Anyone have starsan mess with their skin pretty bad?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Tiako

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2009
Messages
218
Reaction score
0
Everytime I use it the stuff dries out my hands but this time my skin is peeling a bit from it. I hit up the lotion as soon as I started to notice but last time I got bleach on my hands all my skin peeled.
 
Everytime I use it the stuff dries out my hands but this time my skin is peeling a bit from it. I hit up the lotion as soon as I started to notice but last time I got bleach on my hands all my skin peeled.

Sounds odd. I think your body doesn't agree with starsan. My skin is never even the slightest bit irritated by starsan, either concentrate or as aqueous solution. It will sting in a cut, though.
 
Yes... it is very acidic. I had the same issue when I was dunking and holding bottles in a starsan bath. Now I use a Vinator Bottle Rinser and this has really helped.

Also - I now use a stick to push empty bottles into the hot bath of PBW for soaking... that was also attacking my skin.
 
I dont bathe in it but I didn't think many people use gloves while using it.
 
You may have an increased sensitivity to it.

I don't make a habit of handling the solution bare handedin that I use a spritzer for most every application. However, I did once spritz my arm down to plunk into a stuck tun, and it did tingle excessively.

What's more, I know several people who can't even expose their hands to concentrated dish soap.
 
I generally have pretty dry hands after brewday, which could be from the Star-San in part, but I attribute part of it to my hands being wet then dry then wet then dry for the the length of my brewday. My hands aren't all that sensitive, so I never bother with gloves.
 
I generally have pretty dry hands after brewday, which could be from the Star-San in part, but I attribute part of it to my hands being wet then dry then wet then dry for the the length of my brewday. My hands aren't all that sensitive, so I never bother with gloves.

+1 My hands are dry after the brew day but that's about it. Are you diluting it to the proper ratio?
 
Star San doesn't dry out or otherwise irritate my skin, but Oxyclean does. I spray my hands and arms with Star San regularly as an extra precaution when transferring the wort and pitching the yeast and have never noticed any skin reaction or drying effect. I now wear gloves when using Oxyclean, PBW or similar cleaners. Gloves have the added benefit of providing a better grip on glass carboys.
 
I had a problem with the area under my wedding ring getting messed up when brewing. I've since stopped wearing it while brewing and things are good again.

She didn't find "I must be allergic to marriage" all that funny.
 
I get dry skin from the Oxi and Starsan, although I would be hard pressed to cite starsan as the main culprit. That's from an hour of dunking bottles in both.

On brew day, I often spray my hands with it to keep them sanitized. Doesn't seem to be a problem then.
 
It doesn't seem to bother my skin. I spray everything including my hands as a precaution. I have never drank it straight, but I did spray it in a glass of beer with no ill effects. Of course, I also held the dog's shock collar and walked through the fence to show the wife "It's not that bad" (Damn glad I didn't have it around my neck!).
 
Star San really messes my hands up when I bottle. I guess its the length of time that they are in there from dunking 50 bottles but it drys my hands out something fierce! They peel for days and no amount of lotion seems to help. I should probably wear gloves when I do this but, alas, I am a very lazy person.
 
You may have an increased sensitivity to it.

This definitely applies to me. I have open sores (more like a bunch of paper cuts) all over my fingers. Mainly they are on my index and middle fingers on both hands. Presumably because that is where I hold things after soaking in star san.

Its very annoying and painful, they never fully go away. Ive tried using gloves but they are not always handy, clean, or convenient.
 
This definitely applies to me. I have open sores (more like a bunch of paper cuts) all over my fingers. Mainly they are on my index and middle fingers on both hands. Presumably because that is where I hold things after soaking in star san.

Its very annoying and painful, they never fully go away. Ive tried using gloves but they are not always handy, clean, or convenient.

My mom taught me a cool trick to help heal rough and crack skin on your hands. Get some cheap cotton gloves. Slather your hands with lots of vaseline and put the gloves on at bedtime. Repeat each evening until your hands heal. You can also use a ton of hand lotion in lieu of the vaseline. Wear rubber, latex or similar gloves when using cleaners or sanitizers to avoid a recurrence.
 
Jon Herskovits of five star was on brew strong and IIRC he did say that he drank a glass of it. I have never had a problem with properly mixed starsan on my skin, and regarding the warning on the label, I'm very careful not to get any of the undiluted starsan on my skin.
 
This definitely applies to me. I have open sores (more like a bunch of paper cuts) all over my fingers. Mainly they are on my index and middle fingers on both hands. Presumably because that is where I hold things after soaking in star san.

Its very annoying and painful, they never fully go away. Ive tried using gloves but they are not always handy, clean, or convenient.

If you are having that severe a reaction you should not be exposing your skin to it. You can pick up a box of disposable latex gloves fairly cheap.
Amazon.com: Industrial Food Service Grade Disposable Latex Gloves: Apparel
Or switch to a different sanitizer.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Did you do this sober?

Yes, and actually I did it twice. Had two dogs in a "Radio" fence, one wanted no part of getting near the fence. The other would walk through it like it wasn't even there. I took the "bad" receiver and held it in my hand and there was barely a tingle. Thought, hmmm, not sure how "hot" it's suppose to be, so I tried the other collar. Didn't realize the wife was standing behind me until I heard her say "Like rubbing your feet on carpet, huh" as I threw the collar about 30 feet in the air when it "got" me. I still won't get near the property line.
 
There was a blue antibacterial bar soap that made my hands peel once... kinda freaked me out, it felt weird and dry, looked like the little hairs that those polymer coated bass guitar strings develop over time. Never used it again.

I got a droplet of starsan in my eye last brewday, didn't even burn that much. Of course I had had a few bottles of apfelwein...
 
Star-san doesn't bother my skin, but I have pretty good skin, never dry or cracked etc so you are probably just sensitive to it. I have drank a bit, tangy but not too bad :)
 
I have drank a bit, tangy but not too bad :)

See now this is classic mis-use of a product, and people wonder how they get sick.

You shouldn't drink even diluted Starsan straight! Everyone knows you're supposed to mix the Starsan in a shaker with ice and vodka at a 1:4 starsan/vodka ratio before you drink it. I find a couple Picholine olives as garnish are nice as well. :ban:
 
I am currently suffering from a very painful rash on my hands that I have actually been seeing a doctor over. Based on timing we have come to the conclusion that starsan/oxyclean either singly or in combination is causing it.

Today was the first time I worked with those chemicals with gloves on.

The doctor also suggested (like someone else mentioned) that I use deli gloves on top of the medicated creams I have for sleeping for a while. I have not done this yet.
 
I never had any problems with it, and I'm not in the least careful with it...I spill/splash it everywhere lol. Sometimes it seems I practically bathe myself, the kitchen, and the patio with it when I brew.
 
Starsan dries out my hands pretty bad too. Then again, my hands are always dried out, cracking, etc.
 
Back
Top