Question / stories: How bad is an oxalic burn, for real

[Beverlx]

Hey, rusty guys: got a question for you. How bad can oxalic get you, like if it's strong and hot and you're a dumb-*** and you stick your whole little arm in there for one second or five seconds or who knows how stupid you might be?

What are we talking? Red irritation? Blisters? Low-level burns? Or, as Harry Crews once wrote,

“I reached over and touched my right hand with my left, and the whole thing came off like a wet glove. I mean, the skin on the top of the wrist and the back of my hand, along with the fingernails, all just turned loose and slid on down to the ground.”

Any stories? I remember somebody in Michigan baking their hand because they were down in a tub of hot acid with a hole in their glove, but I don't remember the details. How bad is it gonna be?

[waste-man]

I worked at a hazardous waste collection site for 5 years and have had waste collection experience for nearly 30 years. And I still don't know enough.....but acids are some of the worst chemicals we would deal with and oxalic is pretty nasty. I would be careful handling it. Especially because it is not designed to be used for cleaning rust off cans. I would handle it pretty regularly at that job and in the powder stage with gloves it was pretty safe....but acid in liquid form is quite nasty. Just the fumes are dangerous. Look on line for a MSDS and read the warnings. Should scare the shat out of you. This all being said I have used it often to clean rusty cans and it works great. Just use good protection. Equipment and be careful.

[pinnacle-project]

@Beverlx

Was this a proactive question or did something bad happen?

[Beverlx]

Nothing bad happened yet. I figured this would be the place to ask.

[henry porter]

Here's the SDS:

https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/US/en/sds/ ... -8BO0M9GJk

This is what the CDC has to say about it:

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/81-123/p ... SHPUB81123

[Ziphippie]

-5lbs ships in an plastic-lined envelope from Florida! Two times now. I was thinking a little leakage and some rain….jeez. Ziphippie

[iggyks]

Man, I was alway having a leaky glove or deciding I could reach in barehanded for long enough to check that one can I had high hopes for. And usually in my basement too. Maybe I didn’t mix as strong or hot as everyone else but i think I got my formula off the RB website. Just left a not so great odor on my skin.

[iggyks]

Definitely better than playing “crack the whip” and being flung into a hog-boiling cauldron like Harry Crews!

[Scott]

If your skin comes into contact with oxalic acid - either dry or in solution, it won't hurt, cause burns or irritate the skin. That said, it's nasty stuff that you don't want to absorb into your body. Wear rubber gloves and use it in a well ventilated area. If you happen to get some on you, wash it off right away but don't panic, you will be fine. Any significant problems will occur from repeated long term exposure versus occasional brief contact.

[waste-man]

Scott, I agree with what you said you should always wear gloves when handling oxalic. (Safety glasses too). If you have a cut or a break in your skin the acid enters your body. You don't want that. Better safe than sorry....this is coming from a guy that has worked with all kinds of acids

[Ed Johnson]

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/29/book ... emoir.html

[renokenn]

You could always keep some baking soda laying around for those special moments

[menke]

I get the rusty yellow fingernails for a couple days. It'll sting in a hangnail. Dishwashing gloves work fine. Oxalic powder isn't one of those concentrated chemicals that kill... oxalic is poison, but a low-level one. I had a bio prof tell me you'd have to eat 13 entire rhubarb pies in one sitting to poison yourself. Not like a fentanyl pie, which would kill you from across the room without taking a bite.

But like above, repeated and heavy use is another thing. I've soaked maybe 100 cans in the last 15 years. Was it Premium Bill who blamed oxalic for vocal chord cysts?

Soak cans outdoors or with a fan blowing out of your garage. If you're using real hot water, you might consider an organic vapor respirator. HD has them for about $30. I used them for years working in breweries with 95% pure sodium hydroxide (which will burn the shiite out of you) and I think it was 20% phosphoric. You don't ever get your head over top a container of those things. You hydrate VERY carefully, caustic like that releases so much heat it boils the cold water added to it. I used to call them caustic stingers when you'd get a droplet of sodium hydroxide splashed on your leg. Because a few minutes later you'd have this warm feeling on your leg and there'd be blood coming out of the literal hole it burned through your skin. Goggles, respirator, elbow length gloves, caution...

[waste-man]

I remember going on a suicide call when I was a emt and the guy swallowed a chemical from a plastic jug with the label taken off. We figured it was a strong acid because the tube we stuck down his throat for an airway melted. Luckily no one tried mouth to mouth. Heard through the grapevine the autopsy was interesting. Burned his insides good. Remember children.....acids bad

[iggyks]

Hey Bill, I finished the Crews biography Blood, Bone and Marrow... if you haven't read it i can send it your way. Spends quite a bit of time on his teaching days.

[jimw630]

Man, I was alway having a leaky glove or deciding I could reach in barehanded for long enough to check that one can I had high hopes for. And usually in my basement too. Maybe I didn’t mix as strong or hot as everyone else but i think I got my formula off the RB website. Just left a not so great odor on my skin.

Same results for me as a kid...though now I wear gloves and make sure it's well ventilated outside

[Joe Older]

Man, I was alway having a leaky glove or deciding I could reach in barehanded for long enough to check that one can I had high hopes for. And usually in my basement too. Maybe I didn’t mix as strong or hot as everyone else but i think I got my formula off the RB website. Just left a not so great odor on my skin.

Same results for me as a kid...though now I wear gloves and make sure it's well ventilated outside

I had similar experiences with oxalic as a kid. My Dad worked at a chemical plant and would bring me large bags of it whenever I wanted some. I'm sure he warned me about using it but did I listen? I trashed the counter tops in the bathroom as I slopped it all over the place. Boy was my Mom pissed about that! Never wore gloves and still have a scar on my pinky finger from where I had a tiny cut but still kept sticking my bare hands in the acid to check on cans. It sure did sting but I kept doing it! Yea, not the brightest bulb....

[dpaley1500]

Take proper precautions such as using gloves and diluting the acid with appropriate amounts of water. Like all acids keep any open cuts, scratches and wounds from exposure.

[Candog]

Use Citric Acid instead. Cheaper, cleans better although it does take a little longer. No Fumes, No poison, no yellow finger nails. Easily poured down your drain, will not kill Septic tank bacteria, safe for kids.

Just a thought.

[pinnacle-project]

For those of you using oxalic, how do you dispose of it when you are done? Are you putting baking soda in it first?

[Conehead]

For those of you using oxalic, how do you dispose of it when you are done? Are you putting baking soda in it first?

Yes, I always have a baking soda bath to soak my cans in after oxalic. Then when I'm finished cleaning cans I mix the oxalic with the baking soda and just pour it in the lawn. Never had any problems and doesn't affect the grass at all.

I personally have used both citric and oxalic. Both will do the job, but I think citric is far more aggressive than oxalic and is much easier to ruin cans, especially for inexperienced users. Plenty of threads that talk about the pluses and minuses of both if you want to check into it more.

Yes, Oxalic acid is a poison so treat it with respect.

In my garage you will also find gasoline, lacquer thinner, ammonia, bleach, acetone, mineral spirits, etc., etc. I never quite understand the big concern about using oxalic.

[Scott]

For those of you using oxalic, how do you dispose of it when you are done? Are you putting baking soda in it first?

When she is not looking, I pour it on my neighbor's ivy that's always trying to invade my yard. The acid seems to stunt it a little.