Good question, Jim. Traditionally, most people have used IPA or another light alcohol for this, followed by a good, strong hand-detergent wash (in the UK, there used to be a green jelly-like hand detergent which was very good. It was called Swarfega, but I don't know whether it is still available or whether it is exported). This is not a very good idea, except for a VERY occasional accident. Light alcohols goes straight through the skin like a sieve. Keep your hand in ethanol for 15 minutes or so and see the increase in a breathalyser test! Do it with methanol and you risk grave problems (long enough, and the grave may be the result!). At one time, I used an industrial pink soap which was loaded with an abrasive, possibly quartz sand. This was popular with garage mechies as it was good at getting dirty oils and greases off. With rosin, it worked, but it needed perserverance and a good 10 minutes. The ladies don't like it, though, as it roughens the hands like no washing-up liquid does. Similarly, I've sprinkled dishwasher powder onto my wet, fairy-like mitts and this will both work but just about take the skin off, as well. I hesitate to recommend glycol-based products, some of which are quite good, because the dermal uptake may be bad. However, I feel that a terpene may be a good answer: they can dissolve rosin and the tricyclic molecule would probably have difficulty in penetrating the skin to any significant extent. My first try would therefore be common or garden artists' turpentine, followed by a good hand-detergent wash. Do NOT use one of the cheap turpentine substitutes which are based on white spirits, though. However, prevention is better than cure. The obvious answer is do not get rosin on the hands. Gloves act as a preventitive, including those chuck-away ones made of thin polyethylene. If, for any reason, these cannot be used, then think about barrier creams (careful not to get any on assemblies, though!). Analyse where the handling deposits rosin and eliminate that operation - at least, in a contaminating way. BTW, I don't think there could possibly be any health hazard associated with rosin on the skin (normal people) but I agree that it's bloody uncomfortable :-( After all, the sticky stuff on Band-Aids, Elastoplast, Sparadrap and so on has a high percentage of rosin in it. Some individuals do exhibit a cutaneous hypersensitivity reaction to rosin, but these persons should not be working with the stuff, anyway. You could always change to a water-soluble flux, as well :-) Brian Jim Jenkins wrote: > > Hi everyone, > > I know this may be a minor concern, but I get a lot of complaints from > operators that they have nothing that will get rosin flux residue off their > hands. Some are very concerned about what the residue is doing to their > health. Do any of you know of a good hand cleaner (especially one that > comes in an industrial size dispenser) that removes rosin flux? > > Thanks and have fun, > > Jim Jenkins > > --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Technet Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8d > To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in > the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet > To temporarily halt delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL > To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest > Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives > Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm for additional > information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5315 > --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8d To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5315 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------