This post is aimed towards those that have restored old safety razors. So, I previously posted a photo of several old Gillette safety razors I received from a friend. I now have the time to clean these razors up (hot water, Scrubbing Bubbles, and a toothbrush). I'm really looking forward to shaving with them. What I am wondering about is this, I don't have any Barbicide handy...but, I do have an ample supply of original, unflavored, Listerine mouthwash. I would think the Listerine will do a nice job of disinfecting, but I don't want to damage the razors. Have any of you had any experience with this?
scrubbing bubbles, listerine, lysol, rubbing alcohol will all take care of you. just do not use scrubbing bubbles on gold razors as it will ruin the protective lacquer coating.
If you use listerene, rise the razor thoughly, otherwise it will leave a bit of residue. Honestly, scrubbing bubbles will leave your razor sanitized. Barbacide is only a maintenance step, it's cheaper than scrubbing bubbles, but will keep your razor in the same condition scrubbing bubbles left it in.
Scrubbing Bubbles disinfects. And I have had zero issues using it on gold razors, just don't let it soak for longer than it takes for the bubbles to disappear.
Napalm, deep fat frying, or sometimes nuclear radiation by dipping it in the Pacific, in the Fukishima runoff...
It looks like the Scrubbing Bubbles will indeed do the job of disinfecting quite well. Upon further inspection of the Scrubbing Bubbles label, it does say "Kills 99.9% of bacteria". I guess the other 0.1% are just too bad assed to kill. Thanks for the advice, everyone. "After" pics will be posted! The hot water soak with a bit of Dawn dish washing liquid + Scrubbing Bubbles + elbow grease with a toothbrush = beautiful shiny Gillettes ready for action! I can't believe how nice they look now! Thanks again for the suggestions, everyone. I'm looking forward to shaving with them!
Lookin' good! I would suggest a drop of light weight machine oil or mineral oil on the hing points, and even a drop down the shaft of the adjustable.
Nice job! Those came out great. After using the scrubbing bubble & a thorough wash & dry, a bit of good metal polish such as Maas™ will really make those old razors sparkle...
I just had a shave with one of the black handled super speeds loaded with a Gillette 7 o'clock blade. Holy cow, what a fantastic razor! I did a two pass shave, WTG and ATG, and I came out BBS! I look forward to trying the others.
That's a Tech (not to be confused with the Techmatic). The Tech came with two handle variations and this is one of them. (Known to us as the "fat handle.") The more common one is a ball-end similar to (but thinner than) the Old Types. edit: 3 handle variations if you count the very short ball end used in travel kits. I meant to add: it's a mild shaver and good newbie razor.
Bingo! A fat-handled Tech, which is a great little shaver. It was pretty grungy when I got it off ebay ($7). I had several other old Gillettes at the time, all in need of a good cleaning. So I piled them (3 at a time) into a jar of scrubbing bubbles, rinsed & scrubbed the lot with a nylon-bristle brush; dried & polished all with Maas using a microfiber cloth. Happy Trio: Gillette Superspeed FlareTip, Model 195 Adjustable 'FatBoy', Fat-handled Tech Another before & after:
