Hands and chemicals

[mark_m]

OK, so a bit of a generic question: I've been working on carbs alot lately, both on a V and another 1980 Yamaha (SR250G) and I'm beginning to worry about the effect that chemicals like carb cleaner spray, gasoline and berrymans chem dip have on my hands. No matter how hard I scrub with degreaser or soap I can still smell the chems the next morning sometimes. I try to avoid being exposed, but sometimes it's unavoidable.

Any suggestions about how to avoid my hands falling off without losing dexterity?

Thanks.

[Blake]

As for the smell.. cant help you much there.  I do use dish soap (comes in a big yellow cylinder looking bottle.  that gets the grease/everything off and most of the smell.  but it definately takes a day to completely rid myself of it.


but as for the effects, i've been getting them on me regularly (clr, car cleaner, some chem dip, oil, grease, etc) for a good 10 years or so, and i still get commented on how soft my hands are :)  however after using the dishsoap i do use a little lotion to make up for the chemicals and soap sucking everything out of my hands.  that seems to do the trick.


That or the only other thing i can think of is using latex gloves like mechanics now do.


Blake

[h2olawyer]

Latex or nitrile gloves are the best solution.  I saw a cream that you rub on before beginning work - supposed to keep most chemicals from soaking into your skin & make hands easy to clean after you're done.  I'll look around some more & see if I can find it again.

H2O

[glennw]

I like to leave as much of the stuff on my hands as I can while I make a big ham sandwich!.... Then I suck down a shot of whiskey with 24 oz coke chaser with some cheeto's and fire up a smoke and go back to work! ;D
I figure this way I won't spending the last 10 years of my life being fed by a tube, inserted by someone who can't speak english. I think of it as a quality of life issue. ;)

[Lucky]

AMEN! :D

[jasonm.]

Much of the stuff we use. Is not used in California. Much of the carb stuff, brake cleaner, etc. causes nervous disorders(shaking), and cancer over long term exposure. Read the label. The stuff soaks thru latex eventually. I use latex, cause they are cheap and don't make me drop things.

[Lucky]

I was kidding & that was probably irresponsible.  you should allways take precautions when using any harsh chemicals.  think of it this way: we know Coca-cola will remove rust & we DRINK that stuff (well, ok, at any rate it's intended for human consumption, so use gloves & eye protection. When i'm using carb dip i even wear a thick denim apron Kiawrenches daughter made for me, especially after finding 'splatter holes' in a T-shirt after it came out of the laundry...

[kiawrench]

It is nice to know Lucky's workshop apron is still in use!!
  as for protection of hands- almost impossible, but latex gloves help .
    as far as what to do after washing up- once a week or so , coat hands with lotion, put on set of latex gloves over them-- let soak about ten minutes-   this gets out the really stubborn grease ,helps scar tissue fade and helps hands to recover better than just rubbing the stuff on.

[Lead_Deficiency]

I wouldn't worry about your hands falling off, you may be looking for a kidney or liver transplant in a few years though. As far as the shakes go, well if Ali and Richard Prior can make it look good...

[ps2/bikevision]

well as a word to the wise it is a smart thing to take care when using chemicals. i am a poster child to that. i used to work for a metal plating company before i joined the army. after 6 months of service i now am disabled and no longer do much of anything without gloves. at 60 F. my hands will turn purple and any colder than that they just go numb. you can compare it to frost bite. i deal with open ulcers on my finger tips all the time and take may meds to help.

no one has figured out what exactly what caused it but most think it has somthing to do with the chemicals from the the metal plating factory combined with the crap the army pumped into me.

this is why i had to put the heated grips on my bike. even at 90 F my hands will still go numb after 20 min of riding even with snowmobile gloves on.

[Koaps]

Yea, you should always wear gloves with chemicals.

My hands have bits of fiberglass in them from when I was in my early 20's and I did a lot of surf board repairs, and before that sailboats. I learned quickly to wear bunny suits and cover everything I could or my hands would hurt.

In CA where I live, the solvent tanks are toxic and you aren't supposed to get it on you, but I've seen plently of mechanics scrub parts in those tanks bare handed. Just be anal about it and if you can stand the irratation, wear latex under mechanic gloves, the gloves will soak up anything you use so be weary of that.

Fast orange is the hand cleaner I swear by and have always used, but that said, anything concentrated is bad for you, even if its all natural orange stuff, at concentration it can damage skin, so be weary of the hand cleaners you use, like don't use simple green undiluted, its pretty hardcore stuff.

[hfarley]

If only ma could read this thread. Men talking about putting lotion on their hands and placing gloves over that to soften them up. LOL! Thanks for the laugh!! It's good to know it's not only us women that do that stuff.

On a more serious note, I use those blue mechanics gloves, the really thin ones not the thick ones when I do work on my bike. I don't like to lose dexterity which is why I didn't get those fabric mechanics gloves. On the occasion when I don't use gloves I use a product called Lava soap. It has pumice in it which really helps to get some of that grit and grime out. Then if need be I use joy dish detergent to wash with afterwards. And yes if my hands are feeling a bit dry I put on some sort of lotion but not usually. I found that the goop stuff just made my hands smell worse and didn't really work well for me. The gloves can be found at Lowes/ Home Depot/ Pep Boys and the soap I found at Walmart I think. It has a red label and the soap itself is green. Good luck!
-Heather

[Koaps]

I'll back her on the Lava, it works pretty good, but does smell funky, which is why I love fast orange. Fast orange also has a grit in it. I've done lots of work on my buddys truck putting in a lift kit and packing thick thick grease by hand into places and nothing removes black tary grease like fast orange does, I even use it to clean my sink cause it removes all the stains and leaves it smelling orangey fresh.  ;)

Fast orange can be found at any auto or construction supply and they come in big squirt bottle form. The other forms of it aren't as good, the coated towel like one or the short fat bottle( its way thicker and you leave whatever grease you have on your hands on and in the bottle). The one I like you just hit the top and you got goodness.

The small tubes are the same as the big bottles and I keep one in my locker at school for after my welding and machining classes cause I hate that powder crap they have in the dispensers. Feels like cleaning your hands with sand.

The problem with all latex gloves is carb and especially brake cleaner will go through it. They are only designed to stop proteins, not chemicals, so can control is the best way. Try to not soak parts on the bike, if you can remove them and spray them in a bucket, not aways practical I know, but it will help keep your hands from being saturated.

-C

[mark_m]

Cool thanks for all the advice! Just finished up with my carbs tonight and my V is purring! I have been using fast orange (the tub with the white goo inside) since I started and it works pretty good with a nail brush but my hands still smell terrible. I think I'll invest in some latex gloves and even if they get eaten it's probably better than nothing.

mark.

[Coil Coyle]

The Blue or Purple Nitrile ones work best for petroleum and chemicals.

You can buy them in a Kleenex Box from Graingers or McMaster-Carr

coil