Self-cleaning electric razor: refilling cartridges
 

I have a Braun electric razor which has a cleaning & charging base. It uses a cartridge containing a cleaning fluid, and when the fluid runs out the whole cartridge has to be replaced. Much as with replacing the ink cartridge on a printer, this is way more expensive that I think it should be.

Given that there's nothing in the cartridge that wears out or blocks up, I'd much rather just rinse out the stubble and refill the cartridge from a bottle.

The label on the box says:

SD - Alcohol 40 - B
(Alcohol Denat.)
UBA-Nr: 12080023

Could someone 'in-the-know' please let me know what this stuff is and suggest where I might be able to buy it cheaply in reasonable quantities? Each cartridge is 170ml and lasts about a month.

Thanks
Andy

Denatured alcohol by the looks of it. The definition of "denatured" is a little unspecific though. Usually it means the addition of something nasty to alcohol to make it unfit for consumption.

What is the consistancy of the fluid in the cartridges?

Hello

As I'm too lazy to look: How much are the cartridges? I was interested in buying the braun shaver / cleaner but didn't even think about having to recharge the cartridges.

Steve.

I think I paid about £8 for a twin pack. Given that each one lasts about 30 shaves, that's nearly £50 a year. Not much compared to the cost of running a scooby, but I can't help but feel they must be made for a tiny fraction of that.

The liquid in the cartridges is a clear liquid not unlike vodka :) Maybe I could just use meths instead? (For cleaning the shaver I mean, not drinking...)

Steve: I'd still recommend it - the system gets the shaver much cleaner that I ever can with a brush, and it's nice not to have to mess about with it every morning. I just shave, pop the razor back on the stand and go for breakfast. It whirrs away for about 15 minutes and then it's charged and ready for the next use. Like remote central locking, it's one of those things I never thought I'd need but am now very used to and wouldn't want to do without.

Just get some industrial alcohol - should be able to get it from your chemist or such like perhaps? We use it at work for cleaning optical fibres. It looks just like vodka, and evaporates very quickly once in the open...

How close do these shavers shave compared to a Mach3 for example? Only ever found an electric razor useful for a 5 'o clock shadow removal type thing....not as a main shave.

Yeah, surgical spirit (sometimes referred to as rubbing aclohol) would probably be ok then (assuming they don't add a lubricant or something that the shaver requires).

I bought one of these a couple of months ago and I'm not that impressed. As I've only used it four times I'm willing to sell it cheaply if someone makes me a sensible offer.

I've got the self cleaning braun shaver - very good but not as good as a wet shave with a mach3 and tub of clinique aloe gel...

ps- don't the cartridges smell of lemon? are you gonna add that to your homebrewed cleaning agent?

Hello

Don't you think it's slightly dangerous to try and create something that will in effect be put on your face?!

Steve.

I never put much faith in electric razors until I was bought a Philishave Coolskin by my GF. This imo is a good compromise between a wet and a dry shave and cleaning is np if you always use the razor wet and give it a quick rinse under the tap. The new one as I have also has a 1hr charge rather than the 8 hr of the one below. Sorry a bit OT, but there you go, might be of some use :)

http://www.shavers.co.uk/shopping.php?product_id=343

Steve: not really. The shaver is just a dry electric razor like any other. The mechanism in the base rinses it with alcohol and then dries it with a fan, so the head is left perfectly dry.

I've always used electric razors - I simply can't be bothered with shaving foams, creams, gels or whatever. Sometimes it's a bit scratchy (especially with a brand new cutting head, for some reason), but I don't really care. Better that than spending time mopping up after decapitated spots and moles all the time :)

Hi Mate

I think the Braun cleaning device has some clever gadgetry in it to stop you doing what you have in mind. You'll already know that it locks itself down once the fluid gets smegged up and it must sense something in the new cartridge to say all's OK again. Worth a punt though.....

Cheers
Kav