is it safe to use a lightly rusted razor?

And all I'm saying is I'm not going to shave with a rusty razor.

And if I was forced to shave with a rusty razor, I'd hope there was no bacteria on it, and I'd be very, very careful to not cut myself.

Will I die if I do? Likely no. Do I want to take that chance? No, again.

What do you do with a drunken sailor,
What do you do with a drunken sailor,
What do you do with a drunken sailor,
Earl-eye in the morning!

[Chorus:]

Way hay and up she rises
Way hay and up she rises
Way hay and up she rises
Earl-eye in the morning

Shave his belly with a rusty razor,
Shave his belly with a rusty razor,
Shave his belly with a rusty razor,
Earl-eye in the morning!

No one has provided a rational scientific reason to anyone should be afraid of a little rust on a razor. Rust doesn't cause tetanus, nor does it raise the risk of drug resistant bacteria, nor does it increase the risk of yeast infections.

In fact, there are a lot of people who drink (and shave with) water that runs through rusty iron pipes. No one sees this as a health hazard.

Note that the people trying to claim there is danger in shaving with a lightly rusted razor haven't presented a single scientific or official source that their fears are based on.

And... there are quite a few authoritative sources that say that rust in water is not only common, but harmless (other than taste and staining clothes)



This from the University of Berkley school of health explaining the position of the EPA.

http://www.berkeleywellness.com/healthy-eating/food-safety/article/ask-experts-rusty-water

RE: No one has provided a rational scientific reason to anyone should be afraid of a little rust on a razor.
Jackpot Case Scenario
The beautifully rusted razor was laying in the dirt of the sink, more rusty than ever. A big fat fly, carrying the whole encyclopaedia of infectious and parasitic diseases in the villi of its belly was hovering in the bathroom and wondering where to alight to have a rest. It alighted on the razor and started walking to and fro. The grems and the viruses could not stop falling off its belly, which was rubbing on the rust of the razor. The fly shrugged off and then flied away through the semi-opened window of the bathroom.
It was about midnight, when a desoriented rodent passed through the bathroom and by accident cut its leg on the razor. Frightened of the incident it slipped into the first hole in the wall.
Then came the home cat to have a pee in the sink, and by accident flowed little urine on the razor that was laying on the edge of the sink. Then it went to have a sleep.
The morning was beautiful and the sunshine was sneaking through the curtains ...
Call it hypochondria or not, but my razors are with safety cap put in a glass, down with the handle, closed in the locker on the wall ... just in case.

That is a great story Herald, but it has nothing to do with the question. The question is about a lightly rusted razor. Your story is about a razor that has been lying in a fly infested, rat infested dirty sink in a pool of cat urine.

I wouldn't use the razor in your story even if it had no rust on it. The rust is irrelevant.

Dirt and germs are dangerous (whether or not there is a little rust). A little rust is harmless.

Early this year (2013) a young man in NYCity went to school and in the afternoon, he played basketball in the school gym ( indoors). Nothing very notable happened to the young man, except that at some point in his basketball game he jumped up to the basketball rim, to dunk the ball and in so doing, he scrapped his arm along the rusty, dirty basketball rim.

Being young and carefree, the boy didn't give his injured arm a second thought.

He went home, ate dinner with his folks, did some homework and went to bed.

In the middle of the night, he felt very sick, and was running a fever. His parents thought the boy might have caught the flu and took him to the ER, where he was evaluated, given some medication and then sent home.

The boy didn't get better. His temp rose and he seemed to be entering a comatose state. Back to the ER the parents went with the young man.

ER Docs again evaluated the boy and considered his case severe enough that he was hospitalized. Blood work and other tests indicated very strongly that the young man had septic shock.

A detailed history taken from the parents suggested strongly that the boy had encounted a severe bacterial infection when he bruised his arm on the rusty, dirty backetball rim and that this infection, left untreated resulted in the boy's septic shock..

The young man died as a result of his infection and the resultant septic shock.

This sad result could have been avoided.


By the way, the folks on this thread may have thought that bacterial infections from rusty and dirty objects ( basketball rims, razors, etc. )
are funny, but to the parents of the deceased young man, septic shock and bacterial infections are not a laughing matter.

This is a very sad case.

Come on Miller! That is absolutely ridiculous! You did an internet search for the key word "rust" and "death" and you came up with some stories. Big deal!

First of all, germs on a basketball hoop came some somewhere (quite likely other people scraped the same hoop). Second of all, these germs could have been on a basketball hoop with no rust. The germs were the problem, not the rust.

