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sanitizing

Has anybody sanitized their razors etc, in a pressure cooker? :w00t: Wouldn't that be close to an autoclave off steroids? :blush:
 

DoctorShavegood

"A Boy Named Sue"
I don't own a pressure cooker but how about sanitizing in your dishwasher. Just place it in the washer on the last cycle when it heats up and turns the left over water on the dishes into steam. Haven't tried it yet but it sanitizes the silverware just fine.
 
+1

Why mess with a proven method? A soft toothbrush, hot water and dish soap or Scrubbing Bubbles followed by alcohol will do the trick.

+1 This is what I do although, at the end, I will let my razor sit in barbicide for a hour then rinse it off and put it where I will pick it up to use it the next morning.
 
One of the steps I use to sanitizing razors that are new to me involves steam.
I dont own a dishwasher but then again being a bit of a germaphobe I couldnt put them in there anyway. Just the thought of the nasties from the razor dancing across my dishware gives me chills...:scared:
 

luvmysuper

My elbows leak
Staff member
One of the steps I use to sanitizing razors that are new to me involves steam.
I dont own a dishwasher but then again being a bit of a germaphobe I couldnt put them in there anyway. Just the thought of the nasties from the razor dancing across my dishware gives me chills...:scared:

You could run it when there's no dishes in there, just the razor(s) in the silverware holder.
By the way - New silverware you buy from the store probably has more cooties on it than a razor that's been sitting in a drawer or antique store for years
 
Pressure canning would likely be great, but it could possibly ruin the finish on your razor. I researched infectious pathogens, and hepatitis is the one that can survive outside you body the longest. No longer than 4 days on hard surfaces. So if your razor had blood on it, 4 days later you should theoretically be safe. My razors were in the mail for a week, so I should be fine. Even though they looked clean, I took the additional steps of scrubbing them with a lysol solution, and then soaking them in it for an hour. A sloppy version of what CDC recommends for cleaning reuse able medical instruments.(sloppy in that I'm not positive of the strength of the lysol solution. They tell you what strength of hospital lysol to use)
 
Here's my advice...go to your local Sally's Beauty Supply of barber supply store.
Purchase a bottle of Barbicide for about $6.
Mix one ounce of Barbicide into sixteen ounces of water.
Soak razor for ten minutes. (not any longer than this because if forgotten about your razor can be damaged)
Remove and rinse.

I'd rather be safe than sorry and this kills all viruses including HIV, Hep C, etc. For me this is cheap insurance.

Alcohol doesn't kill viruses, either does scrubbing bubbles. Granted you are probably fine using both of those because these viruses likely can't survive more that a couple days on a metal object.

I'll stick with the Barbicide myself as I'd rather know that it's safe to use.
 

luvmysuper

My elbows leak
Staff member
Alcohol doesn't kill viruses, either does scrubbing bubbles.

I'm sorry - but this is just plain incorrect.

I've no disagreement with your suggestion of using Barbicide, but Scrubbing bubbles does in fact inactivate viruses. Alcohol does inactivate some viruses. Technically viruses can't be "killed" because they are not exactly "alive" as we know it. They straddle that line between chemistry and life, between molecular composition and organic organism.

While scrubbing bubbles isn't as effective against a vast array of "cooties" like Barbicide is, Lysol is every bit as effective as Barbicide.

But what folks have to remember is that all you have to do is wash the razor off completely with an effective cleanser. It's a non-porous object and the cooties don't soak into the plating. Wash it off completely and there's nothing left there to "catch".

Certainly nothing wrong with going to extremes if it makes one "feel better", but lets not dis a tried and true method that's been in use here for years and years on hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of razors by thousands and thousands of members with nary a single case of cooties caught from a razor.
 
You can get a bottle of barbicide for cheap off the bay. You dont need any fancy container. A mason jar with a lid will work just fine.
 

mswofford

Rest in Peace
I have found that a PROLONGED soak in HOT water is hard on the lacquer on gold plated Gillette razors. Martin guitars are finished with lacquer; you wouldn't put a steaming hot cloth on it, would you?
I do a Dawn/warm water soak/toothbrush on any razor without problems.
 
I'm sorry - but this is just plain incorrect.

I've no disagreement with your suggestion of using Barbicide, but Scrubbing bubbles does in fact inactivate viruses. Alcohol does inactivate some viruses. Technically viruses can't be "killed" because they are not exactly "alive" as we know it. They straddle that line between chemistry and life, between molecular composition and organic organism.

While scrubbing bubbles isn't as effective against a vast array of "cooties" like Barbicide is, Lysol is every bit as effective as Barbicide.

But what folks have to remember is that all you have to do is wash the razor off completely with an effective cleanser. It's a non-porous object and the cooties don't soak into the plating. Wash it off completely and there's nothing left there to "catch".

Certainly nothing wrong with going to extremes if it makes one "feel better", but lets not dis a tried and true method that's been in use here for years and years on hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of razors by thousands and thousands of members with nary a single case of cooties caught from a razor.

With these cleansers you are hoping that you happen to actually scrub the virus off of the razor, soaking the razor in Scrubbing Bubbles, Alcohol, or Lysol (home strength version) will not remove Hep C for example. You are at best sanitizing the razor but by no means making it sterile.

With the exception of the Lysol IC version (not for home use) none of these cleaners are effective against some of the stronger viruses. http://www.osha-answers.com/lore/article.php?id=069 so reaching into the cleaning closet isn't the best solution.

In using a household cleanser at best you are doing your best to get all of the hidden places on the razor and hoping you got it all. Sure the chances of contracting a virus are slim but is it really worth it to save the six bucks and ten minutes of time the Barbicide takes. I'm a firm believer of using the right tool for the job, so as far as the household cleaners go I have zero expectation of them protecting me against Hepatitis. I have all of them and use them for cleaning purposes only. I'll use them to remove soap scum from a razor but don't expect them to protect me.

You can use whatever you'd like to, but if I'm using a razor from a passaround box, or something I buy off of the BST I'm using something I know will definitely kill these viruses and not something that I think will probably work. Most people who have Hepatitis don't even know that they have it. Any razor I use gets cleaned in Barbicide before I use it and also before I send it on for someone else to use. To me it's just cheap insurance.

Furthermore how do we know that nobody has caught anything from using a razor cleaned using these household cleanser methods. In fact many people have no idea where they contracted Hepatitis and can only assume they got it from a previous partner. Maybe they did contract it from a razor? I mean, how would you know that they didn't? I suspect that in all of these years someone has caught something from a razor that has been improperly cleaned.

All I'm saying is that if there is a safer way to do this then why not do it.
 
There could be a pit in the plating that has some hep c packed into it and covered by a soap scum layer like a wax sealed cork that the barbicide can't get to. Then it'll work it's way out and GET ME while I'm shaving, right at that moment I nick myself. Or worse, the Spanish flu pandemic from 1918!

I'll trust the harsh detergents and solvents combined with scrubbing.

But seriously, barbicide is great and is much needed in a barber shop or salon where 50 people might have that tool used on them in the same day and it needs to be sanitized in a way to cover all bases due to the short lapse of time between customers.
 
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