Beeswax clean up

[Trailboss]

Hi all. Tonight I was lubing and sizeing some cast lead Bullets. And useing commercial grade bullet lube. It was brown. I’m pretty bloody sure it contains part beeswax. It’s allover my fingers. Soap and hot water not really effective. How do u get rid of it? Or should I just harden up and stop ******** ? Normally paint or waterproofing compounds or whatever IF I can’t get it off I just let it gradually wear off over time despite people Giving me funny looks and thinking I’m a grub.

[Sasquatch-1]

You may have to go with a harsh solvent like Mineral spirits, acetone or turpentine.

[Scrounge]

Hi all. Tonight I was lubing and sizeing some cast lead Bullets. And useing commercial grade bullet lube. It was brown. I’m pretty bloody sure it contains part beeswax. It’s allover my fingers. Soap and hot water not really effective. How do u get rid of it? Or should I just harden up and stop ******** ? Normally paint or waterproofing compounds or whatever IF I can’t get it off I just let it gradually wear off over time despite people Giving me funny looks and thinking I’m a grub.

Try Goop, Boraxo, or one of the citrus-based waterless hand cleaners for mechanics. Goop won't tear up your skin as badly as the solvents, though you may need one of the cleaners with pumice or some other kind of grit. Speaking as a longtime mechanic here.

Bill

[gunther]

If you can find Boraxo hand cleaner, it should work. If not, a dab of Dawn dish liquid with Borax will work as well.

[greenjoytj]

Try putting your hand in nitrile rubber gloves for a few hours.
Natural hand sweat should lift the wax off skin.
Wax floats on water that’s why a sweating beer bottle will leave a white ring on furniture, the wax has been lifted.
Maybe apply hand lotion heavily prior to putting on the rubber gloves.

[farmbif]

lava soap?

[Scrounge]

lava soap?

If you can find it! My former employer made a cherry flavored/scented mechanics and machinist's hand cleaner that uses walnut hulls for the abrasive, and I loved that stuff, too. I can't get it, either, anymore. Permatex Fast Orange is good stuff, too. Lots of choices, most of them available at your local auto parts store.

[farmbif]

last place I got lava soap was northern hydraulics

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

SNIP>>>

commercial grade bullet lube. It was brown. I’m pretty bloody sure it contains part beeswax. It’s allover my fingers. Soap and hot water not really effective.

Beeswax will cleanup easily enough, but it probably has alox as a ingredient (brown color a big indicator of alox), and you'll need something like MS to clean up your hands, but I have also found "LA's Awesome" cleaner (from dollar store) will also cut alox.

[Scrounge]

last place I got lava soap was northern hydraulics

Thanks! Got one not TOO far from the house, and I could use an excuse to go see them. I'm gonna tell SWMBO it's all your fault! ;)

Bill

[centershot]

I use Fast Orange, available at most auto parts stores. It cleans really well and doesn't beat up your hands. Get the one with grit in it, works much better than the one without.

[gwpercle]

I use Fast Orange, available at most auto parts stores. It cleans really well and doesn't beat up your hands. Get the one with grit in it, works much better than the one without.

Use the Fast Orange , made by Permatex , in automotive section . Has pumice like Lava Soap for scrubbing off grease but gentle on skin ...has aloe and some other conditioners .
Beeswax isn't hard to remove from skin ...it must be Alox or Lithium or Moly that's in the lube that's hard to wash off . Use the harsh acetone , mineral spirits or carb cleaner as a last resort ... they are hard on hands .
Gary

[Trailboss]

Next morning there is not really enough left on my hands to worry about. But should I need to clean myself up in a hurry one day , now with your replies , I can sort it ...... thank you

[indian joe]

Hi all. Tonight I was lubing and sizeing some cast lead Bullets. And useing commercial grade bullet lube. It was brown. I’m pretty bloody sure it contains part beeswax. It’s allover my fingers. Soap and hot water not really effective. How do u get rid of it? Or should I just harden up and stop ******** ? Normally paint or waterproofing compounds or whatever IF I can’t get it off I just let it gradually wear off over time despite people Giving me funny looks and thinking I’m a grub.

WD40!!! .......they also make an odourless version that works like the original

[Shopdog]

KFC 5 piece if it's really bad.... 3 piece cleans most though. Something about greasy fried chicken?

[ABJ]

Most any oil will tend to liquefy most waxes. I keep some auto transmission fluid around to clean up lube around the sizer's. If I get sticky hands I squirt a little ATF in in palm, rub a little then a dry paper towel. Most any dishwashing soap will cut the ATF afterwards.
Indian Joe mentioned WD40, same principle I just haven't tried it.
Tony

[Springfield]

I doubt it is the beeswax. I use BW in all my lubes and they never stick to my hands.

[flynth]

You may have to go with a harsh solvent like Mineral spirits, acetone or turpentine.

I'm not sure about terpentine, but I know acetone doesn't dissolve beeswax. Same with ethanol. So I would expect mineral spirits to be equally useless...

However, I recently discovered ethyl acetate (it is used in various pain thinners) dissolves beeswax beautifully. I used a glass pyrex dish to melt some beeswax. No matter how much dishwashing liquid, hot water, acetone, and ethanol I used to clean it one could feel a thin layer of wax remained making glass less transparent. A little ethyl acetate dissolved this wax as if it was hot water dissolving sugar. Then I rinsed it with some more ethyl acetate and it was completely clean.

If terpentine works it might be an option, but considering the horrible smell of it I would choose ethyl acetate every time. It has a strong smell that is only mildly unpleasant while I hate the smell or terpentine.

Please note, ethyl acetate can irritate skin so best to use gloves, or better pour it in a way to avoid touching it(Use a brush if necessary). Also, it is toxic with long term exposure so be careful.

Here in EU it can be bought in home decoration/paint stores. In other parts of the world you may want to research online first rather than ask in store for the chemical as it may result in some weird interactions.

[uscra112]

last place I got lava soap was northern hydraulics

I went looking for it online. Amazon and Walmart both $7.00 a bar.

[uscra112]

I've used Eds's Red to get it off surfaces, but never needed to get it off my hands.

[wilecoyote]

white petroleum, a.k.a. illuminating oil (white spirit, somewhere ?)

[shaune509]

Have not tried it for bees wax but for pine sap we rub area with lard or an oil then use a grease cutting soap to clean up.
Shaune509