Insulating Foam

[karinka13]

Ahh! I just got expanding insulating foam on my hands! I tried to wash it off but it just wont come off! Any suggestions?

[RogerR]

Originally Posted by karinka13

Ahh! I just got expanding insulating foam on my hands! I tried to wash it off but it just wont come off! Any suggestions?

well, first i'd try not to get any on the keyboard, as it'll pro'lly cure, and gum up the keys; but i suspect its a little late for that.

here's a statement from the webstite of great stuff which is an expanding foam i'm familiar with:

Originally Posted by great stuff website

How do I get foam off of my skin?


If the foam has not cured or hardened, use acetone or fingernail polish remover (with acetone). If the foam has hardened, there is no solvent that will remove it. It will not harm your skin and will wear off in several days. To remove cured foam from skin, use a pumice stone (available at most drug stores) and warm, soapy water. Then apply petroleum jelly.

[greencactus3]

well ive never had foam cling but superglue wears off in a week if you play basketball or dodgeball but a month if you do nothing but study. dunno about build season. maybe a couple hours?

[Alex Cormier]

sorry to say but when i read how to take it off once harden i started to laugh. if harden there is no solution, let it wear off for a few days.

[Kyle]

that sucks, I got gorilla glue on my hands doing a project, don't do that with a cut on your hand. It got on my hand and started to burn badly because i had water on my hands, guess what makes gorilla glue work? WATER so my hands started to burn. I ran toward the sink to use more water but i was able to stop my self from being that stupid. i grabbed vinegar and that worked well enough.

[sanddrag]

Maybe go play in a sandbox for a while? If you think I'm joking, I'm not, it will be abrasive and hopefully remove it.

[Eria4044]

If it's hardened (By now it probably has; if it hasn't then what kind of freaky foam are you using?), then why not just sand it down? Unless you didn't get a lot of foam on you, in which case it shouldn't be a big problem for you. If you don't want to sand it, then go run your hand on something coarse for a couple hours. If that doesn't work, then I'm out of solutions. Well, solutions that'll let you keep your whole hand. I'll probably take a reputation hit for that joke. Ahh well...

[Tristan Lall]

Originally Posted by Eria4044

If it's hardened (By now it probably has; if it hasn't then what kind of freaky foam are you using?), then why not just sand it down?

Don't even think about using a power sander. (Just in case you considered it....)

[Wetzel]

Gojo.

It's a brand of orange hand cleaner that has pumice in it. The pumice works as an abrasive and works great on just about everything. Best way I've found to remove grease/oil.


Wetzel

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by Wetzel

Gojo.

It's a brand of orange hand cleaner that has pumice in it. The pumice works as an abrasive and works great on just about everything. Best way I've found to remove grease/oil.


Wetzel

That wouldnt be the stuff sitting in the sink outside of the shop would it?

Id say just wash your hands a lot over the next few days. Ive gotten superglue on my hands a few times and it wears off pretty quickly if you wash with soap and water.

[Eria4044]

Originally Posted by Tristan Lall

Don't even think about using a power sander. (Just in case you considered it....)

Well, it depends on how much he has on his hands. If he has a big glob, then it would be quicker to use a sander. You wouldn't want to be there with a basketball-sized glob of foam on your hands while trying in vain to wash it off in a sink.

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

That wouldnt be the stuff sitting in the sink outside of
the shop would it?

Id say just wash your hands a lot over the next few days. Ive gotten superglue on my hands a few times and it wears off pretty quickly if you wash with soap and water.

A sander would be quicker though.

[Wetzel]

Originally Posted by Eria4044

Well, it depends on how much he has on his hands. If he has a big glob, then it would be quicker to use a sander. You wouldn't want to be there with a basketball-sized glob of foam on your hands while trying in vain to wash it off in a sink.

A sander would be quicker though.

While it may be quicker, you do not want to do this. There are several reasons, and they involve the good (or bad) probability of hurting yourself.

Power tools are powerful, and should be used as intended and not upon yourself.

Wetzel

[Liz C]

Yeah, karen we have something like that pumice stuff they're talking about, its in the basement....and although it says the best to remove it on the bottle is "mechanically" i wouldn't suggest it...and don't use a swiss army knife like some people

p.s. your mr. howe quote is amazing...

[sirbleedsalot]

The best thing to do from experience to do is to cut off any large globs with an exacto knife (it is sharp enough that if you cut yourself it does not hurt) then just own up to your mistake and just live with foamy hands for a couple of days.