Ultrasonic Cleaner, Napisan for cleaning?

neongas

neongas

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Joined
May 4, 2021
Location
Melbourne
This is the one that I bought and it does a good job https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/373620317357?hash=item56fd819cad:g:R9EAAOSwZltgzW3B
Annoyingly noisy so use it in your shed or garage. I use dish washing liquid concentrate and that seems to work well. Occasionally I need to do it twice to a particularly dirty razor.
I have had some remarkable results. No idea about Napisan - it couldn't hurt to try it.
 
I would be very careful about using Napisan for any razor that's plated. Solid brass or stainless should be OK, but I expect it might remove a lot of plated finishes. Ordinary soap should be fine, or even wool wash.
 
Napisan is a big No No. Its main ingredient is sodium percarbonate which is corrosive to aluminium, zinc mixed metals like brass and copper.
Should be fine with Stainless Steel.

Best cleaners to use are detergent straight, or vinegar / citric acid with salt.

Vinegar and salt works wonders on brass.
 
I read it’s possible use toothpaste? Or is that also inadvisable for vintage stuff?

I’ve already got everything soaking in a hot detergent bath. There’s already a fair bit of dirt floating about :LOL:
 
neongas said:
I read it’s possible use toothpaste? Or is that also inadvisable for vintage stuff?

I’ve already got everything soaking in a hot detergent bath. There’s already a fair bit of dirt floating about :LOL:
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I'd imagine toothpaste would be okay if you are really diligent but I can see it leaving paste in the nooks and and crannies of your razor. If you are suggesting toothpaste in a Ultrasonic cleaner then I have no idea. I feel like something more viscous would be better in an Ultrasonic cleaner.
I'm kinda in the same boat and wouldn't mind buying a really small one that would be good too as I don't have enough room for a big one although I know it would be more useful and probably more efficient.
I've heard the small cheaper ones tend to breakdown fairly quickly or are ineffective though. idk.
 
Oh I meant just using toothpaste and elbow grease to clean in lieu or ultrasonic cleaner.

Update: 2 hours of detergent soak did a fair bit of cleaning already on its own. I gave all the razors a light scrub with toothpaste/toothbrush and then a once over again with water/toothbrush. Then a rinse under hot tap water and pretty much no residue. I think they turned out a treat for minimal effort.

CCB33759-87-E6-436-F-A94-E-80-FAAF748-B2-F.jpg
 
I use a 6L ultrasonic cleaner with Simple Green diluted with water, after a 30 min bath razors are nice and clean.
 
This is probably what you can expect from a small machine like that. I noticed the one you were consider was battery powered which may also make a difference too. This guy tosses in a pair of sunglasses and Mach3 razor handle.


If you were considering one I would probably go with the one that DougW mentioned. On top of the fact that it heats up I believe it also has a basket which is very handy and probably better to rest your item in suspended inside.

https://paste-and-cut.com.au/commun...cleaner-napisan-for-cleaning.7048/post-189939
 
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DougW said:
This is the one that I bought and it does a good job https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/373620317357?hash=item56fd819cad:g:R9EAAOSwZltgzW3B
Annoyingly noisy so use it in your shed or garage. I use dish washing liquid concentrate and that seems to work well. Occasionally I need to do it twice to a particularly dirty razor.
I have had some remarkable results. No idea about Napisan - it couldn't hurt to try it.
Click to expand...

Me too - I have the same one. Totally annoying noise!

Gargravarr said:
I would be very careful about using Napisan for any razor that's plated. Solid brass or stainless should be OK, but I expect it might remove a lot of plated finishes. Ordinary soap should be fine, or even wool wash.
Click to expand...

Yep, I'd stay away from Napisan!

neongas said:
Oh I meant just using toothpaste and elbow grease to clean in lieu or ultrasonic cleaner.

Update: 2 hours of detergent soak did a fair bit of cleaning already on its own. I gave all the razors a light scrub with toothpaste/toothbrush and then a once over again with water/toothbrush. Then a rinse under hot tap water and pretty much no residue. I think they turned out a treat for minimal effort.

