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- #41
The razor was made in England. As I understand, the same razor was made in US whith a handle and lower plate of brass. My razor is pretty light so unfortunately I don't think it's brass, I think it's aluminium.
Old Gillette tech became dark after boiling
- Thread starter Max_Floory
- Start date
Can you weigh the baseplate? Brass should be a little over 10g, Al is less than 5g
A long treatise follows. TLDR, surgical instruments need to be sterilized, your DE razor does not. Your blade might need to be, arguably, depending on how you shave.
Weighing in from managing a fairly sizeable surgical network of medical facilities performing both inpatient and outpatient surgeries. Humans have been aware that something out of the ordinary causes people to become ill for several millenia. Maybe as long as humans have been around. The attibuted causes have constantly evolved over that time as well, from evil spirits to the gods to "vapors." And finally to Rober Koch and Louis Pasteur, actually relatively recently, discovering that specific microorganisms cause specific diseases. And "surgery" (actually the healing art of medicine) has been around a lot longer than the concept of sterilization - Egyptians understood that copper had some property that caused wounds to heal faster as early as the third millenium, BC, but had no idea why. Understanding that "bugs" cause disease, and could be killed with heat and/or chemicals (and therefore prevent disease), is a fairly recent discovery, around the mid-1800s with Pasteur and Joseph Lister - along with the developing science of Epidemiology of our good Dr. @kingfisher.
So bypassing the entire history of surgery and the sterilization of surgical instruments, we eventually found that pressurized steam resulted in heat high enough for a specific period, that was sufficient to kill most microorganisms that cause disease. Boiling being one of the steps of discovery along the way, because it was an easy way to heat something up without damaging it (much), and it was easier to boil water than to pressurize the resulting steam (which produces a higher temperature than simply boiling), and boiling killed a lot of pathogens (a discovery brought to us actually by the food industry). But along the way we also discovered organisms that were resistant to being killed by boiling them (endospores and prions, for example), so something had to be developed that would kill (most of) these organisms without turning instruments into a heap of slag - enter steam sterilization. And surgical instruments sort of developed in parallel, that could withstand this heat without (much) damage. An aluminum razor is not in this category, nor does it need to be.
Bringing us to the topic of risk assessment. Surgical instruments are sterilized (in this context meaning the destruction of all pathogenic organisms) to prevent the introduction of said organisms into the wound created by surgery (which bypasses the protective outer layer and primary defense of humans from the environment). That's a risk we can mitigate by sterilization, and it's a significant risk because it can result in death or harm to a patient. In general, pathogens require a substrate/surface they can live on - including (usually) water and organic material. Without it, most of them will die in a few hours or days. Hence the observation that on a dry metal surface, not many living things will be found after a period of time - nothing for them to live on. That does not however prevent dust, bacterial spores, fungus or mold, etc, from falling on the surface and contaminating it. That's why surgical instruments are sterilized - to prevent pathogens that might be on the surface of an instrument from being introduced into a patient, whether from another patient, the air or from the surgeon, nurse or a tech, resulting in the aforementioned death or harm.
Your DE razor is not going to be introduced into a body cavity (hopefully). It will do its work on the surface of your skin, already contaminated by the myriad organisms that live there, all the time. Even after you wash. And as already noted, if it has been sitting around, dry, not many extra organisms will be on the surface (or even internally) anyway. The average DE razor is also unlikely to have been designed to withstand high heat steam sterilization. The DE blade, however, does have a chance of penetrating your integument, so if any part of the razor would benefit from sterilization, that's it. Although practically, it has been sitting inside a wrapper from the factory for weeks, months or years, and is therefore less likely than your DE handle to have surface contaminants. So feel free to use just about any DE razor, as-is, without the need to sterilize it. In the event you have a razor you know or suspect has been exposed to pathogens (and the same applies to straight razors), disinfection (killing most pathogens) with any number of approved liquid agents is probably more than sufficient (and if you know your recently-acquired straight razor has been used by someone with cutaneous anthrax, that's probably a bargain you should pass up). Shave on!
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Brilliant! Thank you for that wonderful response! I learned quite a bit from it.A long treatise follows. TLDR, surgical instruments need to be sterilized, your DE razor does not. Your blade might need to be, arguably, depending on how you shave.
Weighing in from managing a fairly sizeable surgical network of medical facilities performing both inpatient and outpatient surgeries. Humans have been aware that something out of the ordinary causes people to become ill for several millenia. Maybe as long as humans have been around. The attibuted causes have constantly evolved over that time as well, from evil spirits to the gods to "vapors." And finally to Rober Koch and Louis Pasteur, actually relatively recently, discovering that specific microorganisms cause specific diseases. And "surgery" (actually the healing art of medicine) has been around a lot longer than the concept of sterilization - Egyptians understood that copper had some property that caused wounds to heal faster as early as the third millenium, BC, but had no idea why. Understanding that "bugs" cause disease, and could be killed with heat and/or chemicals (and therefore prevent disease), is a fairly recent discovery, around the mid-1800s with Pasteur and Joseph Lister - along with the developing science of Epidemiology of our good Dr. @kingfisher.
