I just used a bunch of window and door low expanding Great Stuff foam and did not heed the advice to use gloves. Apparently, before it cures acetone will take it off you hands, but now that it has cured the only thing to do is scrape it off. Does anyone know of any cleaner/solvent that will get this off my hands?
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Replies
Time. Or sand paper.
...that's not a mistake, it's rustic
There are no solvents for cured polyurethane. It will eventually peel and wear off. Next time you might consider one of the latex foams. They are easy to clean up and they won't warp door and window frames.
>> Next time you might consider one of the latex foams. << When I tried latex foam, it didn't work worth a hoot... came out like shaving cream and didn't seem to be cured even after a week. That was when they first came out. I think it was DAP brand that I tried. Thoughts? Better brands?
Matt,My experience with latex foam was identical to yours. It would take a major good review from someone believable to even want to try the stuff again. The idea sounds wonderful, but the implementation needs to be practical, too.Bill
OK - I'm glad it's not just me. I thought maybe I had gotten a bad batch or something...
The latex foam remains soft, but it's supposed to.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
I've once or twice had the same bad experience with DAP latex foam. I also have had good experiences with it. I think that I can trace the bad experience to the weather being too cold and wet. Possibly adequate shaking first, and the materials that it is contacting makes a difference too. I've had great success with using it around windows or other small gaps in wood. I only use it in small beads 1/4 inch or so and preferably against wood. I think the wood may help draw out some of the moisture and help it dry. I think that this is the ideal situation for this foam. Too big of a bead will dry on the outside and stay wet inside for a long time. The worst experience was using it on cold metal. It actually did the the "shaving cream" thing and slowly turned back to a liquid and dripped off. At least after it dripped it was easy to clean up. The polyurethane foam has it's drawbacks too, but it definately is better for bigger gaps, application in cold weather, and sticking to your hands.
I used the DapTex latex foam on all of my windows and doors. The secret is to have the can at room temperature and shake it well before and during use. As others mentioned, it doesn't expand as much as the PU foams. I don't know about how it behaves in humid climes, we're usually at 25% or less RH out here.
Thanks for all the replies. Still using sand paper cause my day job is suit and tie stuff and that crowd thinks I'm a goofball when I show up with rough and ugly hands. Sad, but true.
Similar results with several brands. I even saw an earwig escape by crawling through the stuff while it was fresh.
Have had some luck with acetone and MEK together with just a dab of methyl chloride.
My hands are usually so dirty to start with for this type job it is probably the dirt underneath gets removed.
As an extreme, have also used a weak caustic solution (lye) that converts the natural skin oils to and then the GS? (quite an oxymoron, huh?) lifts off as it works in from the edges.
MEK is a possible carcinogen and lye can cause blindness if you get it in your eyes.
You are better off letting it wear off or scrubbing it off with a very mild abrasive.
Its ugly and feels wierd but it won't take long to wear off your skin.
I though I was using latex foam. So much for reading the can. I guess sandpaper will have to be my method of choice.
Ouch. Just let it wear off. It doesn't take that long.Tom
Douglasville, GA
I'm not real good at reading or heeding safety directions... I do use safety glasses and gloves when working with polyurethane foam.
Regarding Great Stuff, my saying is "Great Stuff is not so great", and mainly because it is so hard to work with and has a shelf life of about 15 minutes ;-)
IMO backer rod is a better choice. It's that foam spaghetti stuff... I don't know why they call it "rod".
Regarding Great Stuff, my saying is "Great Stuff is not so great", and mainly because it is so hard to work with and has a shelf life of about 15 minutes
Have you tried a foam gun? Really expands the possibilities with foam.
jt8
"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success." --Albert Schweitzer
Like I said: GREAT STUFF is not so great. Besides a number of the regular spray cans, I tried one of their rinky dink guns that came in a kit with 4 canisters I think it was maybe 4 years ago. It sucked just as bad. No - I have not bought a professinal grade gun and the $$$ worth of chemicals to go with it. Maybe I will the next time I build a house for the wife and I. Or maybe they have some better packaging/etc than the stuff they sell at home centers and H/W stores.
