Cleaning - cloudy finish

lerenau

...is a cheeky monkey
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Canberra
I was cleaning a couple of old razors I got off eBay - they were really grosse.

I got them nice and shiny. Then, I read somewhere that denture cleaner (steradent) can be used to go that extra level. I remembered I had some for my mouth guard. So, I immersed the razors in hot water for ten minutes. They came out nice. I scrubbed them with a toothbrush and rinsed thoroughly.
10 minutes later, once they had dried, some of the parts became either cloudy or white-spotty.

Any ideas how to fix that?
 
Sounds like it attacked the plating :(
 
Pics?
 
Mostly top-cap and base-plates of a tech.
Sorry about the terrible photos.

Top caps:
Middle is fine. Right side was not as good as middle. But had scrubbed-up ok with soap, water, and toothpaste.
Then, I read somewhere that Steradent "can do wonders". Well, 10 minutes in Steradent did this (right):
EpTPxlPh.jpg


Base plates:
Right is OK (though it looks terrible in the photo).
Left should be much the same, but is now almost white.
wf1jYaKh.jpg


Interestingly, there was a steel handle in there too. But it looks fine. clean and shiny.
 
Not sure it is looking that good :(
 
Aluminium oxidised due to the peroxide in Steradent???

@TomG need an expert here...
 
First up, my sympathies to @lerenau for this unfortunate event. If it provides any comfort, I did something similar with the plastic case of a beautiful vintage razor last year.


A wee bit of research on this topic reveals that the three active ingredients in Steradent are:

  • sodium carbonate
  • sodium bicarbonate
  • peroxide salts (varies slightly from product to product).
  • citric acid

The sodium carbonate and bicarbonate create an alkaline solution (high pH), but this is offset by the citric acid, with the final solution typically being slightly acidic. The peroxide salt creates a strongly oxidizing action, as noted by Alfie.
The sodium carbonate and bicarbonate compounds dissolve and release CO2, hence providing the "fizz" and the agitation. The peroxide salt also dissolves, releasing oxygen into the solution, but tellingly creating an aggressive oxidizing action (more aggressive than hydrogen peroxide).
The citric acid provides cleaning action (it is the primary ingredient in the Nespresso Machine cleaning solution pouches), and also buffers the alkaline action of the carbonates.

When casually reading the info on Steradent, it would be easy to think that it's use is safe for metals, as they note that it is safe for the metal components of dentures. Here is the rub, however. The metallic components of dentures are specialist alloys that are highly corrosion resistant (they need to be, as no one wants dissolved metal disappearing down the gastro-intestinal tract; imagine the health consequences, and lawsuits!)
So, whilst the product is safe for denture metal, it most certainly has the potential to attack certain metals used in Razors. Aluminium and Pot Metal for sure, and also potentially Nickel and Chrome, depending on the integrity of the plating, the ambient temperature, and the period of immersion. Alfie, my friend, in my opinion you are spot-on.

A quick search on the net reveals several hits such as "10 great cleaning tips using denture tablets" etc. A scan of these reveals that the cleaning targets are non-metallic, such as glassware, china, coffee machines, enamel cookware, toilet bowls, etc. The one exception is the application to clean jewelry (this would be due to the fact that gold is extremely inert and would be safe from attack), but there is a warning not to use with silver jewelry, which is telling.

As a side note, I ran a small pilot plant as a young professional, and used peroxide salts as an oxidising agent in an acidic environment. The end product of the process was pure cobalt oxide. I had done all of the trial runs in a Plastic-lined vessel, but the process required heating to approx 60C, which the plastic couldn't handle, so I used a stainless steel vessel for the production run. To my horror, once the vessel was drained, I could see that the internal metal surface of the stainless steel had been attacked significantly. This resulted in significant Nickel and Chrome contaminating the product. Whilst this environment was more aggressive than the Steradent example, I'm sure you can draw the parallels to the attack/discoloration of the Razor parts.
 
Last edited:
Wow. That is an awesome post, @TomG. Thank you so much!

Yeah. You mentioned the items that convinced me to try it: The metal dentures and the jewellery.
I have shown my ignorance and paid the price. :(

Since we're on the topic, I have also read somewhere that people often clean their razors in the dishwasher.
Is this folly also?


