Take out the cartridge and put the plastic cap back on once the cleaning process has ended.
Unlike other electric shaver brands that use detergent-based solutions, Braun’s cleaning fluid contains alcohol (ethanol or isopropanol).
Alcohol tends to evaporate a lot faster and while this can be an advantage as it takes less time for the shaving head to dry, it also means that the cleaning fluid inside the container will evaporate faster.
Luckily, this can be easily fixed.
After the completion of the cleaning cycle, pop open the station, carefully slide out the cartridge and firmly press the plastic cap back on, then store it in a safe place until your next shave.
Braun recommends removing the cartridge if you won’t be using the station for a long time, but I actually recommend you to do it every time if you want to get the most out of one cartridge.
Even if you use the station daily that’s still 24 hours in which some of the alcohol-based fluid will naturally evaporate.
So make sure not to throw away the plastic cap when you install a new cartridge.
Remove the bulk of hair strands from the shaving head before using the station.
The foils and blades of your Braun shaver are merged into a single piece called a cassette.
It has a very intricate inner part that makes cleaning fiddly and it’s almost impossible to get all the clippings and dirt out.
However, removing as much as you can prior to using the station will definitely help us achieve our goal of squeezing more cleaning cycles out of a cartridge.
Once you’ve finished shaving, remove the cassette and very gently tap it on the edge of your sink or counter-top.
You should only tap the plastic frame, never hit the foils as they can be damaged easily.
With the included brush you can also briefly clean the inner part of the cassette.
You can also use a can of compressed air if you have one around.
This step of removing the hairs is very important. Remember, we want to use the cleaning cartridge for as long as we can, so we don’t want the cleaning fluid overly contaminated with hair strands if we can prevent that.
It only takes a few seconds but it will make a big difference.
Note: Never use the cleaning station if your shaver is not free of any foam and soap residue. It should also be completely dry.
Preparing the old CCR cartridge
As we all know, Braun cleaning stations use these plastic cartridges that you’d normally replace with a new one.
We’re going to use the old CCR cartridge with our solutions; it’s also cheap and environmental-friendly.
For that, all we need to do is give it a quick cleaning.
It’s really straightforward and I’m going to show you the exact steps.
First, empty the remaining content of a used Braun cartridge after giving it a thorough shake.
Make sure to remove the liquid through the small opening as the large one contains a very fine mesh filter and the hair clippings won’t get through.
We want to remove as many of them as we can.
Fill the container with tap water through the small hole, put the plastic cap back on (or cover both openings with the palm of your hand) and shake it vigorously.
Empty the content again through the small orifice. Repeat this step at least 5 times in order to remove as much debris as possible.
Don’t worry if you cannot get all of the hairs out, they’re very difficult to remove as they’ll stick to the inner walls of the cartridge.
You can see in the picture below my result. That doesn’t look particularly clean, but it would work nevertheless.
But let’s take this one step further.
In order to remove the remaining hairs, pour a bit of dish wash soap into the cartridge (through the small hole), add some water, then shake it a few times.
Empty the content and rinse it very well until there’s no foam left.
Here’s how the cartridge looks after using soap, definitely much cleaner:
If you can do a better job than me, great. If not, don’t stress too much about it.
Just make sure to give the cartridge a good shake and remove all the water before adding the product.
FAQ
Can Braun clean renew cartridges be refilled?
Remove the Cartridge from the Clean and Renew Station. Rinse thoroughly, at least 3 times (Note fluid only drains from the smaller hole) Add the contents of One Refill Satchel to the bottle of Isopropyl Alcohol. Label the mixed bottle.
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