steam-proofing wood

No.

There are coatings and finishes that may help, like epoxy, but how do you get it around the bristles? It is not just the handle but the base also. Wood is not allowed in any area that I know of that must be sterile. Check the knives of your local butcher and they will be plastic handles.

Can't do it. Wood loves water, expands when it gets it. Finish doesn't.

Then there's the rules on what may be considered sterile. Seems barbers always use the UV boxes. Not sure what "stylists" use, 'cause I refuse to pay double the haircut price.

I doubt it. Repeated steaming of wood will weaken it, although there are some kinds of woods that will hold up better than others. I'd replace the brushes with ones that have metal handles. I'd think placing the brushes in a dry 180-degree oven for an hour or dipping them in 91% alcohol would kill any (harmful) living thing.

Ed Pawlowski responds:

And check your good knife handles if you run them through the dishwasher. True, part of that is chemical action of the detergent, but part is also the very hot water. IIRC, it takes about 6 to 8 passes to remove the finish and start turning the wood to something nasty.

Charlie Self "He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." Sir Winston Churchill

no

The last barber sold his shop to a stylist chick, so I bought a set of head shears. $20 for a haircut? Right. $15 for years worth of haircuts? Now we're talkin'. :)

Soaking them in oil from time to time seems to keep them pretty happy though. I've started soaking the knives in vegetable oil (because it's there, not because it's ideal) and it seems to have helped considerably. I soak them whenever they start to get white looking.

I crawl into a gopher hole and SWMBO runs the lawn mower over the top. Fifteen bucks for shears? Phooey. penuriously yours, jo4hn