CCB33759-87-E6-436-F-A94-E-80-FAAF748-B2-F.jpg
Click to expand...

Nice!
 
Rusty Bridges said:
This is probably what you can expect from a small machine like that. I noticed the one you were consider was battery powered which may also make a difference too. This guy tosses in a pair of sunglasses and Mach3 razor handle.


If you were considering one I would probably go with the one that DougW mentioned. On top of the fact that it heats up I believe it also has a basket which is very handy and probably better to rest your item in suspended inside.

https://paste-and-cut.com.au/commun...cleaner-napisan-for-cleaning.7048/post-189939
Click to expand...

Yep - besides the noise I think it's a good buy for around $100. I dial mine up to 75c and run it for 25 mins. Better results if you let the water heat up first and then hit the timer. I also suspect the timer runs faster than a clock. The basket is heaps handy as well and makes it easy to get your razors out.
Once done just be mindful of the steam when you take the lid off. The noise it makes isn't super loud but could be used to torture house breakers with - it's a hideous sound.
 
Honestly the results were less than stellar from the video and as you can see from the video the razor still looked dirty. The entire reason why I would get an ultrasonic cleaner is to clean all the nooks and crannies which is what the one in the video and any similar one does not appear to do. One thing the user could have done was boil some water at reasonable and not overly hot water in it with something like simple green (I totally forgot about that, its a marvelous cleaner. Thanks @wayne646)

The 3.2L ones appears to be smaller than I thought. Does anyone have a 3.2L and know the dimensions of one. I'm sure it would probably be suitable for many people here. Don't get me wrong a little desk one would be perfect but they all aren't very good right now and some of them are nearing the cost of the ones mentioned here which would at least be 50x better than the little one. the one linked by @DougW represents excellent value for money.

Some solid advice from everyone here.
 
I never tried an ultrasonic cleaner, but if you'elre worried about nooks and cranies, a good, old fashioned rotary tool, with a nylon brush wheel does wonders.

I love my Dremel for any kind of restorations.
 
Rusty Bridges said:
Honestly the results were less than stellar from the video and as you can see from the video the razor still looked dirty. The entire reason why I would get an ultrasonic cleaner is to clean all the nooks and crannies which is what the one in the video and any similar one does not appear to do. One thing the user could have done was boil some water at reasonable and not overly hot water in it with something like simple green (I totally forgot about that, its a marvelous cleaner. Thanks @wayne646)

The 3.2L ones appears to be smaller than I thought. Does anyone have a 3.2L and know the dimensions of one. I'm sure it would probably be suitable for many people here. Don't get me wrong a little desk one would be perfect but they all aren't very good right now and some of them are nearing the cost of the ones mentioned here which would at least be 50x better than the little one. the one linked by @DougW represents excellent value for money.

Some solid advice from everyone here.
Click to expand...
I think the desk ones have to be taken for what they are; seems like they generally run shorter times and don't heat the water. They would be good for regular maintenance cleaning of items from the get go. Anything with substantial dirt would need MOAR POWER.

If anything, the video highlights the power of surfactants in detergents. Coupled with warm water I think a desk one would suit the average user just fine. But for the vintage razor aficionados, a bigger more powerful one would surely be a worthwhile investment.
 
I have a Gillette WWI Military set - the one in the khaki traveler case - when I first got it the Bulldog razor had a lot of encrusted dirt in the knurling and the silver tubes were finger printed and dirty - all up it looked pretty crusty. After running it through the ultra sonic cleaner it went from crusty to near minty.....I was quite stunned by the result. The up side for me is the sound waves get in everywhere and there is no scrubbing which could potentially leave surface marking. I think if you've got a serious vintage razor habit then the out lay of around $100 will be worth it in the long run.
I don't think getting one larger than the one I have is worth it unless you have plans to clean other, larger items than razors.
 
wayne646 said:
I cleaned my fatboy today a lot of muck came from the inside of the handle which would not be removed by simply soaking.
It's my go to razor so I'm not going to bother polishing it, otherwise it would be a hand polish with Autosol.




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Is the colour of the water the detergent/cleaning solution or the muck?
 
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