I don't know about the great stuff guns, But the Hilti gun I have (from Home Depot) does super awesome with Great Stuff foam - it's even rated as a firestop, a different formulation than whats in the spary cans I think. I can lay down a bead 1/8" thick to well over an inch, and I have alot of control. No problems clogging, or it setting up in the gun after months of disuse.Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
I check around for the Hilti stuff - it uses a different of brand of foam (hilti?) too, right?
Actually, gun foam has a universal top. Great Stuff gun foam works in a Hilti gun, and vise versa.Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
I don't know about the great stuff guns, But the Hilti gun I have (from Home Depot) does super awesome with Great Stuff foam - it's even rated as a firestop, a different formulation than whats in the spary cans I think. I can lay down a bead 1/8" thick to well over an inch, and I have alot of control. No problems clogging, or it setting up in the gun after months of disuse.
That is the same experience I've had with my middle-of-the-line Great Stuff gun. Gotta love that orange fireblock foam. I'm getting so that I use foam for stuff I'd normally use caulk for. Probably need to stop doing that :)
jt8
"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success." --Albert Schweitzer
Edited 9/19/2006 9:16 am by JohnT8
When you start foaming kitchen sinks to the countertop, you may have gone too far... I don't know for sure though... I'll tell you when I'm done :)Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
When you start foaming kitchen sinks to the countertop, you may have gone too far... I don't know for sure though... I'll tell you when I'm done :)
Well, don't tell anybody, but... There I was on that HOT August day with my 42oz plastic McD's cup just sweating like a b1tch and melting all my ice. Then I notice a couple empty cups from previous visits. And then I saw the foam gun. heh heh, shot some foam into an empty cup, smooshed a second empty cup into it, and then slid the full cup into that arrangement. Worked pretty well. :)
jt8
"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success." --Albert Schweitzer
I think the point you've gone too far is that cold windy day where your coat just isn't thick enough... so you grab your foam gun, create a gap between your coat and the tee shirt you are wearing...
...well it DOES stay in there better than cellulose!Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
You made a home made alladin insulated cup.I have noticed the same foam inside the walls of those insulated cups.They just go to the trouble of sealing the top of the inside and outside pieces together, and putting a handle on it.
I bet before you know it, babies will be sent home with a sticker warning them that living causes death~piffin '06
consider this a learning experience, LOL
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
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Don't you just love going to a nice place to eat with your wife and having black hands?
My favorite is having to meet a bunch of people, and shaking hands with them while I apparently have the black death on my hand. Comes out after about a week.Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
I learned real quick not to touch the Great Gooey Stuff. But, I still use my fingers to smear Gorilla Glue on the backs of trim pieces, in fact right now I can't turn the pages of my new FHB without licking my fingers.
<<in fact right now I can't turn the pages of my new FHB without licking my fingers>>
...hope the glue is dry!Justin Fink - FHB Editorial
Your Friendly Neighborhood Moderator
Was this you, or is there an evil midwestern Justin?
http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=78857.2
jt8
"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success." --Albert Schweitzer
If you know you're gonna be working with the stuff it's a good idea to put a little hand cream on your hands, especially around/under the nails. In a pinch any sort of grease or oil will work.
Doesn't totally prevent the stickies, but reduces the length of time it takes for the stuff to peel off.
Unless you have to go to a white tie dinner or some such, I wouldn't use sandpaper -- just let it flake off on its own.
belt sander
I found that some of the citrus hand cleaners, such as "Fast Orange", etc with pumis will take a lot of it off. Or try DIDI SEVEN, a stain remover for fabrics. Don't use MEK, Methylene Chloride, or Benzene, all are carcinogens.
Don't use MEK, Methylene Chloride, or Benzene, all are carcinogens.
I also like to add a little trichloethylene and tolulene to the mix if I can get it.
