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Calcium Hydroxide is not perfectly safe

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OriginalFace

OriginalFace

Rising Star
Just a heads up for my Nexus family (and anyone else who might read this).

I was just mixing up a batch of PT plus lime (calcium hydroxide) for a 69ron tek and used a larger mason jar this time around.

As you know, when water is added to the cactus/lime powder mix, it expands considerably. Last batch, I had to split my mix between two jars, just to make room for my solvent.

Well, this time, I used a 1 liter jar instead of a 500 mL, so this wouldn't happen. The problem was that my stirrer wouldn't reach all the way to the bottom, so I ended up pushing my hand into the jar to reach.

My knuckles were rubbing on the neck of the jar and the wet lime, it seems, is abrasive and corrosive. The top layer of skin was dissolved by the rubbing lime and is now raw and sore.

Watch out, even mild alkalise can be dangerous.

I'll know better next time and, hopefully, so will you.

OF
 
That's nothing. If you did that using lye, you'd be bleeding and having permanent damage done to your skin. Lime is almost like sand paper, so be careful rubbing it on your skin, it can cause minor damage, and once some scratches are made, it can burn you a little.
 
The only limitation it's not as caustic as lye is its low solubility in water. It's a strong base, stronger than sodium carbonate, avoid long-term contact with the body!
 
Yeah, I know that sodium hydroxide would be much worse and so I take precautions.

I was careless with the calcium hydroxide and complacent, now I know better:oops:

Everyone, don't be stupid like me:roll:

OF
 
I don't know that anyone has touted CaOH as "safe" with no caveats...It's a fairly strong base and should be treated as such...please have respect for lab procedure and chemicals, even if that lab is your kitchen and those chemicals are "food safe" or similarly viewed as being "less harmful" by many.

Glad to hear you're ok O-Face, fingers are important anatomy and best not dissolved into freebase :d

love
SB
 
OriginalFace said:
Just a heads up for my Nexus family (and anyone else who might read this).

I was just mixing up a batch of PT plus lime (calcium hydroxide) for a 69ron tek and used a larger mason jar this time around.

As you know, when water is added to the cactus/lime powder mix, it expands considerably. Last batch, I had to split my mix between two jars, just to make room for my solvent.

Well, this time, I used a 1 liter jar instead of a 500 mL, so this wouldn't happen. The problem was that my stirrer wouldn't reach all the way to the bottom, so I ended up pushing my hand into the jar to reach.

My knuckles were rubbing on the neck of the jar and the wet lime, it seems, is abrasive and corrosive. The top layer of skin was dissolved by the rubbing lime and is now raw and sore.

Watch out, even mild alkalise can be dangerous.

I'll know better next time and, hopefully, so will you.

OF
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I was going to use q21q21's tek on the A/B forum too...thanks for letting me know...I will be more cautious with it if i use it...But compared to NaOH, CaOH is all good 8)
 
NaOH dissolved a jacket of mine once, didnt know i spilt it until a few days later i noticed a hole in my jacket. :(

CaOH still a bad product to get on skin, as is almost any chem that is used, appropriate gloves and eye protection is of the utmost importance.

Also a fume hood never hurts and is quite simple to make, just install a bathroom fan onto a wooden enclosure around your workstation, wire a plug onto it and vent it out a window with flexible piping. cost is less than $25 if you know what you're doing.
 
۩ said:
I've gotten lime all over my hands and ya it just gets rough, not really a big deal.
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Same here, SWIM often uses his hands to scrub lime caking out of containers and off utensils and has never ended up with anything he could refer to as a chemical burn. Unlike lye, it should not be used in a solution, so if used properly, there's little to no chance of "splashing" it into one's eye.
 
Touche Guevara said:
Anyone else had the stuff mark up their glasswear? A friend's french press got really pockmarked and then broke in the dishwasher.
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That's weird. I use lime all the time with glass and never saw that happen.

I have gotten wet lime all over my hands for many minutes and never got irritated by it.

I even got wet lime in my eye before. Nothing happened. My tears were enough to wash it out.

Because lime is so poorly water soluble, it takes a very long time for it to damage the skin. It can cause damage if left on your skin for many hours. I think the only way to get damage from it quickly is if you scratch your skin with it. It’s quite abrasive, and if you rubbed it on your skin, it’s almost like sandpaper, and will scratch your skin. Once your skin is scratched, its much more susceptible to damage from lime.
 
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