A graphic reminder of the dangers of lye

[JBot]

It makes me wonder if he also used vinegar and not water to remove it. Looks dreadfully painful

I do not understand why this misinformation persists. I hate to think how many people have made their injuries worse by using vinegar instead of water.

 

[xoticsoaps]

I told my older brother about my new found hobby and how I was doing it from scratch with lye, and he was all...

Even though I'm 20...uh something that was his reaction. Then, I explained in detail all I knew about lye safety and respecting/minding the non-optional rules of working with a caustic substance and about protective gear and then he was all like...

What happened to that guy is awful, but I'm glad my brother isn't a member of this forum cuz if he saw that he might try to force me to live at his house and lock me in the basement to keep me from soaping. LOL

 

[Sonya-m]

Someone should post a picture of someone who cut their fingers off with a circular saw.

<....>

Sorry. Being a bit sarcastic there.

I think we should respect the lye, but not be afraid. Just like a circular saw, floor jack, gun, or other powerful (and possibly dangerous) device.

Let's not get overly carried away here, it's not nerve agent or anthrax or anything like that...

-Dave

I don't think anyone is getting overly carried away - I just don't think it hurts to be reminded of the dangers.

 

[Saponista]

It looks a lot like a scald. My father in law's hand looked like that when he microwaved soup then spilled the carton on his hand. If the lye had only just been added then the liquid would be very hot and combined with the burning action of the lye, I imagine damage like this wouldn't be too difficult to achieve.

 

[biarine]

Just came across this post on a Facebook soap group and thought I'd share.

I know most of us respect the dangers related to lye and the importance of PPE but there are always the small minority that think it won't happen to them - I bet this guy didn't until it did.

https://m.facebook.com/groups/152160381467079?view=permalink&id=1113351618681279

I don't know if you can view without being in the group so here's the post

View attachment 14385

That's painful

 

[DeeAnna]

If you wear an apron, you might not want to wrap the ties around your waist. If the bow is in front, I'll admit it looks extra cute, but the loops of the bow can catch and drag utensils and such to cause spills.

Put the knot or bow in back for safety. Also if you do have a spill, the bow in back will most likely remain clean and dry so you or someone else can get it untied easily and safely even with bare hands. A wet bow is harder to untie, even if it's just wet with water, not to mention slippery soap batter.

 

[dibbles]

I wear disposable gloves while I'm soaping and regular dish washing gloves for clean up. I also wear an old dental smock (hygienists, assistants and docs wear them) while I am soaping. It is comfortable, has long sleeves with cuffs that snug up around my wrists, and closes with snaps down the front for quick removal if necessary. They can be found at any uniform/scrubs store. Before I had the smock, I wore a chef-style canvas apron that I picked up at Joann's for about $1 over long sleeves.

 

[TeresaT]

I splashed my lye water on my arm (that's when I realized I had NO long sleeved shirts at all) and also on the counter. The arm went under the cold running tap until it felt numb. While I was running the arm under the tap, I was removing gloves so I could take off the apron. After my arm was fixed, I splashed some vinegar on the counter to help neutralize the lye and put my cleaning gloves on to clean that up with paper towels. I would never have put vinegar on my skin because vinegar is an acid and acids burn. If the protective layers of your skin are damaged, they can't protect, so any acidic substance is going to burn like hell: vinegar, lemon, lime, orange, etc. Vinegar to neutralize lye (acid to base) is ok for surfaces, not skin. Apparently that is not the "common sense" I thought it was. Sorry. My bad.

 

[reinbeau]

I actually do that, DeeAnna, but this picture was just for show, and I wanted to show off the pink tie. So many of these aprons were made black with black ties.

 

[not_ally]

I don't think people are getting carried away, either. I *know* I am really clumsy, it is one of the reasons I took so long to start w/CP, b/c I was aware that the lye could be a problem with that. Used safety measures (long sleeves, goggles, shoes, gloves) from the beginning, but a recent mishap and these recent posts have convinced me that a good protective lab coat-type cover up and face mask are probably necessary too, for me. Ie; I don't think this thread is alarmist, just thought provoking for those of us who need to be more careful or have forgotten to be really diligent all the time.