So bypassing the entire history of surgery and the sterilization of surgical instruments, we eventually found that pressurized steam resulted in heat high enough for a specific period, that was sufficient to kill most microorganisms that cause disease. Boiling being one of the steps of discovery along the way, because it was an easy way to heat something up without damaging it (much), and it was easier to boil water than to pressurize the resulting steam (which produces a higher temperature than simply boiling), and boiling killed a lot of pathogens (a discovery brought to us actually by the food industry). But along the way we also discovered organisms that were resistant to being killed by boiling them (endospores and prions, for example), so something had to be developed that would kill (most of) these organisms without turning instruments into a heap of slag - enter steam sterilization. And surgical instruments sort of developed in parallel, that could withstand this heat without (much) damage. An aluminum razor is not in this category, nor does it need to be.
Bringing us to the topic of risk assessment. Surgical instruments are sterilized (in this context meaning the destruction of all pathogenic organisms) to prevent the introduction of said organisms into the wound created by surgery (which bypasses the protective outer layer and primary defense of humans from the environment). That's a risk we can mitigate by sterilization, and it's a significant risk because it can result in death or harm to a patient. In general, pathogens require a substrate/surface they can live on - including (usually) water and organic material. Without it, most of them will die in a few hours or days. Hence the observation that on a dry metal surface, not many living things will be found after a period of time - nothing for them to live on. That does not however prevent dust, bacterial spores, fungus or mold, etc, from falling on the surface and contaminating it. That's why surgical instruments are sterilized - to prevent pathogens that might be on the surface of an instrument from being introduced into a patient, whether from another patient, the air or from the surgeon, nurse or a tech, resulting in the aforementioned death or harm.
Your DE razor is not going to be introduced into a body cavity (hopefully). It will do its work on the surface of your skin, already contaminated by the myriad organisms that live there, all the time. Even after you wash. And as already noted, if it has been sitting around, dry, not many extra organisms will be on the surface (or even internally) anyway. The average DE razor is also unlikely to have been designed to withstand high heat steam sterilization. The DE blade, however, does have a chance of penetrating your integument, so if any part of the razor would benefit from sterilization, that's it. Although practically, it has been sitting inside a wrapper from the factory for weeks, months or years, and is therefore less likely than your DE handle to have surface contaminants. So feel free to use just about any DE razor, as-is, without the need to sterilize it. In the event you have a razor you know or suspect has been exposed to pathogens (and the same applies to straight razors), disinfection (killing most pathogens) with any number of approved liquid agents is probably more than sufficient (and if you know your recently-acquired straight razor has been used by someone with cutaneous anthrax, that's probably a bargain you should pass up). Shave on!
On a slightly related note, what happens to surgical tools after they're used in surgery? Are they sterilized and reused or are they tossed away (in a biohazard disposal bin?)? I ask because I also enjoy fishing; I use forceps to remove my hooks from fish (the forceps I've used have withstood salt water for years*). I wonder whether hospitals might sell used forceps to tackle shops.
*Albeit I only get a chance to surf fish about once a month (at most).
Yikes. For the new folks the search button here will have plenty of info on cleaning razors and other topics. I still use it myself. No reason to reinvent the wheel with so much experience here....
You don't need to sterilize a blade but it's not necessarily clean. Even without pathogens, there's plenty of industrial funk (the technical term) on it that you might not want in your bloodstream.
Actually, single-use instruments (presterilized) are often preferred nowadays, depending on a procedure (single use scalpels for instance). Sharps are always discarded (with some very few exceptions). Often a surgical kit (an OB pack for example), will come pre-packaged and disposed of after use - you'll get it on your bill after a hospital stay, one way or anotherBrilliant! Thank you for that wonderful response! I learned quite a bit from it.
On a slightly related note, what happens to surgical tools after they're used in surgery? Are they sterilized and reused or are they tossed away (in a biohazard disposal bin?)? I ask because I also enjoy fishing; I use forceps to remove my hooks from fish (the forceps I've used have withstood salt water for years*). I wonder whether hospitals might sell used forceps to tackle shops.
*Albeit I only get a chance to surf fish about once a month (at most).
. It's more economical though to re-sterilize and reuse instruments, particularly one-of or very specialized instruments - and there is an established process for inspecting instruments and packs both before and after sterilization to make sure broken or worn instruments are discarded and sterility is intact - it's also the job of the circulating tech, scrub nurse, assistants and surgeons to inspect instruments before, during and after use, with multiple eyeballs on, to ensure operability and that nothing is broken or missing. Sterilization cycles are hard on instruments, and some may be discarded after a few uses. Most of the above applies to metal instruments, although there is a separate sterilization process using ethylene oxide for medical devices requiring sterilization that can't be steam sterilized. Hospitals with which I've been associated have sterilized and disposed of surgical instruments (non-sharps) in general waste or returned them to the manufacturer, although there is a whole industry selling used surgical instruments. You can also buy cheaper non-surgical quality instruments that aren't designed for high heat sterilization, that are perfectly fine for general use - Pakistan, China and India probably producing the most (although also producing some of the highest quality, along with the US, the Netherlands and Germany).
