Gasoline is not a cleaning solvent! In highschool a classmate of mine washed some bearings in gas, he washed his hands afterward. About 2 hours later he put some wood in the wood heater, when he pulled his hands back they were on fire, 2nd and 3rd degree burns on both hands. The only thing I use gas for is fuel.
It may be a gas , But are you putting yourself at risk ?
- Thread starter 87BlazeLS
- Start date
- Status
I never use gas or brake parts cleaner to clean my hands.....thats just dumb imo. I try to wear gloves when I can. I do however have a bad habit of not wearing a respirator. This past week I was cleaning overspray off the garage floor with brake parts cleaner. I sprayed a bunch down and before I knew it I had to leave the garage. I couldn't inhale all the way. It scared the sh*t out of me. I was dry heaving for 10 minutes. Definately learned my lesson with that stuff.....
sorry to hear of the passing of your fathers. i understand your concerns. I've worked in the auto business since 82 as a tech, but worked on bicycles and motorcycles well before that. there was very little talk or concerns about such things back then. we were mostly worried about the techs who smoked while working on carbs and fuel filters. yes some of them did that. I've known two trans techs who developed skin problems on their hands, they weren't sure if it was from the stoddard solvent they would clean parts with or the trans fluid. trans fluid is highly detergent, makes your hands soft. and they had problems with their skin peeling away on their hands.
i started using gloves about 20years ago. I've used mechanic gloves, the cloth ones, latex gloves and i tried the nitrile ones, i don't care for the lack of feeling in the nitrile gloves. all take some getting used to. the cloth ones work well till you get them wet with gas, oil or other petroleum products. the latex ones are cheaper but not any better for tactile feel when wet with brake fluid, or oil. i learned to avoid the latex gloves with the powder in them, combined with the constant hand washing and dry winters, my hands would crack and bleed, and ache constantly. the garden gloves are ok, rubber impregnated cloth. i probably use my gloves 90% of the time now. sometimes i reuse them, other times i don't. i'll average between 10 to 20 pairs a day. luckily my boss provides them for us and encourages us to use them. he use to wrench also. but there are times that nothing but plain skin will work for you. when i do clean my hands i'll try to use a rag, but sometimes i'll use brake cleaner, or some other solvent. but i'll wash up with a good hand soap with pumice like beads and a brush. dawn dishwashing detergent is a good choice also, its designed to wash away oil.
now i know some of you wonder how i can work in gloves all day. well, its just like working with oil or grease on your bare hands, you get use to it. my hands do sweat a lot, but i consider that a good thing. i feel it helps drive the natural oils in my skin to the top and drive out the chemicals. at least thats the lie I'm going with till someone comes up with a better one.
thanks for letting me ramble.
i started using gloves about 20years ago. I've used mechanic gloves, the cloth ones, latex gloves and i tried the nitrile ones, i don't care for the lack of feeling in the nitrile gloves. all take some getting used to. the cloth ones work well till you get them wet with gas, oil or other petroleum products. the latex ones are cheaper but not any better for tactile feel when wet with brake fluid, or oil. i learned to avoid the latex gloves with the powder in them, combined with the constant hand washing and dry winters, my hands would crack and bleed, and ache constantly. the garden gloves are ok, rubber impregnated cloth. i probably use my gloves 90% of the time now. sometimes i reuse them, other times i don't. i'll average between 10 to 20 pairs a day. luckily my boss provides them for us and encourages us to use them. he use to wrench also. but there are times that nothing but plain skin will work for you. when i do clean my hands i'll try to use a rag, but sometimes i'll use brake cleaner, or some other solvent. but i'll wash up with a good hand soap with pumice like beads and a brush. dawn dishwashing detergent is a good choice also, its designed to wash away oil.
now i know some of you wonder how i can work in gloves all day. well, its just like working with oil or grease on your bare hands, you get use to it. my hands do sweat a lot, but i consider that a good thing. i feel it helps drive the natural oils in my skin to the top and drive out the chemicals. at least thats the lie I'm going with till someone comes up with a better one.
thanks for letting me ramble.
I try to use gloves as much as possible. I have always tried to avoid contact with chemicals as much as possible. I read all the cans of everything I use and they always have warnings on them about this and that have been to known to cause cancer... There have been times when my hands and forearms were covered in used oil and grease. Normally it gets wiped off and then cleaned off in a short amount of time, I don't dawdle with these things. I have used gasoline to clean some engine parts but I avoid contact with gas as much as possible. Then again incidental contact isn't really the same as dousing your hands in gasoline to clean them, is it? And anything with fumes is used outside. The only time I don't use gloves is either when I'm working on something not dirty or if the chemicals being used will just destroy the gloves. I try to use hooks and coat hangers to hold parts to spray them with brake cleaner. Allows you to keep a better distance so you don't get ricocheted.
I'm more concerned about brake dust since that gets into your lungs.
I'm more concerned about brake dust since that gets into your lungs.
great topic. One of my dads best friends was a mechanic. He made a living doing general repairs, bodywork and flipping cars. His son and I are the same age and grew up together around his dads shop and became great friends as well. I learned 99% of what I know about cars and bodywork from that man. Because it was dirty work he rarely even cleaned his tools. In fact everything in his shop had a layer of oil on it. And I remember there was always a gallon bucket of gas ( reclaimed from scrap cars ) for washing parts and getting grease off your hands. No masks, no gloves were used. Swinging motors, bodywork, even painting cars ( with nothing more than a dust mask ). That generation didn't seem to believe in it. Unfortunately both of our fathers are gone now. Both due to cancer.
