Landed a Schick Krona - now what?

[Phog Allen]

Howdy gents. I just grabbed this Krona(I think that's right)at the local antique mall yesterday. The princely sum of $6 took it home. A real bargain. This thing is in great shape and functions well but will need thorough cleaning. I did the normal baking soda with a toothbrush scrub and then soaked it head first in a small ramekin of vinger. Just enough to cover the head. This helped but I still have some of the green/blue crud stuck here and there on the head. Okay, you can't boil this one. The plastic won't take it. Any ideas? BTW, I went ahead and shaved with it as only a tiny bit of this stuff remains and I steralised it as best I could with alcohol. Good shaver but I still want to clean it thoroughly.

Regards, Todd

 

[moses]

Tod,

I would go to a metal polish. Brasso, Maas, something like that.

-Mo

 

[yomuppet]

Tod,

I would go to a metal polish. Brasso, Maas, something like that.

-Mo

I second that, but make sure not to get any on the plastic. Also the boiling works if you use a very shallow pan (I have done this with 2 Kronas).

J

 

[smithno]

My main DE is one that looks just like yours. Mine gives a very nice, close shave and mine was pretty clean when I got it off eBay. I found that a tooth brush with tooth paste was a good final touch for getting it clean looking. I think the Krona's are under rated DE razors! Great Purchase!

Norm

 

[Agent86]

I have a couple of these, and I just can't seem to get them to shine up like any of my old Gillettes(even one that's NM in the box) . I've wondered if this could be attributed to differences in the plating process. Anyway, they're great razors...gentle and super easy to shave with.

 

[c white]

I actually tried boiling one of these in a 10% vineger solution..... it turned the handle gray! Strangely enough the tto section at the bottom stayed black, but the rest of the handle went gray. It was quite interesting, I boiled it for about 10 mins and when I took it out only a small section had turned, but over the next few minutes the rest of the handle changed colour.

I had bought 3 schicks at a flea market for $10; the Krona, the long black handled L version injector, and the adjustable injector. I used the first two as experiments to see what I could get away with when sanitizing the adjustable. The type L didn't turn colour in the vineger bath, but part of the rubber melted away from the handle (boiling didn't melt the plastic on the Krona though).


I ended up just holding the adjustable with a pair of tongs and boiling the head only.

 

[moses]

I think with something that I actually cared about not hurting, and which had any form of plastic anywhere, I would forgo any boiling, vinigar, or bleach. If you are really that worried about bugs, use a barbicide type product. Or just use some alcohol, or peroxide, or something. Sure, you'll only get bacteria that way, but there nothing really there to worry about anyway, except maybe a couple random bacteria hanging out, just like on everything else.

You might get away with boiling just the head of a plastic handle razor. But you might not, too. Your tongs could slip. Steam is mighty hot too. Metal (ie, that razor head) transfers heat pretty well, right up into the plastic. Is it really worth risking a nice, and potentially reasonably valuable razor?

The mere idea of sticking the 150+ year our straight I just bought near boiling really makes me cringe something awful. And it is, according to ebay, not worth that much more than an adjustable injector.

-Mo

 

[PalmettoB]

Don't know if the plating is different on the Schicks, but for Ebay Gillettes I have found a citrus-based cleaner and old toothbrush will clean just about anything. Not sure how it would do on plastic either, but it usually works for me. Might need A LOT of elbow grease.

 

[c white]

I don't boil razors with plastic bits anymore either, I bought a bottle of hospital grade disinfectant since I couldn't find any Barbacide+ or Mar-V-Cide in my area.

It does take a lot to hurt the plastic though... I worked in a toothbrush factory when I was younger, so I make it a point to boil all my toothbrushes before I use them.... Trust me on this! The toothbrushes come out fine, the only problem with razors is that the metal part of the razor gets a lot hotter then the rest of the razor and can melt the rubber. This does take time though, it wont happen if you accidently drop the razor in boiling water, unless you leave it in there a few minutes.

 

[moses]

I don't boil razors with plastic bits anymore either, I bought a bottle of hospital grade disinfectant since I couldn't find any Barbacide+ or Mar-V-Cide in my area.

It does take a lot to hurt the plastic though... I worked in a toothbrush factory when I was younger, so I make it a point to boil all my toothbrushes before I use them.... Trust me on this! The toothbrushes come out fine, the only problem with razors is that the metal part of the razor gets a lot hotter then the rest of the razor and can melt the rubber. This does take time though, it wont happen if you accidently drop the razor in boiling water, unless you leave it in there a few minutes.

Interesting on the toothbrush front. I generally just adopt a what I don't see won't hurt me theory, though, so I doubt I'll start boiling. Yes, yes, I DID major in biology. What's your point about it?

If you want to disinfect, some kind of professional disinfectant really is the way to go, I think.

About the boiling, you are quite right of course, about the plastic. Actually, the main reason the metal gets so hot is that it is usually touching the bottom of the pan. The water, of course, is stabilized at a fixed temperture that it cannot exceed by the boiling process. The pan bottom is not, though, and that heat can be conducted through the razors metal parts, to damage the plastic. I've been able to boil an injector safely by placing large rubber bands under it to hold it up off the bottom of the pan. That was back before I decided the whole boiling thing is silly. (Not a bad way to loosen gunk on an all metal razor, though).

-Mo

 

[Phog Allen]

Wow guys, thanks for all the responses. A toothbrush with citrus cleaner may be the way to go.

Regards,Todd

 

[yomuppet]

To be honest, with my first Krona I even boiled the handle part, with no negative effect.

J