Secondly, you can do a google search on pretty much anything and find stories where they were deadly. I just did a search and found several stories of kids dying from teddy bears. It doesn't mean that teddy bears are deadly.

A little rust on a razor blade is not a big deal.

I propose a new game... we can call it the "hysteria game". Here is how it works.

You name an object or practice. I will then argue strongly that this object or practice is dangerous (and even deadly). I will back up my position with vague comparisons to other things considered dangerous and anecdotes that illustrate the danger.

I already started with "teddy bears" (which unlike a little rust are truly dangerous). Shall we go with that, or shall we go with lollypops or hair ribbons? We could even go with immunizations (but that has already been done).

You all have already done a round of the hysteria game with "a little rust", but I think I could do better. So I challenge you, name the next topic and I will show you how the pros do it.

Antagonizing a roaming pit bull.

Ooh, I like that.

The germs ... they exist ... and one thing's for sure ... they came from ... somewhere!

As opposed to rust, which is the result of an inorganic chemical reaction. Rust can just spring up where ever there is iron, moisture and oxygen (germs can't).

I am trying to get you to see the difference. The point is that a little rust never hurt anyone.

RE: The point is that a little rust never hurt anyone.
This is not true. If you are curious to know what is the opinion of the medical professionals on the issue read this, for example:
http://www.ehow.com/info_8232745_dangers-rust-cuts.html

That's funny.

Medical professionals, you say?


The link you posted was written by Madeline Hall. You can hover over her name in that page to see her biography.



You can search the internet to find someone who agrees with you no matter what the topic. The fact that you find some random web page saying it doesn't make it true.

I would be interested to see if could come up with a link from an actual medical professional.

Oh, I do see the difference. But ...


I still don't believe that.

You haven't convinced me that shaving with a rusty razor blade is a smart idea.

O.K. Here is a statement from medical professional:
'Many people believe injuries caused by rusty nails are the most dangerous. This is true only if the nail is dirty as well as rusty, as is usually the case. It is the dirt on the nail, not the rust, that carries the risk for tetanus.'
You can read the whole story at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000615.htm
The key phrase here is: '... dirty as well as rusty, as is usually the case.'
and 'usually' means 'in most of the cases' (above 80% or s.th.).
If you want to play hazard with your personal health this is your private problem, but avoid advising the people on the net that s.th. is safe ... when most probably it is not
BTW the dirt accompanying the rust may be everything.

Interesting... you went and found a statement from a medical professional, and it says exactly what I have been saying. This medical professional agrees with me.

I wonder if you have just helped me convince Tico.

Are you kidding.
The medical professional says that in 80% of the cases of rust there is s.th. else accompanying it, and you say that the rust is perfectly safe and sterile.
The surface rust has cracks and is friable, which means that it is ideal place to collect dust and dirt from the air ... and to become a hollow for germs and viruses and any of the kind.
It is not safe! It may contaminate your tissues and trigger Candida or autoimmune reaction. Does this seem safe to you?

Let me make this really simple for you.

If there is dirt ... then using the razor blade is dangerous (rust or no rust).
If there is no dirt ... then using the razor blade is not dangerous (rust or no rust). Your 80% thing is a classic logical fallacy ( see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correlation_does_not_imply_causation). It simply means that most rust happens in dirty environments (rather than clean bathrooms).

The only thing that matters is whether there is dirt or not. The rust isn't dangerous.

Here we have a razor blade. Whether it has a little rust on it or not doesn't matter. The question is whether it is dirty or not. As we have already pointed out, dirty razor blades can be rust free, and razor blades without any rust can be dirty.So the obvious question is; how do you if the razor blade is dirty or not?

The answer is simple.

If you find a razor blade in a reasonably clean bathroom that has been exposed to moisture (which you would find in a clean bathroom) so it has a little rust, this razor blade would be safe to use. It would be as safe as any other razor blade found in the same bathroom.

If you find a razor blade in the dirty sink you described with rat droppings and cat urine, you should not use it. In fact you should not use it even if it doesn't has any rust.

The point is really simple (and I will use the words of your medical professional)



A little rust won't hurt anyone.

You are missing the point, and I am not going to argue with you any more.
The point is that the rust has/creates anaerobic knots (for the oxigen goes to oxidise the Fe) and do you know what does that mean? It means that any spore of anaerobic germs that has been already on the razor, and that could not have developed in the presence of oxigen, when happens upon and within an anaerobic knot ... it activates. Enough is enough.