Once his dad was too sick to keep the shop, his son moved all his dads tools and hoist to a nice garage he built at his own house. I think it was part of his grieving process. Nowadays he just has it set up to work on good friends cars. Its often mentioned how cool it is to pick up a ratchet or impact gun that we had used 30+ years ago as a kid at his dads old shop. However we often reflect that we ( in our 40's ) no longer have our fathers around to be Grand Parents to our own kids which is really sad.
Point is that I make a regular habit of taking a box of thick nitrile gloves and waterless hand cleaner down to his garage. He must have 3 boxes lined up on the shop bench now. For us I am sure the damage is done as this is what we were taught. But hopefully we can set an example for future generations to wrench a little more safely
Once his dad was too sick to keep the shop, his son moved all his dads tools and hoist to a nice garage he built at his own house. I think it was part of his grieving process. Nowadays he just has it set up to work on good friends cars. Its often mentioned how cool it is to pick up a ratchet or impact gun that we had used 30+ years ago as a kid at his dads old shop. However we often reflect that we ( in our 40's ) no longer have our fathers around to be Grand Parents to our own kids which is really sad.
Point is that I make a regular habit of taking a box of thick nitrile gloves and waterless hand cleaner down to his garage. He must have 3 boxes lined up on the shop bench now. For us I am sure the damage is done as this is what we were taught. But hopefully we can set an example for future generations to wrench a little more safely
I've heard some crazy asbestos stories but that one about tops them all! It's funny the things we used to think were okay. My dad is a civil engineer and is finishing a $110 Million high school renovation project and I know that asbestos abatement was a large part of their budget.
Working on cars by yourself, with no lift is Dangerous.
I almost got Killed a couple times.
One time, when changing the springs on my Pontiac the car almost Crushed me.
Another time when I use to smoke cigars I had just but gas in my Vette and had the Cigar in my mouth
while doing it, I grab the cigar out of my mouth while the gas cap was open and put the cap back on with the cigar in my hand.
It was just inches from falling in the tank (foolish move).
Anther time while under the Pontiac removing the Gas tank, gas and rust got into my eye.
A friend of mine also died while looking under his Truck will it was running on car ramps, and his dad found him
Crushed under the truck.
I like working on my cars but one mistake or careless move can hurt you badly or take you out.
I almost got Killed a couple times.
One time, when changing the springs on my Pontiac the car almost Crushed me.
Another time when I use to smoke cigars I had just but gas in my Vette and had the Cigar in my mouth
while doing it, I grab the cigar out of my mouth while the gas cap was open and put the cap back on with the cigar in my hand.
It was just inches from falling in the tank (foolish move).
Anther time while under the Pontiac removing the Gas tank, gas and rust got into my eye.
A friend of mine also died while looking under his Truck will it was running on car ramps, and his dad found him
Crushed under the truck.
I like working on my cars but one mistake or careless move can hurt you badly or take you out.
Very good, It's nice to know that many of you care enough to post stories of your own losses.
I can tell you fuel and chemicals even in small doses can do just as much damage over time
as large doses. Please don't spray brake clean on parts your holding in your hand with rings on !
I found out the hard way what this does. It traps the chemical solvents under your ring and will
cause your skin to swell and get very inflamed in very short order.
I hate working on cars that are on jack stands or jacks. Or even ramps. It's just a feeling
of being crushed looming over you as you work.
When your like us and have to do the work yourself sometimes you have no choice.
Lifts for home owners cars are very expensive. A shop with rental bay lifts you can use
are non existent. I personally like working on motorcycles because they are just so much easier.
I can tell you fuel and chemicals even in small doses can do just as much damage over time
as large doses. Please don't spray brake clean on parts your holding in your hand with rings on !
I found out the hard way what this does. It traps the chemical solvents under your ring and will
cause your skin to swell and get very inflamed in very short order.
I hate working on cars that are on jack stands or jacks. Or even ramps. It's just a feeling
of being crushed looming over you as you work.
When your like us and have to do the work yourself sometimes you have no choice.
Lifts for home owners cars are very expensive. A shop with rental bay lifts you can use
are non existent. I personally like working on motorcycles because they are just so much easier.
Last edited:
Jake-
In reference to your last post, that's only one reason I don't wear rings and stopped wearing watches. When I was working in shop class, I met a guy who had his finger taken clean off when an engine lathe grabbed his ring while feeling a knurling on a handle. He had no ring finger on his left hand. I've also heard of necklaces being caught in mills and a drill presses, and ironworkers who have lost fingers and ears due to jewelry. I'm generally not a fan of jewelry anyway, but I've learned machinery and jewelry don't mix, and I like lathes and mills a lot more than I like a little gold on my hand.
In reference to your last post, that's only one reason I don't wear rings and stopped wearing watches. When I was working in shop class, I met a guy who had his finger taken clean off when an engine lathe grabbed his ring while feeling a knurling on a handle. He had no ring finger on his left hand. I've also heard of necklaces being caught in mills and a drill presses, and ironworkers who have lost fingers and ears due to jewelry. I'm generally not a fan of jewelry anyway, but I've learned machinery and jewelry don't mix, and I like lathes and mills a lot more than I like a little gold on my hand.
- Status
Similar threads
