Medicine cabinet with blade disposal slot

[Highspeedlane]

My house was built in or around 1955 and we've been in it since the early 90's. My medicine cabinet has a slot for disposing of razor blades, which I presume was a common practice "back in the day". Done with your blade? Drop it between the studs in your bathroom wall!

I imagine it would take several centuries (or more) before the blades would make a dent in that voluminous cavity. One of these days I will have to re-do that bathroom anyway and wondering what sort of pile is going to be behind that wall.

No doubt a common practice decades ago but seems sort of out of place in this age.

 

[Alejandro Salemandro]

I've seen those before. Super cool! I'd you redo the bathroom you'll have to save the medicine cabinet! That or sell it on panjo...

 

[dpm802]

You might be able to feel around the outside of that stud cavity with a strong magnet to see if there's anything in there.

 

[Mick]

Oh I "pity the foo" that goes into my walls and finds everything from rusted carbon to modern stainless to disposable straight blades made in places like Asia, Russia, Egypt, South America, and Japan.

Quite a menagerie of blades down in the deep dark bowels of the walls at Casa Mick

 

[dpm802]

I wonder how come we've never seen one of those slots that is labeled "Put used razor blades HERE."

I guess that back in the pre-cartridge days, everybody had one, everybody knew what it was for, and it was just taken for granted.

 

[TheWhitePadlock]

I can remember my Dad dropping his used razor blades through the slot when I was just a tad. Now I have two medicine cabinets with those same slots in my house and every time I drop a blade in there I think of him.

 

[Toothpick]

I had one in my last house and used it. Somewhere there is a thread or pic of someone that made their own.....

 

[jcs266]

My house was built in the mid-90's so no slot... I installed one myself

 

[PMT]

That is so cool, our 1939 hous I grew up in didn't have them (to my recollection) I love that I use only Sharks which has the bank built into every pack!

 

[bakerbarber]

LOL

My Uncle said his filled up.

I've seen them labeled BLADES before.

There is another thread with pictures from a renovation. It was nasty. A big pile of sharps. Some rusty and gross looking. Someone eventually has to pick them up and dispose of them. lol

Many people have opened the walls of old houses to have an avalanche of blades come out the bottom.

Google it.

https://www.google.com/search?q=ren...KYecNqP7gcgD&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1536&bih=758

 

[Highspeedlane]

Some great pics! Thanks for sharing.

The house we lived in before the one I'm in now was originally built in what we estimated to be the early 1700's and had been updated at least some time in 1918-1919 because we found newspapers from that date that had been used to shim up the flooring on the second floor.

It also had a medicine cabinet with disposal slot. Probably had seen quite a bit of use I'd imagine owing to that house's age.

 

[GeoWade]

My house was built in or around 1955 and we've been in it since the early 90's. My medicine cabinet has a slot for disposing of razor blades, which I presume was a common practice "back in the day". Done with your blade? Drop it between the studs in your bathroom wall!

I imagine it would take several centuries (or more) before the blades would make a dent in that voluminous cavity. One of these days I will have to re-do that bathroom anyway and wondering what sort of pile is going to be behind that wall.

No doubt a common practice decades ago but seems sort of out of place in this age.

i grew up in Texas in mostly new housing and have never seen this before...That is wild stuff!

 

[spyrodog]

When I was doing bathroom remodels I used to hate finding one of these that was actually used. A sharp corroded mess!

This is what I'm using for now...

 

[freebird0064]

As far as remodeling goes. Most experienced contractors have dealt with these cabinets. If you want to keep it. Have some sheet metal made into a box and install it in the wall under the cabinet. Then it will be safe if any future rework is done.

 

[Gig103]

We're talking about a bathroom remodel at my house and I want to have the guy cut a slit in the back of the medicine cabinet. My wife says "no way" and I can't understand why she'd care. Not like it will ever fill up!

 

[Mick]

We're talking about a bathroom remodel at my house and I want to have the guy cut a slit in the back of the medicine cabinet. My wife says "no way" and I can't understand why she'd care. Not like it will ever fill up!

you can tell her another option would be to cut a hole in a wall in the bathroom if she does not like the medicine cabinet option

 

[J T]

The slots were in the lavatories of Boeing 707s & 747s among others

 

[bvance554]

You might be able to feel around the outside of that stud cavity with a strong magnet to see if there's anything in there.

And then what?

 

[jcs266]

The slots were in the lavatories of Boeing 707s & 747s among others

Seriously? Who shaves on a flight? Hmmm, I guess if you're on a 12 hr+ flight to a meeting? Wow.

When was this? Years ago or more recently? Interesting!

 

[Shav8r]

The slots were in the lavatories of Boeing 707s & 747s among others

Neat bit of trivia!

Quite amazing how to think that the times have changed. I just had an interesting thought...

From the TSA "not allowed" list: "Razor-Type Blades - such as box cutters, utility knives, and safety razor blades (disposable razors and their cartridges are permitted)"

What about the cartridges like Fusions that have the "trimmer blade"? It's essentially an exposed blade without a guard. Interesting. For what it's worth, I think next time I travel by air I will just check a bag so I can take a small shave kit with me. I don't think I have it in me to go buy a cartridge again, haha.