Author Topic: Razor blade disposal  (Read 1854 times)

Offline Razor X

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Razor blade disposal
« on: December 08, 2012, 09:22:16 PM »
I was watching a program on HGTV this morning in which a very old and outdated bathroom was being renovated.  When they broke down one of the walls, they found a bunch of razor blades behind it.  There had been a slit below the medicine cabinet specifically for that purpose.  I mentioned it to my dad later in the day and he said that was once a very common method of disposing of used razor blades.  I never heard of this before and it seems like a very odd thing to do.  Is anyone else familiar with this practice?



Offline Frontier Guy

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Re: Razor blade disposal
« Reply #1 on: December 08, 2012, 09:48:43 PM »
Yup ... it was also common in hotel bathrooms.
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Offline Razor X

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Re: Razor blade disposal
« Reply #2 on: December 08, 2012, 09:53:12 PM »
Yup ... it was also common in hotel bathrooms.

What happens when the wall fills up?

Offline D.A.L.U.I.

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Re: Razor blade disposal
« Reply #3 on: December 09, 2012, 12:33:38 PM »
That was a very common part of every medicine cabinet at one time--just a slot and the blades fell into the spaces between the walls bounded by the upright studs.  It potentially could hold several lifetime's of blades.  I don't know if that worked on exterior walls because of insulation issues though.  If you're in an older home without a bathroom rennovation, open the medicine cabinet and the slot is in the rear.  I don't remember the slots as large enough to accept anything other than single and double edge blades for safety razors and the blades from injector blades.  I think the advent of cartridge razor systems in the late 50's and early 60's finished that off. 

Offline Switchy

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Re: Razor blade disposal
« Reply #4 on: December 10, 2012, 03:12:26 PM »
That was a very common part of every medicine cabinet at one time--just a slot and the blades fell into the spaces between the walls bounded by the upright studs.  It potentially could hold several lifetime's of blades.  I don't know if that worked on exterior walls because of insulation issues though.  If you're in an older home without a bathroom rennovation, open the medicine cabinet and the slot is in the rear.  I don't remember the slots as large enough to accept anything other than single and double edge blades for safety razors and the blades from injector blades.  I think the advent of cartridge razor systems in the late 50's and early 60's finished that off. 
That brought back memory's !  ;) O0
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Offline Lynchy

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Re: Razor blade disposal
« Reply #5 on: December 10, 2012, 07:58:27 PM »
Yeah, apparently it was pretty common! If I owned my place I'd put one in for sure.
Lynchy