Any body bought ANYTHING except vegatables lately in Califorina that does not say it "is known by the state of CA to cause cancer"???????
But has anyone ever checked to see if money causes cancer? Probably you're better off getting rid of it.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
You can send it to me and I will be careful to handle it with latex gloves.
Beach sand is known by the state of California to give you cancer.Why haven't they walled off all the beaches yet ?
you said this was non pol, no matter how you look at it, somebody going get screwed. ~Brownbagg '06
Does this mean that California knows more about cancer than other states? I thought all the knowitalls were from NYI bet before you know it, babies will be sent home with a sticker warning them that living causes death
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I thought it only meant you could get cancer if you used the product in California?We change the course of history,everyday people like you and me
eye C!
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I knew it wasn't a good idea moving to california.
What if I reimport products that have gone out of state, back in?
Like Piffin says, they need to just issue each person a sticker: Living in California may be hazardous to your health.zak
"so it goes"
Baby Oil....worked for me...
Sometime read http://www.pbs.org/tradesecrets/transcript.html
O know we live in a toxic world, but it's a whole lot better health and lifespan than four hundred years ago, thanks in large part to chemistry
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
"O know we live in a toxic world, but it's a whole lot better health and lifespan than four hundred years ago, thanks in large part to chemistry."I agree and disagree. When I lived in the San Joaquin Valley in CA people had a saying, "If you didn't come with an allergy you will probably leave with one." As a kid we were told those chemicals would not hurt you. That was according to the chemical companies. Now we know differently. I can remember my parents closing the windows in the house and turning off the air cooler so we would not get the dust in our house because it was like a cloud outside when they would dust the crops. Too often we are lulled into a sense of security when we should not be. Look at 9/11 and what happened there. In Texas there are a number of chemical plants and explosions to go along with them. Fortunately for a friend of mine he was not killed because he was sick the same day his area blew of the chemical plant up.
Sobering, isn't it?We used to live next door almost to an LP waferboard plant. They were finally shut down by the EPA after about ten years of lying and hiding activities like spewing crap intoi the air at night when the cloud wouldn't show. we'd get ash all over the clothes on the line and on the vehicles.One of their airborne contaminants was from formaldehyde. When daughter was crib size, she almost became a SIDs baby. DW suddenly had an urge to go check on her, and her face had turned blue by then. DW started CPR breathing for her and dialed the hospital which sent out an ambulance. There was another SID child a year or two later that didn't fare so well. But nothing proven connection to LP
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Californians know more about everything.
Geeze boy, haven't I taught you anything yet?Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
Thanks for volunteering. You are now listed as Exhibit ####
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I was trying to find some online installation instructions for a Leviton Dimmer (their website is screwed up).But found a link to a listing for the product on amazon. On that page was a link to the CA prop 65 warnings.So it seems that using a dimmer in CA causes cancer.I am glad that I don't live in CA. I would have died years ago.
And the vegies are being recalled
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
As Daisley mentions, citrus hand cleaners can get a lot of it off.
Even better is to peel an orange, and then squeeze the skin, and rub it on your hands.
you said this was non pol, no matter how you look at it, somebody going get screwed. ~Brownbagg '06
It's too late this time, but buy a box of latex exam gloves at Costco. I use them all of the time for painting, foam, and caulking.
I like to use the fine side of the cheese grater.
but now I wear latex gloves. Every time.
GoodLuck.
I've used hand cream, Badger Oil, noxema etc to soften the skin under the foam and speed up the wearing off process.
Coconut based suntan oil - not lotion - followed by ITW/Dymon 'Rough Touch Scrubs' hand cleaning towels. They are available lots of places as are their inferior imitations. This combo will also work on ABS glue and epoxy grout.
I'm sorry I found this thread so late. Vinegar. Works on epoxy too.
Phat
Edit: to add - It only works on uncured stuff.
Never underestimate your ability to overestimate your ability
Edited 9/18/2006 6:22 pm by Phat