Safety Belt Moors Baby in the Bathtub

It’s dangerous to leave a small baby unattended in the bathtub, and yet, when the telephone rings or the doorbell must be answered, it is sometimes inconvenient not to be able to do so. Carl H. Fischer, a Council Bluffs, Iowa, engineer and father of three youngsters, solved this problem with the ingenious device pictured at the left. The baby is strapped in a harness that is attached to a metal bar. When the bar is turned, rubber pads threaded to the ends press tightly against the sides of the tub and hold the safety bar firmly in place.

Diagonal Bathtub Is Revolutionary

THE introduction of a new diagonal bathtub marks the first major change in bathtub design since the first installation in 1841.

Though the new tub is but four feet square, it has just as much room for bathing as the rectangular tubs. The bathing recess extends diagonally across the corners, with two seats in opposite corners. Mothers can sit comfortably while bathing children. The seat in the rear is very convenient to use while taking a shower. All plumbing is concealed under the rim.

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WONDER PHOTOS REVEAL UNSUSPECTED FACTS ABOUT Razor Blades and Shaving

By Robert E. Martin

A THIN ribbon of sheet steel that would reach halfway round the earth is used every year to scrape the whiskers off the American chin.

These unwanted stubs of hair, if laid end to end, probably would reach from here to Mars, but there is no way of estimating the total amount of suffering and mental anguish involved in their removal. It is a safe guess, however, that the aggregate pain produced by dull razor blades exceeds that of all other pain sources put together.

Yet in spite of all the misery caused by razor blades so dull that they nearly pull the hairs out by roots, it is only now that a Washington expert, as a result of an investigation undertaken for Popular Science Monthly, is able to reveal, in a marvelous series of photomicrographs, just what a razor edge actually looks like when it is sharp, or dull, and what stropping actually does to the cutting edge.

Of course many attempts have been made to photograph razor blades. Most of these pictures have, however, been taken with a magnification of only a few hundred diameters and the true cutting edge has escaped the camera. The problem is much like trying to shoot an elephant and a flea in the same picture. If the elephant shows, the flea is lost and if. by increasing the magnification, the flea is disclosed, then the elephant drops out of the picture.

Popular Science Monthly asked J. G. Pratt, expert microscopist and photomicrographer of the United States Bureau of Entomology, to make a set of photomicrographs that would tell the real story of a razor blade. The job took several months and required the making of hundreds of experimental photographs and an unforeseen investigation by Pratt of the peculiarities of steel.

AT THE start the obstacles confronting the photographer seemed almost unsurmountable. For instance, it took several days experimentation to relocate under the microscope a section of the razor blade that had been previously photographed. Rephotographing the same section of blade was, of course, vitally necessary to show how the edge was affected by use, stropping, and corrosion.

You probably have heard that a razor removes your beard by virtue of its “saw tooth edge.” and you have undoubtedly seen photomicrographs in which the “saw tooth edge” of razors apparently was plainly visible.

Pratt’s investigation proves definitely that the “saw tooth edge” is a myth, an optical illusion. What appear to be sawteeth actually are lights and shadows upon the coarse grinding just below the actual cutting edge, in photographs of a magnification of only two to three hundred diameters—insufficient to show the true cutting edges.

When Pratt increased the magnification to 1,000 diameters the “saw tooth edge”, straightened out into an unbroken line, and at 3,000 diameters the grain of the steel was visible, as were also variations in the edge caused by the texture of the steel and the processes employed in grinding and sharpening.

EVERYBODY knows that stropping a razor makes it shave better but nobody, not even the steel experts, seemed to know just what stropping actually did to the blade edge. That probably is not surprising when until now nobody knew what the edge of a blade looked like.

The theory always had been that the tiny “saw teeth” were bent out of line when the razor was used and that stropping merely bent the teeth back into line again. It was also believed that only razors made out of certain kinds of steel and manufactured in a certain manner could be sharpened by stropping. A widespread impression exists that stropping is useless and ineffective as applied to the wafer-thin blades used in many types of safety razors.

