For those of you who buy and sell alot in the shaving mall

[Fletch]

I have a question for you guys. When buying pre-owned items what is the best way to clean/sterilize them? I'm guessing razors can be wiped down with something like rubbing alcohol? What about brushes? Do you actually sterilize them, if so how? I'm guessing things like soaps are pretty much used as is?

I've been spending a seemingly unusual amount of time in that section lately I'm wondering... Should I manage to lose control and start buying, what is the best way to go about cleaning/disinfecting some of the things I get. I've never gotten anything pre-owned with relation to things that are shaving related so I was just curious how to go about cleaning things like razors, brushes, and I'm guessing nothing much can really be done about soaps and whatnot.

 

[Loric]

I dip razors and brushes in Barbaside. Then I clean brushes using THIS method. There is a great razor cleaning and restoration post in the WIKI. Generally I hit mine with some Scrubbing Bubbles and a tooth brush and then another soak in Baraside after I get the gunk off fallowed by a quick polish with a non abrasive metal polish. I hope that helps.

 

[noahpictures]

+1

That's thorough.

 

[kg4ghn]

If I get a razor that needs cleaning then it's scrubbing bubbles which cleans awesome and is antibacterial. If it already looks nice, just some alcohol is fine for me.

 

[Fletch]

Very helpful thanks, although the only place I've ever seen Barbicide was in barber shops, can it usually be found in some brick and mortar location or is online the best option?

 

[Skrymr]

Very helpful thanks, although the only place I've ever seen Barbicide was in barber shops, can it usually be found in some brick and mortar location or is online the best option?

I got mine in a local "Sally Beauty" store.

 

[mdevine]

I got a Tuckaway in the mail yesterday (off e-bay). I soaked it in boiling water with some Dawn dish washing soap. Then I cleaned it with Scrubbing Bubbles follwed by a short stay in rubbing alcohol. I doubt many microbes survive that combined assault.

 

[rosborne]

If I get a razor that needs cleaning then it's scrubbing bubbles which cleans awesome and is antibacterial. If it already looks nice, just some alcohol is fine for me.

+1

Remember, alcohol kills germs as it evaporates, not just dipping it and rinsing it off.

Everyone has there own level of comfort.

 

[MoabBoy]

Remember, alcohol kills germs as it evaporates

Hmmm

More correctly, alcohol needs contact time. Soak them in alcohol for a few minutes. 70% works best.

 

[Deborah]

My husband and I also use Scrubbing Bubbles as a cleaner for razors. And to be on the safe side we also dip them in Alcohol and then let them sit till dry.

We have never bought used soaps...don't think I ever would either. I have a pretty high gross factor about using someone elses personal soaps.

 

[Go West Young Man]

My ick-line is drawn at used creams in tubs. Tubes are ok, soaps and brushes are OK, but for some reason I can't get myself to even consider a cream in a tub that someone else had used.

 

[cswann1]

We have never bought used soaps...don't think I ever would either. I have a pretty high gross factor about using someone elses personal soaps.

Agreed. I was reading a customer review of a soap on Amazon where the reviewer said that you could sell the soap on one of the wet-shave forums if you didn't care for it.


To each his own, but I think I'll look for other areas in my life to save a couple of bucks in, and buy new soaps.

 

[Judge Kemp]

I got mine in a local "Sally Beauty" store.

I find myself in that store more and more. And let me tell you, whenever I walk in everyone thinks I'm there to rob the place I think. The ratio of women shoppers to male shoppers at that store must run about 10,000:1. I never fail to get an immediate inquiry about helping me find something, for fear apparently that I (1) am already lost and entered the wrong store; or (2) will quickly become lost in the store itself.

 

[cnnc97]

I've never bought a used soap, but if you did you could just make a few lathers from it then clean your brush if you are grossed out by used soap. It's soap, doesn't that make it somewhat clean? You wouldn't hesitate to use a bar of soap in a friend's bathroom would you?

 

[michiganlover]

I've never bought a used soap, but if you did you could just make a few lathers from it then clean your brush if you are grossed out by used soap. It's soap, doesn't that make it somewhat clean? You wouldn't hesitate to use a bar of soap in a friend's bathroom would you?

That's always been my take on it: it's soap just how dirty can it be? Beside if you commit 100% to not using anything but new soaps, you would be locking yourself out of some truly great vintage soaps.

 

[Joe Edson]

When I get a used soap off BST the first thing I do with it is give it a good scrubbing with ....soap

 

[cswann1]

That's IT!!! I'm going to make a fortune selling soap cleaner.


I thought of it first!! I got dibs!! Where's the %#*@ing patent office??

 

[Shavely Manden]

Has there ever been an incident with somebody getting sick off a used soap or cream? I figure that they're all soap and that it probably never came in contact with the skin anyhow. Plus, it'd be a pretty hostile environment for microbes--not only would they have to survive being off the skin and on a soap, but they'd probably have to put up with the soap drying out and neglected (since nobody sells a soap they've been using all the time). The one I'd be most worried about would be HIV, but per the San Francisco Aids Foundation, "HIV is very fragile, and many common substances, including hot water, soap, bleach and alcohol, will kill it." Further, "Air does not 'kill' HIV, but exposure to air dries the fluid that contains the virus, and that will destroy or break up much of the virus very quickly. The CDC reports that drying HIV reduces viral amount by 90-99% within several hours."

I'm not sure about other bloodborne pathogens, but it looks like the really nasty one isn't really a risk on B/S/T.

 

[BlackAngus]

The various flavors of hepatitis have always worried me, but I'm a chronic and accomplished worrier.

 

[jgkeegan]

If you are in the USA, the Sally Beauty Supply chain, which I think is almost every place I have ever traveled, stocks it as well as some lesser expensive and very similar products.

Very helpful thanks, although the only place I've ever seen Barbicide was in barber shops, can it usually be found in some brick and mortar location or is online the best option?