What do you use to wash-up after casting?

[Alabama358]

Now I have heard all of the rhetoric and fear mongering with regards to lead. Yes it is a heavy metal and is toxic to your body, no denying that... but it is not polonium-210.

I think that casting with adequate ventilation is sufficient with regards to vapor, smoke etc. I also think the more relevant part of the lead discussion is lead dust and the residue that is left on your hands.
Now after handling lead for a few hours it is not really a good idea to reach into your tobacco can and replace a pinch between your cheek and gums throughout the day or have a sandwich and some chips without washing the lead off first.
I also have a toddler running around the house and am very cognizant of the effect that lead can have on little ones, so proper hygiene may be a little higher on the scale for me then others.
I was using regular hand soap such as Irish Spring or Zest then moved on to Dawn dish soap.

The other day I was looking to clean up and realized that one of my wife's hobbies is to make her on hand and face soaps. Tamarind, Goat-milk, Himalayan Salt and Activated Charcoal soap.
So I got to reading about the Activated Charcoal and its main property is that it binds to and absorbs toxins and poisons. (lots of stuff written on the internet about this stuff) Anyway I thought I would share this with the group as a point of fact and recommendation.

What do you use to wash off the lead-yucks after smelting and casting?

By the way… for any of those Gents that was lucky enough to stockpile a load of the Johnson's Liquid wax for Ben’s original liquid lube, I would be happy to trade a few bars of Amanda’s Activated Charcoal soap for some.

[Jayhawkhuntclub]

I use water...and a little dish washing soap. You don't need anything more than that. I've had my blood lead levels checked numerous times (all <4 units), so I have proof that's all you need. Don't let the crazies freak you out and misinform you. Might dry your hands with paper towels so you can dispose of them. But even that's overkill IMHO.

[country gent]

I use dawn dish soap also and follow with a second wash with dial or other disinfecrting soap. I did use the waterless hand cleaners as a first step ( D&l, Go Jo, ) but haven't bothered with it for awhile.

[GhostHawk]

I make my own soap from scratch with lye, have for 5 years. Solved all my dry skin problems, dandruff, etc. (Yes I use it on my head too)

Essentially it is Lard, Olive Oil, Coconut oil, with a little palm oil, Lye and water in the correct proportions. It is a creamy pale yellow, no added anything. Lathers wonderfully, cleans very very well. I have seen it cure Psoriasis 3 times thus far. Not easy, painful perhaps. But it works.

But at the range I do use their special soap after shooting.

[lightman]

A little Dawn and some water for me. I do not eat and try to not rub my nose or lips while casting. I would try to keep my young children away from my casting area, or cast in an area away from them.

[Alabama358]

I make my own soap from scratch with lye, have for 5 years. Solved all my dry skin problems, dandruff, etc. (Yes I use it on my head too)

Essentially it is Lard, Olive Oil, Coconut oil, with a little palm oil, Lye and water in the correct proportions. It is a creamy pale yellow, no added anything. Lathers wonderfully, cleans very very well. I have seen it cure Psoriasis 3 times thus far. Not easy, painful perhaps. But it works.

But at the range I do use their special soap after shooting.

I think my wife's current recipe has lye, co**** oil, palm oil, olive oil, sunflower oil, castor oil, lard and activated bamboo charcoal. Apparently making soap is more complex then mixing alloy for casting... or so she says. :o

[2wheelDuke]

I cast with gloves on, but I still wash up with hand cleaner or dish soap and water afterwards.

[dragon813gt]

D-Lead soap twice. Then once w/ Zep TKO. I know this is complete overkill. But I have a 2yo in the house. The Zep TKO is the best soap I've ever found for cleaning up greasy and dirty hands. You're hands come out soft at the end as well :)

[tazman]

After spending 40 years working in an industrial plant that used lead as a heat treating medium where I was the one doing the heat treating and handling the lead, I can tell you that simple soap and water are sufficient to remove all traces of lead that might be on your hands from contact with lead. We had strict orders to wash before eating or handling anything that went into your mouth(cigarettes, pop containers, food, etc). These precautions were enough since only one man needed to be removed from the department for lead in his blood. That man refused to obey the restrictions and smoked at his station before it became a terminating offense.
No other person in our department, many of whom were there almost as long as I was, every developed a high lead blood content and we were checked annually.
As has been stated here by others, lead does not give off vapors until far beyond normal casting temperatures. However, vapors are not what you have to watch out for.
Lead dust is the culprit here. Lead will oxidize at room temperature. That's why it isn't shiny for very long. That oxide will wipe off easily and contaminate your hands or clothes. It also forms on the top of your lead pot where it can actually become dust particles and become airborne where it can be breathed in or fall onto your clothes.
Fortunately the precautions are simple and easy.
Wash when you are finished.
Don't eat, drink, or smoke while you are casting or smelting.
Keep a slow air movement away from you towards the lead pot by means of a small fan turned on low set behind you or over your shoulder(or a vented hood).
If you use a fan, don't store any food or drink down wind from the lead pot where the dust might fall.
These precautions are enough to keep you safe.