The photographs on these pages clearly show how erroneous these beliefs have been. They show, for example, how the cutting edge, originally a wavy line not at all saw tooth in character, is bent over by contact with whisker stubble. The steel fibers are both bent over and crushed backward.

At the bottom of this page are pictures of a blade that has been broken down by shaving off a tough beard four times in succession. Note how, in addition to the usual bending and crushing of the edge, a deep nick has been produced by the actual breaking away of a portion of the edge fibers. The effect of stropping this blade is easily seen. Not only has the edge been restored to original smooth shaving condition, but the size of the nick has been reduced to one third of its original area and the bottom of the nick has, moreover, been formed into a sharp cutting edge so that a hair end that happened to drop into this nick would be parted just as cleanly as those encountering the unbroken line of the cutting edge.

IT HAS long been known that corrosion, which in this case means rusting, does more damage to a razor blade than does shaving. One of the pictures on page 54 shows a new safety razor blade cleaned of oil and left on a shelf in the bathroom for ten days. One look at the edge is enough to tell you that shaving with it would be a kind of major operation both painful and ineffective.

The series of photomicrographs reproduced here, many of them made at the enormous magnification of 3,000 diameters but all shown at a 2,000 magnification settles most of the problems that have bothered shavers since the day when a cutting edge was substituted for yanking whiskers out by the roots. The original Americans, the Indians, accomplished the removal of whiskers by plucking them out, one by one, with the aid of the sharp edges of a pair of clam shells that were used as a pair of pincers. That was a painful process but probably not much worse than shaving after the modern manner with a dull, jagged-edged razor. Most of the discomfort of shaving is, as this investigation proves, clue to the bending back of the blade’s sharp edge through use, or the partial destruction of the edge by rust. The jagged edge of a used razor as seen at 2,000 diameters has little to do with the sharpness of the blade. If properly stropped, the bottom of the average tiny nick is still sharp enough to shave cleanly and painlessly such hairs as it encounters.

WHAT does stropping actually do to a dull razor blade? This investigation proves that its first action is to bend back into place the fibers of steel that constitute the actual cutting edge. It removes the rust formed on the edge and thus restores the blade to shaving usefulness provided the rusting has not gone too far.

The fact that the bottoms of slight nicks are made as sharp as the edge and that the nicks are actually reduced in size proves that stropping has at least a small abrasive action and therefore sharpening effect. This does not mean, however, that prolonged stropping will put an edge on a really dull (Continued on page 139) razor. Only honing will do that for a blade.

The investigation also proves that no matter how carefully you clean and strop your razor after use, the vital cutting edge will rust away and the razor will become dull unless the edge is protected from the moisture in the air by oil or grease.

More than $38,000,000 is spent each year for safety razor blades in the continuous war against whiskers. Over $1,250,000 goes into new safety razor frames to hold these blades, and $700,000 is the amount still spent each year for straight razors such as barbers use. How many of these razor edges are nearly perfect when new and how many will slice through an adequate number of tough whiskers? How many of them are made of steel tough and strong enough to stand many strappings ?

IT IS quite impossible for the average buyer to determine anything about the quality of the material in the razor or safety blades he buys—except by actual trial on his own beard. The composition of the steel, the care used in its manufacture, and particularly the care used in the subsequent heat treating and sharpening govern its usefulness as a razor.

None of these qualities appear in the looks of steel, its feel to the touch, or the shininess of the finish. It is possible to finish a piece of steel in quality no better than pot metal so that it looks exactly like the finest razor ever made. Every razor buyer must therefore depend on the manufacturer’s reputation.

Given a good barber’s razor or a supply of good safety razor blades, how should the shaver care for the cutting edge so as to derive the maximum number of satisfactory shaves at the minimum of expense and trouble?

As the photographs of highly magnified razor edges show, the first and most important step is to keep the cutting edge clean and well oiled or greased when not in use.

It is, of course, common practice for users of straight barber’s razors to strop the cutting edge between shaves, but few self shavers can do this as well as the professional barber.