Looking at my Finish Quantum ingredients list it mentions: 30% phosphates, 15% oxygen-based bleach, 15% polycarboxylates, non-ionic surfactants, phosphonates, enzymes, perfumes.
The oxygen-based bleach sounds alarming to my ears.
Note: The Aldi-branded tablet ingredients appear much the same.

I stopped studying chemistry when I finished year-12. I now wish I hadn't.
I pursued Software Engineering. Sure, that puts food on the table. But what good is that if I'm destroying razors? :cry:
 
First up, my sympathies to @lerenau for this unfortunate event. If it provides any comfort, I did something similar with the plastic case of a beautiful vintage razor last year.


A wee bit of research on this topic reveals that the three active ingredients in Steradent are:

  • sodium carbonate
  • sodium bicarbonate
  • peroxide salts (varies slightly from product to product).
  • citric acid

The sodium carbonate and bicarbonate create an alkaline solution (high pH), but this is offset by the citric acid, with the final solution typically being slightly acidic. The peroxide salt creates a strongly oxidizing action, as noted by Alfie.
The sodium carbonate and bicarbonate compounds dissolve and release CO2, hence providing the "fizz" and the agitation. The peroxide salt also dissolves, releasing oxygen into the solution, but tellingly creating an aggressive oxidizing action (more aggressive than hydrogen peroxide).
The citric acid provides cleaning action (it is the primary ingredient in the Nespresso Machine cleaning solution pouches), and also buffers the alkaline action of the carbonates.

When casually reading the info on Steradent, it would be easy to think that it's use is safe for metals, as they note that it is safe for the metal components of dentures. Here is the rub, however. The metallic components of dentures are specialist alloys that are highly corrosion resistant (they need to be, as no one wants dissolved metal disappearing down the gastro-intestinal tract; imagine the health consequences, and lawsuits!)
So, whilst the product is safe for denture metal, it most certainly has the potential to attack certain metals used in Razors. Aluminium and Pot Metal for sure, and also potentially Nickel and Chrome, depending on the integrity of the plating, the ambient temperature, and the period of immersion. Alfie, my friend, in my opinion you are spot-on.

A quick search on the net reveals several hits such as "10 great cleaning tips using denture tablets" etc. A scan of these reveals that the cleaning targets are non-metallic, such as glassware, china, coffee machines, enamel cookware, toilet bowls, etc. The one exception is the application to clean jewelry (this would be due to the fact that gold is extremely inert and would be safe from attack), but there is a warning not to use with silver jewelry, which is telling.

As a side note, I ran a small pilot plant as a young professional, and used peroxide salts as an oxidising agent in an acidic environment. The end product of the process was pure cobalt oxide. I had done all of the trial runs in a Plastic-lined vessel, but the process required heating to approx 60C, which the plastic couldn't handle, so I used a stainless steel vessel for the production run. To my horror, once the vessel was drained, I could see that the internal metal surface of the stainless steel had been attacked significantly. This resulted in significant Nickel and Chrome contaminating the product. Whilst this environment was more aggressive than the Steradent example, I'm sure you can draw the parallels to the attack/discoloration of the Razor parts.
Great answer @TomG - and Im not using Sterident on my dentures any more - or any razors for that matter :ROFLMAO:
 
Wow. That is an awesome post, @TomG. Thank you so much!

Yeah. You mentioned the items that convinced me to try it: The metal dentures and the jewellery.
I have shown my ignorance and paid the price. :(

Since we're on the topic, I have also read somewhere that people often clean their razors in the dishwasher.
Is this folly also?


Looking at my Finish Quantum ingredients list it mentions: 30% phosphates, 15% oxygen-based bleach, 15% polycarboxylates, non-ionic surfactants, phosphonates, enzymes, perfumes.
The oxygen-based bleach sounds alarming to my ears.
Note: The Aldi-branded tablet ingredients appear much the same.

I stopped studying chemistry when I finished year-12. I now wish I hadn't.
I pursued Software Engineering. Sure, that puts food on the table. But what good is that if I'm destroying razors? :cry:
I feel for you, Mate. :(
I’ll send you a PM with some recommendations.
 
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