[Green Ghost]

Thanks for the information, Tazman. Common sense rules that are easy to follow. I wash up with regular bar soap when I'm done casting.

Stay safe,
Jerry

[collyer]

Cold water and soap.

[shoot-n-lead]

Dawn dish detergent and water.

[Yodogsandman]

When I had young children in the house. I wore coveralls outside when doing any lead work. They stayed outside in the barn. I wash my hands as soon as walking into the house. I use any soap that's handy. Now, I also use a dishwashing greenie scrub pad on my hands, too.

[Eddie Southgate]

Hot water and Irish Spring. And I did finally quit roasting hot dogs over the top of the SAECO pot , they say that could be harmful also .

Eddie

[DerekP Houston]

*shrug* I use whatever bar of soap is available next to the sink. If I'm in the kitchen then its dawn or whatever knockoff I bought last.

[runfiverun]

that charcoal thing only works on the inside.

[retread]

Dawn and water. At 71 I don't get too concerned.

[alamogunr]

Dawn and water. At 71 I don't get too concerned.

+1 Except 74

[scotner]

​"Gojo Natural Orange Pumice Hand Cleaner" rinsed off with cold water before I leave the shop. Dial liquid hand soap and warm water when I walk in the house. (Across the driveway).

[Idaho45guy]

I just washed my hands with Dawn and Lava soap when done. My stepdad said that normal soap and water won't get the lead off, so I bought a thing of Lead Off wipes to use before washing.

[Traffer]

Harbor Freight sells a hand soap called "Orange Tarkelp". It looks disgusting. Kind of a baby poop yellowish brown. I think it has been around since the 50's. For me it is the best soap I have ever used on my hands. It cleans quickly and thoroughly. And it is very gentle on my sensitive old hands. It sells for $1.99 for a 16oz tub. It has pumice. You don't need much. I go through about a tub a month. No bad smells. No chemical smells at all. I can't guarantee that you will like it as much as I do but I do highly recommend that you try it.

[Shuz]

I've used Lava soap for years on all my dirty grimy hands.

[bedbugbilly]

Been using just plain old soap and water for 50 + years after casting . . .use the same thing to washout my old 1-# Lyman pot as well before I toss in what ever I'm going to use for "fondue" that day - my preferences are either cheese or chocolate - heats it up fast so I can get a quick meal and then toss the lead back in and keep casting.

[DerekP Houston]

Harbor Freight sells a hand soap called "Orange Tarkelp". It looks disgusting. Kind of a baby poop yellowish brown. I think it has been around since the 50's. For me it is the best soap I have ever used on my hands. It cleans quickly and thoroughly. And it is very gentle on my sensitive old hands. It sells for $1.99 for a 16oz tub. It has pumice. You don't need much. I go through about a tub a month. No bad smells. No chemical smells at all. I can't guarantee that you will like it as much as I do but I do highly recommend that you try it.

I'll give it a whirl, a trip to harbor freight never breaks the bank for me and I could use another box of nitrile gloves anyways.

[jimb16]

Regular soap, hot water and a scrub brush....twice at least.

[Toymaker]

COLD water and home-made lye soap followed by a bit of hand lotion.

The danger is with lead oxide, the white stuff on lead that's been sitting around, and to a degree lead salts. They are soluble in water and carried away by the soap. You want to use COLD water to avoid opening the pores in your skin which will allow the lead oxide to be absorbed. Hot water opens the pores. Lye soap gets down under the dirt and lifts it out of the swirls of your fingers and skin and the cracks/creases. It'll remove the oils (which may have absorbed some oxide or salt) and some dermis (old skin) too. Thus the hand lotion.

[buckshotshoey]

Liquid dish soap.

TO ALL WHO USE BAR SOAP. Think about it. There will be some lead dust residue left on the bar. Not too big a deal but if you have children in the house that use it too? Stick with liquid dish soap and rinse the bottle when done.

[Phlier]

Harbor Freight sells a hand soap called "Orange Tarkelp". It looks disgusting. Kind of a baby poop yellowish brown. I think it has been around since the 50's. For me it is the best soap I have ever used on my hands. It cleans quickly and thoroughly. And it is very gentle on my sensitive old hands. It sells for $1.99 for a 16oz tub. It has pumice. You don't need much. I go through about a tub a month. No bad smells. No chemical smells at all. I can't guarantee that you will like it as much as I do but I do highly recommend that you try it.