AN INVESTIGATION of the barber’s technique in stropping a razor reveals some rather startling facts. Each barber seems to have his own ideas about what strop to use and how to do the stropping. You will find barbers using strops ranging from the palm of the hand through hog skin, canvas, and treated roan to buffed raw leather.

The fact that barbers using these and many other substances for strops get good results seems to indicate that any of them may be used provided the stropping is carried out in a careful and workmanlike manner.

Stropping a safety razor blade presents exactly the same theoretical problem as does a barber’s razor. The blade being in most cases only slightly thicker than a piece of paper, there is no shank to serve as a guide to the proper angle. The solution is to use a mechanical stropping device that will hold the blade at the proper angle.

In the course of the photographic research into razor blade phenomena, it was found that the more efficient of the mechanical stroppers are so made as to permit an adjustment of the tension and give a diagonal stroke which permits the various portions of the cutting edge to come into contact with different parts of the leather disks or rollers. It was also found (Continued in page 140) that the mechanical stropping devices designed for use with standard or modified standard razor strops give about as good results as the best of the mechanical devices. When a razor blade becomes so dull that stropping is no longer of any value, then the blade must be honed. Honing is a grinding process carried out on specially fine stones. This process is not worth while for safety razor blades—new blades are too cheap. The hone itself can be of several different varieties of either natural mined stone or artificial stone.

It is obvious that any shaver who wishes to do so may hone safety razor blades with equal success provided a fixture is built that will hold the blade at exactly the right angle. If the blade is held between the fingers at what seems to be the right angle the results are not likely to be satisfactory, as a slight trembling of the fingers in moving the blade across the hone is sure to produce a rounded edge that will not shave properly.

The photographing of hundreds of safety razor blades of various makes proves that there is a definite difference in quality both as to their original sharpness and their ability to stand up under constant use. Furthermore, it has been found that there is a considerable difference even between blades of the same make taken out of the same package. That is why some blades give more shaves and better shaves than others.

Steel is after all only a mixture of iron, carbon, and other ingredients, and although the better razor and blade manufacturers take elaborate precautions to keep their product as nearly uniform as possible, in a process so delicate tiny variations are bound to occur. Such variations have big effects, as the 2,000 diameter photomicrographs prove.

In the hustle and bustle of trying to get to work in the morning, shavers are apt to forget the importance of careful lathering in shaving. A barber’s razor made fifty years or more ago constantly reminded its owner on this point, for neatly etched on the side of the blade were the words “You lather well and I’ll shave well!”

Revolving Tooth Brush

Especial efficiency in cleansing teeth is claimed for a new rotating tooth brush that operates with a spring mechanism. The brush, circular and of 1/2-inch diameter, is located at the end of an extension from the handle which contains the mechanism. The spring is wound with a handle which may then be folded flush and the mechanism is operated by pressing on a lever with the thumb. Practicing dentists aided in the design of the mechanism which, it is asserted, cleanses more thoroughly and more rapidly than the ordinary tooth brush.

Bath in Ocean of Soapsuds Is Latest Reducing Method

SLEEPING in the clouds has nothing on the “bubble bath,” the latest novelty in the way of health gadgets. This device consists of a waterproof electric motor and pump, which connects with a series of long perforated metal tubes placed in the bottom of the bathtub. Air emitted from these tubes causes the water in the tub to bubble and splash like a miniature surf.

By the addition of a teaspoonful of non-alkali soap a heavy foam will form as demonstrated in the accompanying photo. The device has received the approval of eminent medical authorities both as an invigorating bath and as an effective reducing process.

MAGNETIC SOAP HOLDER

EVERY time Urey Edger of Louisville, Ky., washed his face he got n trouble. Not bad trouble—nobody was killed or clapped behind bars. But trouble enough to make him squeeze up his face tight, hop blindly around the washbasin and holler for a towel, to wipe that stinging soap out of his eyes.

Urey noticed a messy jelly in his soap dish and thought that some of his soft-soap goo might be smearing into his eyes and causing his face-washing woe.

“Eliminate the soap jelly,” he reasoned, “and I won’t get soap in my eyes.”

He was tired, too, of groping about the bathroom for a missing bar of soap, then slipping on it in the shower. He made up his mind he would figure out a way to park his soap high and dry.

After tinkering with the idea in his workshop, he set up a grooved magnetic holder on the wall to grip the ball-headed, notched pin stuck in the soap. Not only does the soap hang where it’s handy but it dries quickly in the air without jellying and so saves 40 to 60 per cent on each bar.

For getting soap in his eyes once too often, Urey is reaping a fine reward— $50 for February’s neatest gadget and a brand-new soap-holding business.

All-Purpose Soap Aids Our GI Joes

MAKING life a lot easier for our soldiers is a soap mild enough for shaving, powerful enough for the i greasiest pots and pans, and capable of producing a foamy lather in water hard or soft, fresh or salt, hot or cold. Secret of the soap lies in a synthetic sulpho-nated product developed from petroleum by Du Pont and known merely as MP 646. It is being sold by the hundreds of thousands of pounds to soap manufacturers who add it to their products in the ratio of one to two. Wide civilian use is expected in postwar years.

Hair-Drying Attachment for Fan

Drying the hair with an electric drier is a quick and convenient method, but not every one cares to buy one for such occasional use. Where some other electrical appliances such as a fan is at hand, an attachment can easily be made for it, that will serve the purpose.

The attachment consists essentially of a cone-shaped piece of sheet metal such as brass, to which a rubber tube with a nozzle is attached, as shown. The cone is made by cutting a circular piece about one-third larger in diameter than the fan guard, making a radial cut from the center to the edge, putting the edges thus formed over each other and riveting them together. Three catches made of brass are riveted to the cone so that it can be securely fastened to the guard. The tip of the cone is cut open and flared out so that a brass sleeve, about 1-3/4 in. diameter, can be soldered to it. A 6-ft. length of rubber tubing of the same size is attached to this sleeve, and a 4-in. length of brass tubing, with the end rounded as shown, is pushed into the end of the hose to serve as a nozzle. In one case a 1-3/4 in. motorcycle inner tube was used for the hose, but it may be still handier to use the rubber tubing usually provided with a fully equipped vacuum cleaner. The drier should be placed on or near the top of a radiator so that it delivers hot air.

HANDLE OF TOOTHBRUSH HOLDS DENTAL MIRROR
Inspection of the teeth for tartar formation or possible decay is made easy by a new type of toothbrush which contains a dental mirror in its handle. By holding the highly polished reflector inside the mouth while facing a larger wall or cabinet mirror, the user can conveniently and quickly examine both front and back surfaces of the teeth and gums. When not in use, the mirror slides into the handle, where it does not interfere with the ordinary function of the brush.

Home Steam Bath is a white enamel steam stool, inset, 17 inches high and 13-1/2 inches square. Vinyl plastic robe is stored in stool’s cover. One pint of water lasts 30 min. Home Accessories, Jacksonville, Ill.

Electric Razor Brushes Teeth
Toothbrush and razor, both electrically operated, are now available in a single unit just placed on the market. The body of the device is a small, oblong container housing an electric motor that draws current through an extension cord plugged into a wall outlet. Either a rotating brush for cleaning the teeth, or a cutting mechanism for shaving, may be inserted in the working head, which is connected to the motor unit by means of a flexible shaft.

New Tooth-Paste Tubes Are Made of Glass
Glass containers for tooth paste, recently developed by a German firm as a substitute for conventional metal tubes, have a built-in piston at one end to force the paste out onto the brush. When empty, the containers can be refilled with paste.

PLASTIC TOILET SEATS of hygienic design are among the priority goods that will be available for the postwar home. Molded in one piece, and having a smooth finish that requires no varnish or paint, they are easy to clean and will withstand repeated sterilizing. The seats are available in either black or brown, and the manufacturers say they should last a lifetime.

Fountain Brush Sprays Teeth
A FOUNTAIN toothbrush, which forces a liquid carbonic spray through the bristles, thoroughly cleans the teeth and acts as an atomizer at the same time.

The flow of the liquid is controlled by pressing a lever on the container holding enough cleaning fluid for a month. The device is a Norwegian invention.