A little while ago I wrote about a 1931 patent on storing a shaving aid in the handle of a razor. And now I found a newer patent that cites that one. A patent for a razor with cleaning brush. A cleaning brush stored, unsurprisingly, in the handle of the razor.

Filed in 2008 and published two years later, there isn’t too much to the patent. There is a brush. It is stored in the handle. You use the brush to clean the razor. And that is, more or less, it.

There is a lot of details though. Like the fact that the patent text goes into detail on how a modern¹ razor can get clogged up when in use. To quote:

A problem that exists with these razors is that hair, skin cells, soap or shaving cream used in the shaving process, and other materials that may be present on the skin, become trapped on the razor blades or in the head member resulting in reduced effectiveness of the razor and perhaps shortening the useful life of the razor or head member.

From US patent application 20100064521

The application goes on further, explaining in near painful details how a brush can be used to clean such a clogged razor. But, as the inventor explains, such a brush is easily lost. To quote further:

One solution to removing the hair and other materials from the head member and razor blades is to displace the hair and other materials by passing a brush over the head member and razor blades. Known brushes are separate articles from the razor and therefore must be purchased separately from the razor, are stored separately so that the brush may not always be accessible when the razor is used, and may become permanently separated, for example if the brush is misplaced or forgotten.

From US patent application 20100064521

The main idea of the patent application was to store a brush in the hollow handle of the razor. As can be seen in the drawings, the brush would be removable and replaceable. New brushes would be sold alongside replacement cartridges. Which means that once you had used up the blades, you also got a new brush.

Which honestly sounds really wasteful. At the same time it would create a revenue stream for the manufacturer. And honestly, it makes a tiny bit more sense to have a cleaning brush in the handle of your cartridge razor than to have a battery, a motor and some electronics in there to make it shake.

Of course, you could instead choose to go with a traditional safety razor. I mean, they are inherently easier to clean. They don’t get beard crumbs and soap scum clogging the space between blades. They give a better shave too – and the only brush you’ll need is for making lather.

Unlike most patents I’ve pull out to talk about, this one isn’t expired. It isn’t granted either. The patent is listed as abandoned,² which I’m not sure if means that it is a free for all to use it. This is one of those times where talking to a lawyer makes sense, if you have the weird urge to make a razor with cleaning brush in the handle.

The patent application can be read in full at Google Patents.

Footnotes:

1. Read: cartridge
2. In other words the patent application is no longer pending because the applicant has either failed to reply to a patent office action or has expressly abandoned the patent application