Thanks for that. Need to make a Harbor Freight run anyway.

[mdi]

I keep a bottle of Dawn on my sink. I've used this for hand washing, shaving, and occasionally shampoo. I began casting sinkers when I was 15 and bullets just 22 years ago. I just use common sense (I don't stand over my melting pot and do deep breathing exercises, and don't chew on a freshly cast bullet while I'm casting). My employer offered annual "mini-physicals" which included testing blood for heavy metals and when I retired 7 years ago my lead levels were still "normal", but slightly on the high side because I worked in downtown Los Angeles. I'd bet my lead levels have dropped after breathing clean Oregon air for 7 years! :wink:

[popper]

Whatever liquid soap is at the kitchen sink. My daughter makes soap also but it is bar form. After a big casting session I take a bath and wash my hair (what I have left). I also wear a ball cap when casting - don't ask why - tinsel fairy will answer. Casting clothes hang in the garage.

[Kraschenbirn]

​"Gojo Natural Orange Pumice Hand Cleaner" rinsed off with cold water...

+1 on the GoJo Orange. Also, I wear throwaway nitrile gloves whenever I'm handling boolits during powder coating...not so much to keep lead contamination off my hands but to keep oils from my skin off the boolits.

Bill

[.22-10-45]

No food or drink while casting..keep hands away from mouth. 1st. thing after casting...strip down to skivvies and remove shoes & socks before entering house... wash hands with lots of soap & hot water...go straight to shower and shampoo. by this time, moulds are cool enough for spraying down with Mould Saver..put away tools, etc. Wash hands again...only then do I consider partaking of any food or drink.

[shaman]

+1 on Dawn.

[Traffer]

Hey, concerning HF Nitrile gloves, I bought a box of the .7 mil blue ones and they were incredible. One box lasted me a year and a half. So the next box I got was the .9 mil black ones. They would tear on the first or second use...just plain no good. Has anyone else had a similar experience with them? Or maybe the .9 mil that I got were just a "bad batch" like they are fond of saying at HF.


I'll give it a whirl, a trip to harbor freight never breaks the bank for me and I could use another box of nitrile gloves anyways.

[PaulG67]

I handle lead or something greasy every day it seems. so every time I rise from the dungeon or come in from the garage I go straight to sink and wash with FAST ORANGE, it does a great job and even smells good and it is inexpensive.

[DerekP Houston]

Hey, concerning HF Nitrile gloves, I bought a box of the .7 mil blue ones and they were incredible. One box lasted me a year and a half. So the next box I got was the .9 mil black ones. They would tear on the first or second use...just plain no good. Has anyone else had a similar experience with them? Or maybe the .9 mil that I got were just a "bad batch" like they are fond of saying at HF.

I haven't used the black ones, I developed a latex allergy in the kitchen and the blue ones don't aggravate it.

[StratsMan]

Boraxo hand soap... nice and gritty, the way I remember soap when I was a kid... takes everything off your skin, and maybe a bit of the outer dermal layer too....

[gwpercle]

Dawn , it's usually on the sink for dishes and if it's good enough to clean an oily duck, it's good enough for me !

[sutherpride59]

Lee and several other cast boolit authors recommended using a high phosphate soap like liquid dishwasher soap, not dish soap. so I've used that since I started casting and the follow up with a lava soap bar. I will say just like everyone else lead dust is where the real worry comes from. The last time I had mine checked last year my levels were 11micrograms if I remeber right and I wasn't useing the best ventilation I could have. 11 micrograms is not high but a bit above normal. I'm waiting to get my results back this week and see what they are now since I installed a range hood over my pot.

[dbosman]

Dish soap for me, and I'm one of the not too concerned.
Mom, like lots of mothers got thalidomide to ease her pregnancy pain. X-Rays were used on my tonsils before they were cut out. The shoe store had and used one of those radio-graph machines so you could see through your shoes and see the bones in your feet.
Growing up on a small farm we used any number of chemicals. The road was sprayed every year with used motor oil and lord knows what to keep down the dust. At the drive in movies in the early sixties, several fathers would dust the area around their cars with DDT. It worked. Grandpa had us fill plastic shaker containers of some 2-4-not known then to be carcinogenic herbacide to dust the area when we pulled up sunflowers growing in his milo fields. As a child we used asbestos pipe wrap to make ourselves in to mummies. Gramps house has asbestos shingles that I helped cut and replace. In my 20s I was a park ranger. That black/brown color on the park buildings, fences, etc was petroleum solvent of some kind, tar, and two of those found to be carcinogenic flame retardants. We slopped that stuff on every wood surface. Our park supplied mosquito repellent was government surplus DEET labeled as 100%.

