Bought my first boat to cut, gut and rebuild from bow to stern, including engine. Killed my back and suffered the wrath of the fiberglass demons

[flashback]

Cold water shower, like drive way said. Hot water opens the pores in your skin ...

 

[TripleJGraffis]

Always cold never hot. Hot opens up the pores.

another day of so it will subside. Ask me how I know

Please tell me lol...... this has been since Friday....I am hoping it starts to subside

 

[havoc_squad]

I NEED HELP. PLEASE SPEAK UP IF YOU'RE JUST FOLLOWING BUT HAVE HAD TO DEAL WITH THIS IN THE PAST.

Time for me to fess up about a mistake.

So I'm looking at some rashes right now from fiberglass exposure to my arms..... itchy as all hell as you all know! Is they're any way to get these microscopic shards out of my skin?

I will not be making this mistake again! I will wear painter's arm socks or tape the cuffs shut on the tyvek suit.

Please tell me how to help the itching. I'm also currently sick and will not be getting at the boat for a while.

Looking at the price and how difficult taping things up are, I'm probably going to buy cut resistant arm sleeves that go over your hands like a glove so they don't slip off if/when I begin grinding.

Then putting gloves over your hands and wear the Tyvek suit.

I haven't committed yet to fixing my boat yet by re-doing the stringers and deck, waiting on finishing the stern inspection of the stringers against the transom and the transom itself. Looking promising so far that I might be able to avoid transom replacement but the inspection has to be done, then I'll probably create a topic if I commit to restoring the boat.

 

[Drivewayboater2]

Please tell me lol...... this has been since Friday....I am hoping it starts to subside

Well I hope it subsides soon. Always wear sleeves. You may want to put baby powder on your arms as an extra precaution. That tends to help block the pores. You may be extra sensitive to the glass fibers.
good luck. Hope you feel better.

 

[dingbat]

Looking at the price and how difficult taping things up are, I'm probably going to buy cut resistant arm sleeves that go over your hands like a glove so they don't slip off if/when I begin grinding.

Not sure that is the solution…

I have 3 pairs of cut sleeves in my PPE bag. All three pairs are breathable. They would not protect from fiberglas exposure.

 

[Chris51280]

i put baby powder on before. that seemed to help. someone told me that nylon stockings will help to pull it out. the fine mesh should stick to it and pick it out. never tried it though

 

[JASinIL2006]

I don't have any cure for stopping the fiberglass itch.

When I was grinding, I wore nitrile gloves and then taped the sleeves of my Tyvek suit to them. Then I wore leather gloves over the top to protect against tears. Not super comfortable, but it did keep the fiberglass out of my sleeves.

 

[Scott Danforth]

tape the cuffs shut on the tyvek suit.

this prevents the issues

 

[Lou C]

That's exactly why I will never do another major resto on an old fiberglass boat. Minor repairs that don't involve a lot of grinding, ok but a gut out like that, no way. Just not worth it in terms of the payoff and health risks.

 

[TripleJGraffis]

Looking at the price and how difficult taping things up are, I'm probably going to buy cut resistant arm sleeves that go over your hands like a glove so they don't slip off if/when I begin grinding.

Then putting gloves over your hands and wear the Tyvek suit.

I haven't committed yet to fixing my boat yet by re-doing the stringers and deck, waiting on finishing the stern inspection of the stringers against the transom and the transom itself. Looking promising so far that I might be able to avoid transom replacement but the inspection has to be done, then I'll probably create a topic if I commit to restoring the boat.

View attachment 397122

I really should've gotten these

 

[TripleJGraffis]

That's exactly why I will never do another major resto on an old fiberglass boat. Minor repairs that don't involve a lot of grinding, ok but a gut out like that, no way. Just not worth it in terms of the payoff and health risks.

Yolo.... lol I'm stubborn. I'm seeing this through... going to wait till I get a handle on my arms and then take Extra precautions and go at it again....... but then that's it... no more boat restorations for me. Lol

 

[Lou C]

I did the tyvec suit taped the sleeved & gloves etc. That was 17 years ago I’m now 68 years old I still do a lot of mechanical work on the cars & boats but glass work I will GLADLY pay for. Like bottom paint no way would I ever lay under a boat & sand it for bottom painting.

 

[kcassells]

Just need to add my useless 2 cents.
Hot shower is awesome.
Warm/hot water opens pores. Then use a soap and towel, pull the towel in 1 direction away from your pores in an away motion of your limb.
IE: Shoulder towards your hand.
Cold water closes pores. Thats basic 101 biology 8th grade.
Taping off Tyvek wrist areas and legs is best to prevent issues. Count on tossing most clothes in trash or separate wash.
Other than that buy a tinny. {Tin Boat}

How to Lessen Fiberglass Itch: 12 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow

Fiberglass is widely used in various forms as an insulator or lightweight building material, both in industries and at home. Handling it can leave fiberglass splinters lodged in the skin, causing irritation and intense itching (contact...

www.wikihow.com

how to remove fiberglass from skin - Bing

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[stresspoint]

put the big boy pants on and grind away ! ,

ha ha , we have all been through the rash and the itching.

i have found some 3% peroxide from the chemist wiped over my arms after a cold shower will stop the rash from irritating (as it does).
your skin is poisoned , that is what is making your rash , some liberal splashing with peroxide will relive the irritation for a while , don't stress it will go after a few showers and some rest days , but learn a lesson , as above , tape the sleeves.
also be extra carful when removing dusty clothes as that can spread the dust , don't use compressed air for your blow down , get someone to give you a blow down with a garden blower vac..

i usually ware old disposable clothes when i know i have a big grinding job ahead of me ,i just chuck them after the job is done then they don't end up in the wash contaminating other clothing

 

[TripleJGraffis]

I did the tyvec suit taped the sleeved & gloves etc. That was 17 years ago I’m now 68 years old I still do a lot of mechanical work on the cars & boats but glass work I will GLADLY pay for. Like bottom paint no way would I ever lay under a boat & sand it for bottom painting.