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- #49
N
No, I cannot. But I compare the weight to Fatip piccolo
Then we remain speculating.
I'm curious about the bluing on the handle next to the head. I don't know if that's from manufacturing and was hidden under plating or was caused by the time spent at the bottom of a pot of boiling water. The bottom of the pan will be way above 212° of the boiling water. To me, the whole razor looks to have been subjected to extreme heat.
Any metal experts here with some insight to this?
Any metal experts here with some insight to this?
I'm in the 'no boil' crowd (soap/water/soft toothbrush...rubbing alcohol if you must), and to date, that is the best analogy I've seen. People forget how efficient soap is.
This. Applies to almost everything in life. Also, if that doesn't work, or you want something more direct, read/ask, it saves a lot of heartache. (says the person that ruined the solar panel on her new emergency radio by pulling the back off of a radio that wasn't supposed to have its back taken off. To my defense, the instructions regarding any of its functions were beyond useless).
Off topic for sure, but...
I grew up swimming in lakes and ocean. I now live a 25 minute walk from the river. Not a pristine out in the country river, but the water is better than the nearby lakes that are actually in the city (Ottawa). So, I have to kind of scrinch up my brain and not think about it. However, what is even more difficult, is the basic muck/ducks that surround the sand beach area (the city bascially dumped tons of sand in the water and shore to make the beach). There are two beaches... the big one has a huge swathe of sand, no shade, and is where almost everyone goes. The small beach has rock.. breakers? I forget the name, a rock barrier that goes out in a curved line from either side...and has a few more pebbles/rocks, and is a bit colder because it doesn't go in as far, its sort of plopped right on a bit of promontory (??...my English fails me today, a jutting out bit). So. Swimming along, about five yards out, but still in the shelter of the rocks... and a duck comes by, and will not leave. He stays swimming about two yards away... I tried swimming away, and he followed. I'm thinking, look duck, I know what your poop looks like, and I have to try hard enough not to think of it when I'm swimming, and here you are beside me. Buzz off. I finally went completely over to the other side, and he left me alone. Then some seagulls started landing on the rock barrier. *sigh*
Sidenote, on your other point. I haven't fact checked it, but read an article recently that said when we have that strong 'chlorine' smell at a pool, we shouldn't exactly think that is a great thing. Apparently chlorine in that kind of concentration has very little smell...unless there is a lot of pee in the water. If there is a lot of pee in the water, the smell is the offshoot of the chlorine interacting with the pee. Who knew?
Methinks in the case of "I know a guy" that said guy wanted to save face about other possibilities of how he got it. Pertinent part in boldface, rest included for general info. Some things like AIDS and Hepatitis can be transmited from a used, unclean, razor. If you are sharing a razor with someone you don't know well, then there is a risk, though a small one. Even if you are concerned about Herpes, it is a risk from unclean, shared instruments. Tap hot water, soap, and leaving it a day or two to thoroughly dry, is plenty of protection. If you are still worried, wipe down with rubbing alcohol and let it sit for two weeks in a dry place. Tap hot water and soap are totally under-rated as cleaning agents.
- t is estimated that 1 out of 6 people have genital herpes. About 90% of them don’t know it.
- Herpes (oral & genital) cannot be spread through inanimate objects such as spoons, glasses, razors, towels, bed sheets, etc. Herpes can only be passed through direct skin-to-skin contact with the infected area such as kissing, oral sex, genital-to-genital rubbing, vaginal, and anal sex.
- Herpes (both oral & genital) can be spread even when there are no symptoms or sores. This is called asymptomatic shedding. Suppressive antiviral therapy significantly reduces asymptomatic shedding (and outbreaks). Valacyclovir taken daily can reduce risk of transmission to a partner by as much as 50%.
- Herpes is a very manageable skin condition and does not cause any damage to internal organs.
- People with herpes have very normal romantic and sexual relationships. After diagnosis, you may feel like your life may never be the same again but you will feel better soon. There are countless online communities and support groups for you with people who’ve been in your shoes.
From Five Things You Should Know About Herpes
I'm not that great at identifying razors without a lot of research. I was wondering if you'd be so kind as to tell me what the two n the right, with the ball ends, are?
It's great if it works, not so much if introduces new problems. Least invasive first...hot tap water, soap, short soak. Still not working well, try a longer soak, try cleaning it a few times that way. In the end, if its still not performing, boiling water might be the way to go, though if it is a particularly nice razor, I'd say it is worth the money to have it professionally cleaned if nothing else worked, that way you also get an alignment check/fix as well.
I learn something new everyday, and today YOU are the teacher! Thank you.
Plus, you made me laugh. Do you speak more than just English? If so, you do well.
Silver tarnish is that color.
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