You may have heard that conventional straight razor use is illegal in professional barbershops and salons. You might think they are somehow unsafe for you or your client. Even in school, an instructor might have told you, “only single-use blades are legal” . This is a MYTH perpetuated by decades of misinformation, and we’d like to set the record straight. Right here, right now.
STATE BOARD HAS THE ANSWER
Each state’s health authority lays out specific requirements for clean and safe practices in barbershops. We have checked rules & regs in many states including OR, CA, WA, CO, UT, PA, FL, TN, NY, NJ… In fact, the only state we have confirmed explicitly prohibits use of conventional straight razors is Rhode Island!
Now, obviously we’re not lawyers, but we are advocates for a better world with a more sustainable culture. As such, give your local health authority a call! We have phoned several different states and most often the response to, "Are reusable straight razors illegal to use in the shop?" is, "Who told you that? Of course it's fine to use those..."
Nevertheless, you may carry this myth with you as a barber or stylist. I think we create barriers like this because we’re afraid of what the answer will be. The answer might restrict us further or reveal an answer which we weren't prepared to digest. We’re taught that striking out on our own is to pursue a freedom we couldn't find in a "regular" job, so we avoid rules and authority so that we don't have to be on the hook for knowing the answer. I completely understand this and could dedicate a full series of posts to that fear and doubt. Maybe I’ll get around to those posts at some point, but in the meantime, call the board! They have the answers and there’s no risk in asking them questions!
NEW YORK’S RULES
The New York Department of State Statutory Authority: Public Health Law does not name razors specifically in its sanitation requirements, but does mention equipment and implements more broadly, and how to maintain their sanitary condition:
Ҥ10.24 Sanitation of equipment and implements
(a) Hair brushes, combs and all other implements used on a customer shall be kept clean and sanitary at all times and shall undergo thorough cleansing after serving each customer. (b) After handling a customer affected with an eruption, or whose skin is broken out, or is inflamed, or contains pus, the instruments shall be effectively cleaned, washed with soap or a detergent and water, then rinsed with water having a temperature of at least 170 degrees Fahrenheit or allowed to remain for five minutes in alcohol (70 percent–80 percent) or some other equally efficient disinfectant.”
New York does not distinguish between grades of disinfectant, so the use of Barbicide Plus is not required.
New York does, however, prohibit the use of traditional shave brushes and mugs/bowls for building a shaving lather:
Ҥ10.25 Shaving brushes, mugs and finger bowls
The use of shaving brushes and shaving mugs is prohibited. The use of finger bowls is prohibited unless a separate sanitary inner paper liner or cup is used for each customer and discarded immediately after use.”
In short, conventional straight razors are perfectly safe for you to use as long as they are properly sanitized between each client.
OUR SANITIZATION PROCESS
We developed the following process to meet these requirements and guarantee that our razors are sharp and safe for each client. Every step should be performed before each use:
Carefully rinse and dry the entire straight razor with a clean towel.
Strop the razor.
Immerse the razor and scales (closed) in an approved disinfectant such as Barbicide for the manufacturer’s recommended duration.
Rinse and dry the razor with a clean towel, and place in a sealed, clean container for storage prior to use.
Upon completion of the shave, repeat steps 1-4 to prepare for the next client.
Because a strop is porous and cannot be sanitized, NEVER strop the razor without then completing the entire sanitation process. The same is true if the razor comes in contact with any other unsanitary surface.
NEVER use the razor on multiple clients without sanitizing in between. For the safety of your clients, sanitize the razor before using it on your next client.
WHERE DID THIS MYTH COME FROM?
This brings us to an important point which may explain why conventional straight razors fell out of fashion in the first place. As our understanding of blood-borne diseases and sanitary practices expanded, health authorities updated code to keep clients and practitioners safe in the 1980s and 1990s. Unfortunately, straight razor manufacturers had been on the decline since the early 1900s with the introduction of disposable razors to the market and never updated the straight razor's materials to withstand the disinfectants required by the new rules:
Vintage Blades made of high carbon steel do not hold an edge in high-level disinfectant.
Vintage Scales made of organic materials such as bone or horn or low-quality plastics also do not fare well in the high-level.
In this way, conventional razors were made impractical through legislation while still leaving the door open if improvements were made to the materials. When developing our Professional Line, we approached these rules and regulations to guide our material choices and were able to hatch a straight razor that was classic, non-disposable, and fully sanitizable!
If you have any doubts about the legality of using a conventional straight razor in your shop, we urge you to take a quick look through your local health authority's documentation. It is all available online and should clear things up!