 

[PrettySusannah]

If you wear an apron, you might not want to wrap the ties around your waist. If the bow is in front, I'll admit it looks extra cute, but the loops of the bow can catch and drag utensils and such to cause spills.

Put the knot or bow in back for safety. Also if you do have a spill, the bow in back will most likely remain clean and dry so you or someone else can get it untied easily and safely even with bare hands. A wet bow is harder to untie, even if it's just wet with water, not to mention slippery soap batter.

Agree with you. In my opinion, tying the apron bow behind the back looks more professional as well.

 

[jenneelk]

Yeah this was me a while back.. lye in the eye is not fun when you don't play by the rules. http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=38945 Don't believe I posted my pictures though.

Even worse.. I'm a bad bad listener and had it happen again about 3 weeks ago. :Kitten Love: I can't wear sunglasses much, they actually give me headaches and I'm prone to migraines, something about the different vision they give with lighting and then with my goggles the perefrial (sp?) vision irritates me. I tend to get anxious and take them off towards the end and need to stop.

 

[not_ally]

Yeah this was me a while back.. lye in the eye is not fun when you don't play by the rules. http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=38945 Don't believe I posted my pictures though.

.

That was kind of a scary link, Jen. You did post the picture, it was good to let people know what could happen. Thank you for that.

I am super cautious about safety issues, *especially* goggles. I am a fanatical reader, the idea that I could blind myself from being careless is something that, even with my absent-mindedness, I never forget.

I wear reading glasses and like to have my recipes around in printed form as checklists, so I generally use a full-face shield (one of those plastic things that drop down over your whole face) so that I can wear my glasses as well. Although lately it has been so hot that I have just been using goggles and ****, I hate the little batter splashes from the combo of my SB and clumsiness.

 

[Shalora]

Where did you pick up the face shield? I worry about SB splashes, and I hate trying to get goggles over glasses, then I can't get my glasses adjusted right and it's all a giant pain. Maybe I'll be able to get back into contacts this year, fingers crossed, and then goggles would be fine, but as long as I'm wearing glasses, they're really hard for me to use.

 

[jules92207]

I bought my face shield at the local hardware store. Best investment ever!

 

[TeaLeavesandTweed]

For the people who wear nitrile gloves, have you ever had a spill that they've protected you from?

Because I used to work in a clean room and the managers there told me that nitrile is porous and wouldn't really protect you from chemicals. The nitrile gloves were there to prevent little bits of skin flakes and stuff from getting off your hands into the clean room, and then you put latex gloves over them to protect your hands from the chemicals.

So I got thick rubber chemical protection gloves and was planning on wearing nitrile under them as an extra layer and in case I need to take the thick gloves off before things are done.

 

[not_ally]

I got mine on Amazon, love Prime!

 

[snappyllama]

I use nitrile and feel protected. I haven't dipped my gloved hand into the lye solution, but regularly use my gloved fingers to clean tools, poke things back into my mold, etc. I get batter on them every batch and haven't had any issues.

 

[galaxyMLP]

For the people who wear nitrile gloves, have you ever had a spill that they've protected you from?

Because I used to work in a clean room and the managers there told me that nitrile is porous and wouldn't really protect you from chemicals. The nitrile gloves were there to prevent little bits of skin flakes and stuff from getting off your hands into the clean room, and then you put latex gloves over them to protect your hands from the chemicals.

So I got thick rubber chemical protection gloves and was planning on wearing nitrile under them as an extra layer and in case I need to take the thick gloves off before things are done.

You may have been working with specific chemicals that nitrile doesn't protect against in your lab. However, in most cases, nitrile gloves are more than adequate protection.

Where I work now, there are a few chemicals that require chloroprene gloves. I also know that things like methylene chloride go through nitrile. You shouldn't have to worry about most aqueous things with nitrile. The only aqueous thing that would worry me would be hydroflouric acid and you don't want to be anywhere near that anyway since its deadly.

For soap, nitrile gloves are great! They provide flexibility and protection.

 

[shunt2011]

I use nitrile and have never had an incident of a burn. However, I've never stuck my hand into the lye directly. I get them from Harbor Freight locally.