally a cold water shaver. I soaked my brush and razor and I would rinse the DE razor in the water, as necessary.

Since then I use less water and only put a few inches of cold water (often with ice) in the sink to first splash. I would soak the brush and razor in the sink and then I'd use the water for the razor rinsing. Between passes I would use water from the faucet on my face. turning the faucet on and off between rinses.

I've started to use a SR recently and I've completely adjusted my routine. I do not let the razor sit in water, or expose the blade to the sink, rather I use the running water method. I turn the faucet on and off as necessary. I keep two scuttles of water for brush soaking and cold face rinsing.

 

[Clay S]

I have my own dedicated shaving bathroom in the house and I clean the sink daily. I've used several methods over the years.

When I first began shaving I had a sink full of water which I placed ice cubes. I'm generally a cold water shaver. I soaked my brush and razor and I would rinse the DE razor in the water, as necessary.

Since then I use less water and only put a few inches of cold water (often with ice) in the sink to first splash. I would soak the brush and razor in the sink and then I'd use the water for the razor rinsing. Between passes I would use water from the faucet on my face. turning the faucet on and off between rinses.

I've started to use a SR recently and I've completely adjusted my routine. I do not let the razor sit in water, or expose the blade to the sink, rather I use the running water method. I turn the faucet on and off as necessary. I keep two scuttles of water for brush soaking and cold face rinsing.

Several SR users use a sponge for wiping blade during the shave. That might work better for you.

 

[sugardaddy]

The best way I found is a combination of filling a plastic glade sandwich container with water and swishing the razor in it and using the facet valves to cold water rinse and it ejects the top suds out by overflowing the small container.

I think this is a great idea. I'm going to try that.

In the past I have not liked to fill the sink because it uses more water than just turning the tap on/off. Plus it's extra work to scrub down the scum and hair bits from the sink walls. I also just use cold, so there's no trying to keep a mug warm, etc. Plus I have a son, so who knows what has touched that sink's surface that day.

But I think having a small container in the bottom for clearing the razor might be really good. It would get refilled/cleaned out somewhat, when I did face rinses between passes. Very nice!

I did not expect to come away with a new method to try when I started reading this thread!!

Thanks Ron

 

[FlScott]

Several SR users use a sponge for wiping blade during the shave. That might work better for you.

I did read that under a thread. Although I hate the way sponges smell and they tend to be petridry dishes. I wipe the SR on a clean towel.

 

[PreachTheWord]

I use the faucet on-off method. I don't really trust how clean my sink is because it's a bizarre white marble pattern on a solid black background. That, and I like the fact that the water I'm using keeps my razor and blade warm.

That said, I don't blast water at full-force. Just enough to get the razor clean for another swipe.

I've been doing that for the last 12 years.

I totally agree with you. The keeping my razor and blade warm is a huge bonus for me.

 

[Clay S]

I did read that under a thread. Although I hate the way sponges smell and they tend to be petridry dishes. I wipe the SR on a clean towel.

I normally don't sniff my sponges, but it didn't seem to have an odor, other than a slight smell of my last used soap and it is thoroughly dry before my next use. I don't use them for dishes, just SRs and washing cars. A towel should work fine, and is good to have as long as you don't panic. Do you have to pick it up or can you use it where it lays?

 

[OkieStubble]

I mostly shower shave 95% of the time. But the 5% of when I do shave at the sink, I put a Giant Marvy Green Rubber Shave Mug into the bottom of the sink. I can soak my brush before the shave and rinse the razor during the shave. And the mug is easier and conserves water better by filling it, instead of filling a sink basin where people wash their hands, spit and sometimes bleed into a sink.

The mug is less germy than the sink and it's large enough to easily swish the razor in. It's also rubber, so no clanging the sides of the mug and hurting the razor or blade.

After a few strokes of the razor, lather and whiskers will float on top of the mug. The mug sits easily at the bottom of the sink right below the faucet, so a quick, 2 second blast of hot water into the mug, rinses that goop right off the top and keeps the water hot, clean and fresh.

After the shave, the brush easily rinses off in that same mug. dry everything off dump the mug, dry it out with a towel and done.

 

[FlScott]

A towel should work fine, and is good to have as long as you don't panic. Do you have to pick it up or can you use it where it lays?

I've done both. I tend to pick up the towel and wipe the spine area. I try not to touch the edge.

 

[Jakebullet]

When I used a DE I filled the sink, just much easier to rinse it but when I started using a straight I didn’t want to risk clinking the edge against the sink so I now use the tap to flush the blade as needed. Not that I care too much but it does use a lot less water and I always have a hot blade after each rinse.

 

[ischiapp3]

Running water is a waste.
With one sink, I wash my hair, upper body and shave.

IF I'm in the desert, I shave with foam can and shavette ... with actually no water.