Discinfecting your brushes and tools

[Crystal]

How do you do it? I admit I was not properly taught anything in school about sanitation, I just do what I think is right.

I always spray my table and tub, and sometimes the floor is done in between every groom. But the way I clean my brushes is such a pain.

I take all my brushes and combs and submerge them in a bucket of hot water and using top performance brand 256, I mix up about a gallons worth - probably a little over dilluted. I then take a scrub brush and work it through the brush and combs teeth. Then i rinse and let them dry on a towel. But in between groomings the brushes take forever to dry, it's kind of a pain. Even if I use the HV on them.

Do you have several brushes ready to go and just wait till the end of the day to discinfect them all?

Also is there a better way of doing this, or a more sanitary way? Also, is there anything wrong with using the 256 cleaner for this or is there a better product I should use for them?

[workingchihuahua]

i spray all my equipment with clippercide in between grooms.

[Helly]

I spray 'em with alcohol between grooms. Dries in no time.

If I use a brush or comb on a dog with questionable skin, or an obvious skin infection, I wash them in hot, soapy water, then dip/soak in Parvolan. Then rinse and spray them with alcohol which makes them dry in no time.

[k9stylist1968]

Barbicide is good for sanitizing tools. It's made for disinfecting hairstylists'/barbers' tools, so it's not going to be corrosive. I'd worry about even very dilute cage/floor cleaning products damaging my equipment.

[Kim in SD]

My parents were hair stylists for 30 yrs, they used barbiside, it's been around forever. So when I started, I went to the beauty supply. Works great.

[workingchihuahua]

I spray 'em with alcohol between grooms. Dries in no time.

If I use a brush or comb on a dog with questionable skin, or an obvious skin infection, I wash them in hot, soapy water, then dip/soak in Parvolan. Then rinse and spray them with alcohol which makes them dry in no time.

alcohol is NOT a disinfectant. either use a commercial kennel disinfectant like Dakil, barcicide, spray disinfectant like clippercide or a 10 % bleach solution.

[Crystal]

but doesn't clippercide have oil in it? I would hate to use it and then get oil on a dogs coat after it's been bathed.

So if I used barbicide, should I keep it in an enclosed bucket or container, and then dip the brushed in and then remove and clean off?

[cassidy1]

Quick run a tablespoon Parvolan disinfectant through hydrosurge in tub and throw all brushes, etc. in to soak for 5-10 minutes is there was an especially questionable dog, otherwise, spray on disinfectants and multiple brushes

[SpikeyTheYorkie]

alcohol is NOT a disinfectant. either use a commercial kennel disinfectant like Dakil, barcicide, spray disinfectant like clippercide or a 10 % bleach solution.

The only thing that comes to mind is that they used alcohol to clean the needle thingy they use to pierce ears with. I've also been told I can use it on my blades because it dries so quickly, though I don't do that.

Tammy in Utah

[PetsRus]

I have multiple set of brushes and blades on hand.

I used Clippercide to spray all brushes and blades and use a toothbrush to clean the blades too (and I spray the toothbrush often). I do this for every dog. If you let the Clippercide dry alittle I have never seen any residue on coat from it.

I used alcohol to clean my tweezers for ear plucking between ears and dogs. This was thought at school and they told us it will kill the bacteria from an ear infection.

For snap on combs I spray them with clippercide and then once a week soak them in the kennel disinfectant.

[Kim in SD]

Yes, they make containers. Check the beauty supply.

[PetsRus]

No wonder all my dogs have ear infections. Just kidding. I would like to know about the alchol. What does everyone else use to clean their tweezers?

[Raggs]

Rubbing alcohol actually does need to be rubbed on a surface or agitated. It needs to get around the bacteria and such. So pouring it or spraying it onto a surface will actually help disinfect the area. But pouring the alcohol into a bowl and dipping something in it will not disinfect it.

If you use it to disinfect hemostats you need to scrub it with soap and water first and then use a small brush like a tooth brush with the alcohol to get it in between the teeth.

I'm sure the way Helly uses it does disinfect her tools.

I always scrub my hemo's after use and then set them in barbicide or use kennel disinfectant on them.

For my tools and table in between each use I use either the kennel disinfectant or clippercide or the Oster Blade disinfectant.

[RoosMom]

Wikipedia says about rubbing alcohol........

"Uses
Applied externally as a cooling, soothing application for bedridden patients and athletes. It is also widely used for cleansing the surgeon's hands and instruments and for disinfection of the skin prior to penetration of the skin by a hypodermic needle. As an antiseptic it is good against vegetative bacteria and fair against fungi and viruses. It is ineffective against spores. It is widely believed that 70% ethanol provides the greatest reduction in bacterial count; however, this is in error. Other concentrations may be more effective, but their rate of kill is slower. In order to reduce the skin bacterial count to 5% of normal, 70% ethanol must be left on the skin for at least 2 min. Rubbing alcohol is also a feeble anesthetic and a mild counterirritant. It is not drinkable, although people have been known to attempt ingestion.

Rubbing alcohol is recognized as a rubefacient because it evaporates quickly and is used to cool and soothe skin. It is, however, more widely used as an antiseptic for sterilizing surfaces or clean minor cuts or abrasions.

Isopropyl rubbing alcohol can also be supplied in a 99% concentration. This product is used to harden skin such as in the case of the feet of novice hikers. Care should always be taken, and label of the preparation read carefully. It is unsuited as a fuel in alcohol stoves because of the relatively low vapor pressure of isopropyl alcohol.

In the UK the equivalent skin preparation is surgical spirit which is always based on an ethyl alcohol-methyl alcohol mixture, and which often has the addition of small quantities of iodoform as a topical bacteriocide.

[scrubapup]

I use barbicide for my combs, brushes, scissors, etc. I recently bought some blade cleaner that I HATE. Can't remember the name of it, but it makes my entire shop smell like pancake syrup, and getting the oily residue off the blades afterwards is close to impossible. Yesterday I had a Yorkie that I bathed, dried, then started clipping, and the oily residue from my freshly cleaned blades got on his coat. I had to bathe him all over again. I was not a happy camper.

I spray my grooming table and tub down with diluted bleach water and then wipe clean with hot water.