Shaving cream for gun cleaning

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The ongoing efforts to use anything BUT dedicated gun-cleaning products is a wonder to behold. :)

Why on earth would you?
Denis
 
Since shaving cream is an antibacterial lubricant what makes it a good bore cleaner?
It may contain a detergent but it is water based and I try to keep water out of my bore. Maybe it would work on a black powder gun but certainly no better than hot soapy water. I don't need to worry about my gun getting an infection so what makes it a bore cleaner?
 
If you're going to put out a comment regarding use of a product in an application that strikes most people as silly, you're gonna have to expect responses along the lines of "Why on earth would you?"

It's sorta built in.

Really- the lengths people go to to avoid just using products created specifically TO clean guns is a perpetual surprise.

No rudeness here, but really- why would anybody use shaving cream to clean a gun?What are the thought processes there?
Denis
 
Take a look at Ed's Red


http://handloads.com/articles/default.asp?id=9

C.E. Harris provided rationale for chemical cleaners for gunpowder and primer residue.

Go look at the MSDS for barbasol. http://holland-mi.safeschoolssds.com/document/repo/061af82e-c993-4b8b-9020-347c13672b24

It is made of water, stearic acid, triethoanolamine, laureth-23, sodium lauryl sulfate, and fragrance. The water will cause rust. I did look at the MSDS for stearic acid and got bored. I don't think any of this stuff would make a good powder or primer solvent, but if you are real curious, then spend the time looking up the ingredients. I believe shaving cream has been optimized for skin, by creating a fatty layer into which hair particles go, and by leaving a refreshing fresh fragrance after shaving.
 
I have no clue about the cleaning properties.
You might try polishing up some steel samples ,putting shave cream on them,and letting them sit.
It actually might be OK for black powdr,but I have no clue.

I do remember my Grandpa was rather meticulous about cleaning and drying his Gillette Super Blue carbon steel razor blades so they would not turn orange.
As I recall,he used Barbasol...or was it BurmaShave? I forget.Old Spice .Aqua Velva. Viceroys,Chesterfields....And his Packard.Dang. Miss that guy.He died when I was 11. Hadn't seen him since Dad went back to Korea in 59...

Now,I do recall an old retired gentleman with a side gig of raising and baling quality hay.
If he was going to spray fertilizer on it,he used Barbasol or other shave cream on his tractor to mark the edge of his last pass so he could get precise coverage.
A man might have 48 cans of Barbasol when he decides to grow a beard .
Gotta be good for something.
Is it Wipe-Out or Patch Out that's foam? They work pretty good.
 
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I guess it would work quite well for Black Powder but I doubt it would be very effective for Nitrocellulose based powders. A Solvent based cleaner is needed for dissolving Nitrocellulose. Than you would also have to find the PH of the shaving cream. If it is alkaline or neutral it would be fine but if it is acetic, you are asking for trouble. Than you have the moisture issue. You will have to make sure that all of it dissipates and than lube the bore. With Chemical cleaners that is not an issue. There is no moisture left behind.
 
I was at a national chain 'Indoor Lumberyard' earlier, gathering supplies for a project.
While grabbing a gallon of mineral spirits, I overheard a guy ranting and raving to an employee about how ridiculously expensive wood stains had become, while extolling the virtues of used motor oil and transmission fluid for the same purpose.
He was refinishing his hardwood floors with used motor oil.

However... I was more surprised by the suggestion that shaving cream might be useful as a gun cleaner, than I was by a country bumpkin slathering motor oil on his floors.

I think it would probably be just as effective to use ketchup or Italian dressing. At least then there's a stronger acid component that will do some kind of cleaning, while etching the barrel; and some vegetable oil for lubrication and extra stickiness as it ages.
 
I do recall during by youth writing things on peoples concrete driveway with shaving cream. It would etch the concrete and last for many months. Can not be good for metal.
 
FrankenMauser said:
I was at a national chain 'Indoor Lumberyard' earlier, gathering supplies for a project.
While grabbing a gallon of mineral spirits, I overheard a guy ranting and raving to an employee about how ridiculously expensive wood stains had become, while extolling the virtues of used motor oil and transmission fluid for the same purpose.
He was refinishing his hardwood floors with used motor oil.

However... I was more surprised by the suggestion that shaving cream might be useful as a gun cleaner, than I was by a country bumpkin slathering motor oil on his floors.

I think it would probably be just as effective to use ketchup or Italian dressing. At least then there's a stronger acid component that will do some kind of cleaning, while etching the barrel; and some vegetable oil for lubrication and extra stickiness as it ages.
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you made my day, and it was the best answer.
 
Back in the late seventies when I was in high school we had a Gym teacher whose guts we hated. I remember putting sliced tomatoes on the hood of his car on a hot summer day. It did a wonderful job of removing the paint. A couple of days later there were some really nice rust spots in the same places. I guess that in a pinch if you do not have anything else, it would be better than nothing at all if you are on a hunt and shot a few dozen rounds through the barrel. But than if you do not have any gun cleaner you most likely will not have any oil either. But than you might say that you drove and you always have a bit of motor oil. To that I would respond that in that case you will have a tiny bit of DOT-3 brake fluid also and that will definitely clean your bore quite well.
As I mentioned before, I would not hesitate to use it on a black powder firearm but not on a smokeless powder one.
 
JWT said:
Thanks for the humor guys. I needed it. Now back to cleaning my gun with Tabasco.
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Tobasco however you will get some very good cleaning results. It will do a wonderful job removing the bluing from your firearm. That I can guarantee you with certainty.
 
This was certainly a myth in my younger days in the Marines, specifically in regards to simplifying the hours of scraping carbon out of a SAW reciever that were required to get it back into the armory. It certainly didn't shorten the amount of time spent scrubbing and scraping.

Tabasco sauce will do wonders on cleaning a rusty shower drain.
 
I Never tried shaving cream, doesn't sound very effective to me.. I just run a couple of patches of eezox down the barrel, what dont' come out don't come out.. after you've cleaned 3 or 4 times with eezox carbon comes out really easy.. copper steaks do remain don't concern me.. none of my stuff is precision I rarely shoot beyond 100 yards even with a rifle so im not busting my hump getting out some copper lines to eek out every tiny bit of accuracy.

Now carbon rings around a revolver cylinder im totally OCD about.

FrankenMauser said:
He was refinishing his hardwood floors with used motor oil..
Click to expand...
Someone needs to tell him USED motor oil is a known carcinogen.

What an Idiot.
 
IF you know for a fact that NONE of the ingredients will combine with gun residue and cause accelerated rusting, gumming or a hazardous chemical event then it’s probably not bad for the rifle.
But I doubt any has tested it objectively.
I wouldn’t.
What’s the upside?
 
On a day of black powder shooting, I often times put a can of shaving cream and a bottle of water in my shooting box. After getting my hands all black and sticky with shooting stuff, the shaving cream does a nice job of cleaning you up and leaving your hands smelling good. I always hated driving home with sticky and stinky hands on the steering wheel.
A good friend..who has passed on... gave me the idea of using shaving cream for cleanup. His father died a slow death and he provided care for him for months before the passing. One of the nurses told him to use shaving cream to clean his father in the bed to help from making such a mess with water...and by gosh it worked.
 
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