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Like many who have worked with Epoxy resin for a while, I have
become sensitised to the resin. My hands and face now both react
to contact and even to the fumes. This started over 30 years ago
when I built racing dinghies. Had I followed the tips below, I believe
I would never have the problems I now have. These are my own thoughts
to help, but READ THE INSTURCTIONS THAT COME WITH THE EPOXY.
- Wear Latex or Nitrile (some react to Latex) disposalbe gloves,
and do not try to re-use them
- Work with good ventilation. We'de all like extrractors, but
for most it is not an option
- Ideally wear a mask, particularly when sanding, but even when
laying up
- Have lots of prepared rags and acetone ready to clean things
- Epoxy is very sticky, and gets onto the tools you work with.
Ideally you would have tools only used for epoxy work, but in
the real world, clean your tools with acetone when you have finished
that job using a clean pair of gloves and rags you throw away
- Door handles sometimes get opened in a hurry with epoxyied hand,
so wrap a wrag round any handle you are likely to open near you,
and remove when you have finished with epoxy that session
- Some epoxies are less aggressive than others. I started using
an aggressive resin for this project, and later moved onto one
called "Sicomin", in the UK sold by Matrix. It did seem
to help with the fumes, but my hands still reacted. So a partial
win. If you don't have a problem already, probably not needed,
though if working in your house, the almost lack of smell is very
pleasing.
- Soap and warm water is surprisingly good at cleaning epoxy,
so use a scrubbing brush on hands with soap and warm water. Some
even clean tools with soap and warm water
- Epoxy is active for some 30 days or so after it has been layed
up. So if you sand it within that period, remember to wear protective
clothing
- I wear cotton liner gloves under the nitrile gloves, good if
you already have sensitive skin.
- Shower after finishing a session is good if it fits in, though
not always realistic
- On a similar vein, wash your work cloths often
- When adding filler powders, definatly wear a mask
Hope this helps
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