I do not want to pay for glass work when I am so close to finishing the demolition. I am going to be super careful though next time.

Funny you mention bottom painting. I plan on redoing the outside of the boat with glass over the holes I accidentally made as well as a fresh coat of gel coat (possibly to include a whole new color scheme altogether. I need ideas on how to go about this. I do not want to climb under there either, not to mention that the boat sitting on the trailer bunks is blocking access to that area of the hull's exterior. How does one recoat a boat hull entirely? The only thing I can think of, is once I have replaced the stringers, deck and have poured new foam, I get a few buddies together and we carefully lift the boat off the trailer, flip it over and stabilize it up on some wooden planks, and then work on grinding and recoating the bottom at the very least.

Thoughts on that from anyone?

 

[redneck joe]

Godspeed my friend.....

 

[TripleJGraffis]

put the big boy pants on and grind away ! ,

ha ha , we have all been through the rash and the itching.

i have found some 3% peroxide from the chemist wiped over my arms after a cold shower will stop the rash from irritating (as it does).
your skin is poisoned , that is what is making your rash , some liberal splashing with peroxide will relive the irritation for a while , don't stress it will go after a few showers and some rest days , but learn a lesson , as above , tape the sleeves.
also be extra carful when removing dusty clothes as that can spread the dust , don't use compressed air for your blow down , get someone to give you a blow down with a garden blower vac..

i usually ware old disposable clothes when i know i have a big grinding job ahead of me ,i just chuck them after the job is done then they don't end up in the wash contaminating other clothing

The pants are one, I'm not stopping. I am however going to wait until all this redness and irritation subsides as it has only increased since I last took pics. I am definitely going to go overkill with precautions next time I go at this. I have a box of suits coming my way that I found on Facebook Marketplace that are hooded and have elastic cuffs on the arms and legs, but I guarantee that I will be wearing long socks, painter's sleeves, work gloves and latex gloves on top of taping the cuffs off. I a, also going to use baby powder beforehand and I am going to get this done....and hopefully in one day.

Why cant I use compressed air? I can not use the blower from my shop vac because that is being used to suck up all the fiberglass. Don't need to be blowing more at me. I already made the mistake of adding my dirty clothes to the laundry pile, so I am going to remove them and wash them separately along with other clothes that they are touching. I do like the disposable clothes idea! I might just go to the local thrift shop and get some!

 

[TripleJGraffis]

Godspeed my friend.....

Thanks!

 

[stresspoint]

The pants are one, I'm not stopping. I am however going to wait until all this redness and irritation subsides as it has only increased since I last took pics. I am definitely going to go overkill with precautions next time I go at this. I have a box of suits coming my way that I found on Facebook Marketplace that are hooded and have elastic cuffs on the arms and legs, but I guarantee that I will be wearing long socks, painter's sleeves, work gloves and latex gloves on top of taping the cuffs off. I a, also going to use baby powder beforehand and I am going to get this done....and hopefully in one day.

Why cant I use compressed air? I can not use the blower from my shop vac because that is being used to suck up all the fiberglass. Don't need to be blowing more at me. I already made the mistake of adding my dirty clothes to the laundry pile, so I am going to remove them and wash them separately along with other clothes that they are touching. I do like the disposable clothes idea! I might just go to the local thrift shop and get some!

its not that you cant , its just the fact that the compressed air blower seems to concentrate on areas and makes the fibers imbed to the skin in spots.
having a helper dust you down with the blower vac before removing contaminated clothing has saved me a lot of scratching.

compressed air blower serves the same purpose, so go ahead and use it if that's all available to you .

 

[TripleJGraffis]

WHEN DOES THE ITCHING, PAIN AND RASH END? LOL

I am still planning on continuing/finishing the grinding this Wednesday and Thursday, but I would so much rather do it without worrying about the current issue at hand. I have an appt with a dermatologist this Wednesday. That was the soonest I could get seen after waiting a week for this to go away on it's own. It has progressed from irritation and itching, to pain and swelling with minor open sores,. I have been doing decently well with not itching and have been on steroids for over a week now. Everything seems to have subsided and I can bare all of it 98% of the time. I am happy that the worst is hopefully over, but I do think that medical intervention is going to be necessary in my case. I don't know if my skin is super sensitive to this crap or if it just dug it's way in a little too far......but all I know is that I WILL NOT deal with this again, or at least if I do, it will be after taking every possible precaution. Guess this is just one of those things to chalk up to learning from life's little mistakes. Adding photos of my arms almost 2 weeks later. They were a lot redder than this, but the steroids have just taken effect the past few days and helped a little. Hoping to get the boat interior completely grinded down by Thursday night, so I can finally start the rebuild on a more regular basis. This fiberglass nonsense is way too messy to work on when I have little ones at home. Can only do this every other Wednesday and Thursday when I for sure do not have them.