Post by Flintstone on Jan 11, 2020 8:55:53 GMT -6
For those of us vintage guys -- or even ‘modern’ folks who purchase razors second-hand -- I'd like to share my "cleaning" routine, and would love to hear yours.
These discussions can get a little "heated" (at least on other forums), often the battle is between extremes -- those who would live in a bubble versus those who would re-use chewing gum from the bottom of a table. I started out as a “bubble-boy” and have migrated further towards being a “gum chewer”. Regardless of where you fall on the spectrum, if it works for you, then it's the "right" method -- to me this is one of those "personal" things where folks have different tolerances on what constitutes "clean enough". And as you'll see, my thinking on what is "clean enough" has definitely changed/evolved.
Here's a list of my cleaning and sanitizing tools and products:
When I would describe the full regimen, people would ask if I used utensils in restaurants, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that (for me at least) the full regimen was overkill. But it got me past the idea of using someone else's personal hygiene device (i.e., a razor).
A couple of lessons/learned or "things I don't recommend:
What do you do when you acquire a used razor before you use it -- what's your pre-use process?
These discussions can get a little "heated" (at least on other forums), often the battle is between extremes -- those who would live in a bubble versus those who would re-use chewing gum from the bottom of a table. I started out as a “bubble-boy” and have migrated further towards being a “gum chewer”. Regardless of where you fall on the spectrum, if it works for you, then it's the "right" method -- to me this is one of those "personal" things where folks have different tolerances on what constitutes "clean enough". And as you'll see, my thinking on what is "clean enough" has definitely changed/evolved.
Here's a list of my cleaning and sanitizing tools and products:
- Old toothbrush with soft bristles
- Dawn dish soap (I like the green color the best)
- Scrubbing Bubbles, non-bleach version
- Lysol concentrate (I mix it 1 tbls spoon to 2 cups [which is a pretty strong mixture])
- Isopropyl alcohol (I use the 90+% -- less water the better as I’m mostly using it to help eliminate water as well as germs)
- Flitz polish
- Old t-shirts and microfiber cloth
- An electric tea pot
- Run hot tap water and wash/scrub razor using toothbrush and dawn dish soap
- After rinsing off the soap, put in a plastic yogurt container and spray it down with Scrubbing bubbles, set a timer for 5 minutes
- After timer rings, scrub the soaked razor with the toothbrush and then rinse the razor with hot tap water
- Put razor back in yogurt cup, and mix Lysol concentrate with near boiling water (i.e., water that was brought to boiling in the tea pot and allowed to to cool for a few minutes) -- pour the Lysol and hot water mixture over the razor and set timer for 10 minutes
- After timer rings, rinse the razor under hot tap water and move it over to soak in isopropyl alcohol for about 5 minutes. Once removed from the alcohol I dry it thoroughly.
- After it’s dry, I shine it up with Flitz polish.
When I would describe the full regimen, people would ask if I used utensils in restaurants, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that (for me at least) the full regimen was overkill. But it got me past the idea of using someone else's personal hygiene device (i.e., a razor).
A couple of lessons/learned or "things I don't recommend:
- Boiling a razor or even boiling water....especially on any non-metal surfaces (e.g., bakelite, wood). I'll use VERY hot water, but I stay away from the boiling temperature....frankly the cleansers I'm using give me enough disinfectant comfort and while the hot water helps break up crud, I've damaged a few bakelite parts with water that was too hot.
- No bleach -- again this is probably for non-metal parts of the razor (e.g., bakelite, wood). Haven't used it, but have read horror stories.
What do you do when you acquire a used razor before you use it -- what's your pre-use process?