Not sure where to post....

[Snakeoil]

Most fluids are very aggressive to your skin, use gloves instead...Jensen

Okay, I'll bite. Use gloves instead of what? I tried socks but when I ate my lunch my hands always smelled like feet.

regards,
Rob

[honda twin]

Wow...great advice from all....cept the socks part.....Ha ha......so today I found out they just got the Barracuda working again in our shop...its a huge parts washer that works on super hot water....that solves some of my dilemma...now ...would it be ok to put my whole bottom end in that monster? Or better to do it another way? Thanks to all for the replies...Kev.

[jensen]

instead of the leather what is called skin,
yes, it shows that my English isn't always correct

[Goodysnap]

I demo'd a water soluable setup one time that was heated. Worked OK . Just not as good at cutting the grime and grease as petroleum based products. A good idea nonetheless and it's Eco-friendly.

FYI on disposal of old solvent, throw it in with your waste engine oil for recycling. We actually burned ours right through a waste-oil furnace. The cost of having them serviced is rather expensive compared to a drum of solvent every year.

Good tips all around! I proly should wear gloves though my hands are used to being exposed to these types of products. Gloves slow me down.

[conbs]

Everybody - use gloves (instead of nothing) no matter what you use to clean your parts.

For a lot of years I didn't use anything and I soaked my hands in gas, diesel, carb cleaner, etc. while cleaning parts. Then I read an article about a Mustang restorer who had terminal cancer. His advice: don't get all that toxic stuff on your skin and don't breathe fumes if you dont' have to.

You wouldn't drink even a thimble full of either mineral spirits or water based de-greaser. No matter what you use to clean your parts, don't let it soak in through your skin either.

Even after offering this advice I admit I am not as anal about this as I maybe should be. Most of the time when I am working on something I don't wear gloves and I sometimes shoot some carb spray on a part to clean it without putting on gloves first. But, while you are cleaning your parts - wear gloves. Your liver and loved ones will thank you.

[Snakeoil]

instead of the leather what is called skin,
yes, it shows that my English isn't always correct

Sorry Jensen, I could not resist. Gloves in English pretty much decribes all forms of gloves. So to be more specific, rubber, nitrile, leather, cloth, welding, racing, baseball, surgical, etc., can all be added to clarify what type of glove you are talking about.

I guess I assumed that when I said "wear gloves" when working with solvent that the reader would understand I did not mean something that would allow the solvent to penetrate and reach the skin. But now that I know what you were getting at, I see that it would have been more correct if I had said something like chemical resistant or chemical proof gloves just to cover the chance that somebody might not realize that the solvents are bad for your skin. As I get older, I tend to forget how uninformed I was when I was a kid and all the dumb stuff I did just because I did not know any better.

All tongue in cheek, Jensen. Hence my sock comment.

regards,
Rob

[Snakeoil]

Everybody - use gloves (instead of nothing) no matter what you use to clean your parts.

For a lot of years I didn't use anything and I soaked my hands in gas, diesel, carb cleaner, etc. while cleaning parts. Then I read an article about a Mustang restorer who had terminal cancer. His advice: don't get all that toxic stuff on your skin and don't breathe fumes if you dont' have to.

You wouldn't drink even a thimble full of either mineral spirits or water based de-greaser. No matter what you use to clean your parts, don't let it soak in through your skin either.

Even after offering this advice I admit I am not as anal about this as I maybe should be. Most of the time when I am working on something I don't wear gloves and I sometimes shoot some carb spray on a part to clean it without putting on gloves first. But, while you are cleaning your parts - wear gloves. Your liver and loved ones will thank you.

That is a great point that all should heed. I don't mean to lecture, but many have no idea that the skin is just another big organ that not only holds all our parts in place but also does many other things. There are some chemicals that go thru your skin (absorption) and into your blood stream faster than if you drank them. Some can be fatal. I believe it is Boron that will go thru your skin in seconds and even if you can wash it off, is already too late. Within so many hours, you will be dead. No reversal that I'm aware of.

Your skin is not an impervious layer. Many chemicals can pass thru it and into your blood stream.

I always hated gloves when working on things. But one day it occurred to me that surgeons do amazingly detailed work while wearing rubber gloves. My hands tend to dry out and crack in the winter and it is partly because of the dry air and also because I'm goind a lot of winter projects and washing my hands a lot. So, I started wearing surgical gloves. I see a lot of auto mechanics wearing them now. Even common motor oils and normal shop cleaners are very bad to have in contact with your skin. I buy the Nitrile gloves at Harbor Freight and my wife brings home boxed of gloves from work when they clean out store rooms (medical field). I even double glove if I know I'm going to be working with really dirty stuff because the gloves do tear. But when the day is over and I'm ready to go back in the house, I slip off my gloves and my hands are clean and solvent free. I can say that once you get used to working with surgical gloves, you will get so you don't even know you are wearing them.

Oh, and my hands still get a little dry in the winter, but don't crack open and bleed like they used to.

Okay, guess it was a lecture. But the intent was a good one.

regards,
Rob