Think we should be careful?Can we damage the paint?
Hand sanitizer has a high % of alcohol. That can affect a few paints, lots of weathering, and cause other issues. Avoid getting it on your models, depend on hand washing instead.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Hello All,
The recommended percentage of isopropyl alcohol in hand sanitizer effective against COVID-19 is 70%.
Some modelers use the same percentage of alcohol to strip paint from shells.
Hand sanitizer dries relatively quickly. That is the alcohol evaporating.
As long as your hands aren't soaked and still wet with sanitizer I doubt the amount of residue left on your hands would do any more "damage" than the oils in your skin.
Hope this helps.
"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"
I agree with Mike's suggestion to simply wash your hands. I use dish detergent, and always wash my hands before going into the layout room or workshop, and often repeat the process several times during a session, as even natural skin oils can damage paint or make a not-yet-painted model unpaintable, unless you pre-wash it...always a good practice if you want a good finish.
Wayne
I always wash my hands with Dawn prior to going to the trainroom. It removes the oils from the skin that will smudge some surfaces. Some bathroom soaps have moisturizers in them that will add to the problem, Dawn is great for degreasing. Also, be careful where you pick up your models, get in the habit of thinking about how you handle them and it becomes automatic after a while.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
jjdamnitThe recommended percentage of isopropyl alcohol in hand sanitizer effective against COVID-19 is 70%.
This is further complicated if there is any sort of emollient in the sanitizer... or gelling/foaming agent as there usually should be for best effect as a viral sanitizer. Whether those materials affect the paint film or just leave crud on the surface after the alcohol evaporates, you do NOT want them anywhere on a model's surface.
In my opinion alcohol on skin can temporarily dissolve some of the skin oils and then leave them more easily transferred by touch even after the alcohol has evaporated. This effect would be less if a clean lint-free towel or equivalent were used thoroughly on 'touch' surfaces after sanitizing, just as you would dry them after detergent washing/thorough rinsing... but most users of sanitizers are doing so explicitly to avoid the need to wipe after use.
Some sanitizers contain oils to reduce the dehydrating effect on hands. You don't want these on your models. It's always regular soap for me, before I enter the train room.
Simon
Be careful of others with home-made sanitizer. You never know what they put in it. Traces of scent chemicals could damage models.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
doctorwayneI agree with Mike's suggestion to simply wash your hands.
Yes, always wash your hands before you handle models.
I use hand sanitizer now, but I still wash with soap and water before touching models.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
LastspikemikeStandard hand sanitizer uses ethanol not isopropyl.
Ethanol 'ought' to be cheaper than isopropanol, partly due to enormous, subsidized construction of corn-derived fuel alcohol. The catch is that the government doesn't want anyone drinking the industrial alcohol, and while it doesn't use acknowledged poisons to do that any more, it requires an enormous premium, on the order of a thousand dollars or more a drum, to supply ethanol without some denaturant... one which enterprising meth-chemist types can't separate out. The logical thing to add would be a bitterant, which is what's in commercial 'rubbing alcohol', but more common is to find some percentage of a hydrocarbon, like hexane, that can't be fractionally distilled out -- but which can leave a certain oil residue on susceptible surfaces.
The big thing with isopropanol is that it's very incompatible with polycarbonate (e.g. Lexan) and as I recall with some elastomers and seal materials. While this may be a comparatively small concern in the model-railroading hobby, it is significant in the broader context of a product to be used indiscriminately, sometimes in enormous splashes, in uncontrolled public contexts.
BATMAN Also, be careful where you pick up your models, get in the habit of thinking about how you handle them and it becomes automatic after a while.
I learned that lesson the hard way when I first got into the hobby. I bought a couple of P2K Es and Fs and proceeded to damage several grabs and lift rings before I realized what a klutz I was!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
LastspikemikeI try very hard not to spill whiskey on my hands...such a waste and it looks odd at my age to be sucking my fingers.
I refuse to waste good whiskey, regardless of appearances!!
That is why my layout test cars for building the layout are of high quality but sacrafital lambs as they are slightly out of time period and would have been sold otherwise.
mlehman Hand sanitizer has a high % of alcohol. That can affect a few paints, lots of weathering, and cause other issues. Avoid getting it on your models, depend on hand washing instead.
The good thing about Alcohol is it evaporates very quickly. If you use hand sanitzer, common sense dictates you wait until it is dry first before handling models. Some has moisturizers in it, not sure how that affects things.
More common sense. Just wash your hands real well with soap, dish detergent may be good cause it removes oils and grease from your hands. After dry, your hands should be nice and clean for handling models.
Washing my hands is something I try to regularly do before handling models to minimize chance of finger prints etc.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
I mean how much is the op applying to his hands of the sanitizer. Gee your only supposed to use a small amount. This whole thread is annoying, just use common sense.
riogrande5761Washing my hands is something I try to regularly do before handling models to minimize chance of finger prints etc.
I use one of the 'foaming' dish detergents (specifically Dawn Platinum 5x) where the tiniest bit of economical foam gives good sheeting action and then a clean rinse. Foams also give better distribution over the skin without having to work up a lather from liquid, and do not introduce weird material (the foaming action in the dispenser is mechanical).
I usually don't wash my hands before handling models for painting. Instead, I wear latex gloves. I use the unpowdered ones, so as not to leave any powder residue.
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
Overmod riogrande5761 Washing my hands is something I try to regularly do before handling models to minimize chance of finger prints etc. For the sake of completeness, it's probably wise to note that what you wash your hands with is as important as what formula you might use to sanitize. Many soaps also contain emollients and moisturizers, or react adversely to 'hard-water' ions/mineral content in wash water. I use one of the 'foaming' dish detergents (specifically Dawn Platinum 5x) where the tiniest bit of economical foam gives good sheeting action and then a clean rinse. Foams also give better distribution over the skin without having to work up a lather from liquid, and do not introduce weird material (the foaming action in the dispenser is mechanical).
riogrande5761 Washing my hands is something I try to regularly do before handling models to minimize chance of finger prints etc.
For the sake of completeness, it's probably wise to note that what you wash your hands with is as important as what formula you might use to sanitize. Many soaps also contain emollients and moisturizers, or react adversely to 'hard-water' ions/mineral content in wash water.
okie dokie.
DAVID FORTNEY I mean how much is the op applying to his hands of the sanitizer. Gee your only supposed to use a small amount. This whole thread is annoying, just use common sense. Dave
Dave, I hear you loud and clear.