quote:

ORIGINAL: sfgrrl

My gut reaction to your post is if you can't answer this question for yourself, you have no place putting a blade to anyone else's skin.

But things aren't always so simple. If you're dead set against using pre-sterilized disposable blades, it's not the end of the world. As has already been mentioned, you can have the blade sterilized in an autoclave. If you don't have one yourself or have access to one, you can make friends with your local piercing establishment and they might offer such a service to you.

If not, there are chemical means of sterilization, but these have some downsides. Glutaraldehyde based sterilizing agents are toxic and ethylene oxide compounds are flammable, carcinogenic *and* toxic.

Is this a blade that you're only going to use on one person? Are you fluid bonded to that person? Then you might be ok using a product like MadaCide. It's a hospital grade bactericidal, virucidal and fungicidal product that also kills hepatitis B.

All that being said, I'd still get an autoclave if it's something I planned on doing regularly.

~stef

quote:

ORIGINAL: corrino
anyway. The problem is that those disposable scalpels feel too small in my hands, and they're so damned sharp that they're actually more likely to cut too deeply from the slightest change in pressure than even the sharpest knife. Thank you for the info you posted: I will follow up on it.

quote:

ORIGINAL: mnottertail

consider autoclaving
if you were a barber, what you could do is get yourself a bamboo vegetable steamer................................

The rest will be left as an exercise to the reader.

Know. Learn. Think. Life is an acceptable risk, is it not?

Ron

quote:

ORIGINAL: mnottertail

John, perhaps I am a little too obtuse. I know you have an impressive medical background.................

If I was a barber...........

that's where doctors came from........
A vegetable steamer is not acceptable, right? Alchohol is not acceptable, right? Staphlococcys (hell, I will never speel thiat!) is a common occurance in hospitals to this day, right? Septic happens, the most of which is what you go do between sterilization and use......thats the risk, them little buggers can find any way to grow and they will. But many people have pressure cookers, alchohol, uv of some kind ........ what is an acceptable storage device after? There are many medicos here and I am surprised no one else weighed in.

I am of an opinion, as life happens that the sterilization to use thread would be the most problem here. In an emergency, pour tap water or whiskey on them, and hope for the best.........but most of the use that we discuss here is far from an emergency no matter how one FEELS about it.


Ron.