hand soaps? anybody?

[jeffro8332]

hey all i have a quik question, i kinda have a problem with sticking my hand in my tank on a regular basis. i try to wash my hands as best as possible when i do this but i still think i have foreign crap on my hands. i know some people use gloves and tongs. but my question is are there any hand soaps specialized or better to use when poking around in a reef tank. thanks
j

 

[jeffro8332]

thanks kip i do run carbon but only for the first week of the month. i try to wash my hands as good as possible but i am a metal fabricator and i often get a lot of oil and misc stuff on my hands that i know are bad for the tank. so today i went to the LFS and bought a pair of aquagloves. well see how those work out.
j

 

[marvida]

Pretty much the same here as Kip, except for the vinegar thing. Haven't heard that before, but it makes sense. What type of degreaser/hand cleaner do you use at work? Some of the citrus based stuff should clean off well.

 

[jeffro8332]

MarVida, thanks for the reply
i use fast orange alot but i also paint a lot of the products i build so often i end up with xythlene and other cleaners that are for the enamel paints. so often times i try my hardest to wait a few days if i mess with any of those heavy duty cleaners. but for some reason it's just so damn hard to keep my hand out of the tank. no will power i guess.
j

 

[marvida]

I'm not sure about the heavy duty cleaners you use but with Fast Orange you're looking at D-Limonene (the citrus-orange compoinent), Ethoxylated C11-C16 Alcohol, Castor Oil and Propylene Glycol. These things should clean off well with followup washing & rinsing.
You're probably doing the safe thing by waiting. I don't think I could.

 

[jeffro8332]

wow MarVida have you dabbled in the trade before? and it's very hard until i see the film at the top then i kick myself in the butt and have to worry if how to get it out.
j

 

[marvida]

A light film of organics is pretty normal in our tanks. Unless there's not one prior to puting your hands in & then it's there right afterwards you might just be seeing a normal condition. And yes, one thing about being old is that you get experience. I ran a small cutting tools manufacturing plant & while a firefighter I was a hazmat tech.