Based on family history, it will be heart disease or a driver that kills me earlier than I might have lived otherwise. :-)

[LAKEMASTER]

Dawn dish detergent and water.


as everything else in my house gets cleaned with. - i buy 5 gallons @ a time!

[fredj338]

I think people over think this stuff. Just soap & water, done.

[44man]

I get pretty dirty with work and Boraxo gets the grease off better then anything so I use it all the time. It does not dry the skin out.

[Kraschenbirn]

Hey, concerning HF Nitrile gloves, I bought a box of the .7 mil blue ones and they were incredible. One box lasted me a year and a half. So the next box I got was the .9 mil black ones. They would tear on the first or second use...just plain no good. Has anyone else had a similar experience with them? Or maybe the .9 mil that I got were just a "bad batch" like they are fond of saying at HF.

I've only used the .7 mil blues and they work fine for ALMOST all my needs...Mr. Acetone is NOT friendly to them. Never had any need to try the black ones.

Bill

[mdi]

I'm just glad some of the methods to "keep safe" mentioned here are not mandatory!

[Walstr]

Tazman; Along those lines of dealing w/lead vapors...our tech group spent many hours repairing printed circuit boards & were concerned about inhaling lead. We then wore small 'aspirators' on our shirt collar to collect said vapors during many hours of work. No evidence of lead was found. Our health dept. reports the flux vapors were not toxic in the concentrations collected, but ventilation for extended sessions was recommended.

As you related to, measurable lead vapors exist at higher temperatures, above boiling point, not so much above melting point.

[44man]

No need for gloves when casting. No lead fumes either. Touching lead means washing hands is all. Even then how much can you get from touching boolits? Over blown piles of dog poo.

[Shiloh]

Soap and water. Scrub good.

SHiloh

[azrednek]

Soap and water. Scrub good.

SHiloh

I'm with Shiloh on simply soap and water but I always use a fingernail brush just in case something is missed. I've had my lead levels checked a few times and always a good report.

I've only heard one horror story, it came from a cop so I assume it was the truth. A local cop and heavy smoker apparently smoked a cigarette and it was assumed after a few hours on the range shooting 38 wadcutters back in the revolver era. He possibly smoked a lead splinter that was some how got transferred on to his cigarette. The cop that told me about it, claimed the Glendale Az PD later changed its policy on lead ammo.

[nagantguy]

Dawn dish detergent and water.
Yes cold water and soap first, closes the pours, doesn't let things seep in as easily, than warm water and soap clothes into the garage wash machine to wash buy themselves with whatever other grubby work clothes I have! Dieball Defense the firearms studio where I've worked part time for years before going out on my own, that was SOP, after shooting casting or reloading or cleaning the bullet traps, cold water than hot, wash clothes

[TXCOONDOG]

And to think that I have been using my teeth for over 25years to close split shot sinkers :-(

[barrabruce]

I wash my hands first with soap and water, then my face.

I dunno but I remember sucking on the window sills when I was a kid , having a handfull of air gun pellets in me gob and probably swallowing the odd one.
Probably have chewed and eating more than my far share of shot gun pellets as well.

Ghee and I always blamed falling out of trees and hitting my head.
Or some of those sprays used around the farm.
(or surviving my wilder youthfull days)

No wonder I'm attracted to casting bullets.

[mdi]

And to think that I have been using my teeth for over 25years to close split shot sinkers :-(
You must be dead and jes don' know it!!:veryconfu

[44man]

Lead poisoning is a dead deer. You will not get it casting. Old water pipes were lead and the Romans added lead to sweeten wine. Kids ate paint because it was sweet. No good for young brains.
Today the greeny weenies want lead WW's gone. Poison the world but I never found any on the roads. I wish I could walk roads and fill buckets, strange there are none!
Cast all you need. you will not get lead in you from it. Heat is not enough to boil lead.

[DerekP Houston]

No need for gloves when casting. No lead fumes either. Touching lead means washing hands is all. Even then how much can you get from touching boolits? Over blown piles of dog poo.

I only use the nitrile gloves to handle them for powder coating. Not really concerned about the lead content, more trying to keep the powder off my hands and grease off the bullets.

[mdi]

44Man, in CA wheel weights fly off vehicles and crawl out on the pavement to get run over by passing cars/trucks (evil little buggers!). The ground up chunks of lead then seep down into the water table and poison everyone/everything within 5 miles of a paved road. Or at least that's what we were told when CA banned lead wheel weights...:shock: