[Nospam]

After a few hours of tinkering around with my long-overdue MINT, I realized I hadn't eaten in 8 hours. Well, as I was washing my hands, I began to wonder just how well I was washing off the lead and flux residue (and anything else).

So just how easily does the stuff wash off with soap and water?
Does Fast Orange work well for lead?

Since I use the kitchen table for my soldering (with LOTS of newspaper), I was thinking about getting something like this to clean up after myself, but it seems like overkill.

 

[jarthel]

for cleaning pcbs, use (order of preference)

1. 99% isopropyl alcohol
2. or ethanol
3. or 70% isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) then another wash with distilled water

ps. I'm not sure if you meant cleaning up yourself of the pcb.

 

[Nospam]

Yeah, I was actually talking about cleaning my hands (and my kitchen table, for that matter).

Too tired to write clearly

 

[Uncle Erik]

That stuff you linked to is pretty expensive for what you get. A roll of paper towels and 99% isopropyl alcohol is all you really need. That's what I use, though I still wash my hands thoroughly.

I think you get most of it off by washing, however, I always worry a little about absorbing lead through skin contact. Every time I take a break (45 minutes, roughly) I wash up. Doesn't hurt. Also, be careful with ventilation. I leave a window or two open and a fan going.

 

[Nospam]

The ventilation is actually a bit of a concern. There's a window right next to the kitchen table, which is why I chose that as a work area. I also have a fan that blows the air toward the window.

The problem is, when the window is open, the air wants to circulate IN through the window

 

[peterpan188]

I have been looking for some 99% isopropyl alcohol, where can I get them?

Thanks,
Peter

 

[tomb]

Walmart sells 91% isopropyl, that's pretty good stuff and is what I use (because it's really cheap!) You may not have Walmarts where you are, but that's an indication that higher purity alcohol should be available. Between using that with a toothbrush and a bottle of compressed air to blow dry/clean, it seems to work pretty well.

Tape Head cleaner can be a good "pure" alcohol alternative, but it can be expensive (probably because it's labeled "Tape Head Cleaner" instead of alcohol). There's always the packaged "board cleaner", too - which should be available from any electronics supplier.

 

[Cryton]

I'd also suggest washing your hands with Isopropyl Alcohol. After manually cleaning PCBs at work (I don't like using our ultrasonic cleaner all the time, big hassle and I worry about the expensive/delicate parts) I usually splash some alcohol on a rag and wipe my hands thoroughly. I then wash with soap, and if needed, I go back over with alcohol to get anymore stubborn rosin off (from my nails, between fingers, etc..). Works well!

As for ventilation I'd suggest just blowing the fumes into the room in your case. Put the fan near the window blowing inwards. As long as you aren't breathing the fumes in directly all should be fine and the fumes should dissipate well into the air. We have fume extrators at work but I don't care for them. I prefer this unit I have called a "Fuminator". It's basically just a 80 or 92mm PC fan on a stand with some sponge type material. It does an OK job, not super but OK. Not as cumbersone as our other fume extractors tho (which sound like a shop vac and nearly as big too and is quite distracting when trying to work). If you wanted to get really creative you could probably fab something up with some tubing and a decent fan that would take the fumes outside or something. Good luck!

 

[mono]

Frankly, I'm suspicious of those hand wipes. I think the absorption rate of solid lead through skin (when talking about moderately low amounts as in one-off project soldering) that you'd have until washing your hands when finished, might be less than if you only wipe your hands with a wipe which will, due to the moisture, cause the lead to get into your pores where even later washing is less effective at removing it than it would've been had you never used the wipes.

One has to wonder if the exposure either way is enough to be significant though, I've been handling leaded solder for quite a few years and it hasn't effected me one bit for a few years and it hasn't effected me one bit.

 

[SiBurning]

With all this talk about alcohol or solvents to get any gunk off, don't forget plain old soap. The main thing to remember about soap is that the bubbles grab tiny particles so they can be rinsed away. Those particles would be lead, metal filings, and who knows what else.

If you need it to sound serious, there's a technical term which I forget and you can look up. I learned all about this while looking for toothpaste that didn't have so many bubbles because they make me gag. Unfortunately, there's no such toothpaste animal that actually does the job, but at least I learned that the bubbles are there for a ::gag:: good reason.

so grab that soap or detergent and scrub, scrub, scrub.