Star san and gloves

So I just switched to sanitizing with Star San and the label scares me to death. Do you really need to wear gloves to use it?

As long as you mix it properly you'll be fine. I have never even considered using gloves while handling Star San.

When it is diluted properly you can get it on your hands without any issues at all. I even spray my hands and arms to "sanitize" myself sometimes. When it is undiluted, it is likely more harmful to your skin, so if you choose you can wear gloves when you handle the undiluted liquid (I don't)...

I don't wear gloves either. No extra arms or appendages to speak of yet!

No worries with a diluted solution. Oxyclean and PBW irritate my skin more than a Star San solution. Don't make a habit of getting the undiluted stuff on your skin and you'll be fine.

i have had a mouthfull of properly diluted Starsan, don't ask why, it seemed like the right thing to do at the time.

I don't worry about using gloves with StarSan, and as others have mentioned, will spritz/soak my hands in it when handling delicate stuff.

I do use gloves however for PBW - that stuff just RUINS my hands. They get all cracked and dry. Not pleasant. Blichmann gloves work great if you are in the market.

Sta San hasn't caused any irritation for me but my hands do get really dried out if I have a lot of contact with it.

Star san is an acid; it's about as acidic as lemon juice (the fresh stuff, not the bottled stuff. Around 2.5Ph), which is to say, it's very acidic. It'll eat it's way through clothing with prolonged exposure, the same as lemon juice will

Wear gloves if you have sensitivities; otherwise for most people the worst that'll happen is it'll dry your hands out, but no harm from occasional exposure

You read the label?!?!

I read the recommended mix ratio and called it good.
I've used tons of the stuff and never had the slightest skin irritation. I think the warnings labels today are written by the lawyer who are afraid of stupid lawsuits.

45_70sharps said:

You read the label?!?!

...I think the warnings labels today are written by the lawyer who are afraid of stupid lawsuits...

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from people like me who used it to give myself a sponge bath when the hot water heater broke in my old house a few years ago. It worked great!

No rinse? Sanitizing? That's basically like taking a bath!

When you mix up a batch just do it near a sink. If you get any undiluted Starsan on your skin or any spills down the side of the container, just rinse it off.

bosco

45_70sharps said:

you read the label?!?!

I read the recommended mix ratio and called it good.
I've used tons of the stuff and never had the slightest skin irritation. I think the warnings labels today are written by the lawyer who are afraid of stupid lawsuits.

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+1

They wrote that label for people like me.
Even when mixed correctly, it causes severe burns and blisters on my skin, but I appear to be exceptionally sensitive to it. As the previous posts have shown, it doesn't cause problems for normal people.

-a.

Wow! I couldn't have imagined it being able to cause blisters! !

I wipe any concentrate dribbles off with my finger.

Humans are strange. What is nothing to most can be an irritant to another.

ajf said:

They wrote that label for people like me.
Even when mixed correctly, it causes severe burns and blisters on my skin, but I appear to be exceptionally sensitive to it. As the previous posts have shown, it doesn't cause problems for normal people.

-a.

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Damn, that sucks. On brewdays, I'm pretty much elbow deep in my bucket full of Star San fishing for air lock parts. If I was that sensitive to Star San, I'd probably switch to Iodophor...

I actually just rinsed my hands off with a Star San solution just before I read this thread. They were sticky from handling my BIAB grain bag.
I have never had an issue with Star San on my skin. I have heard that some people may be more sensitive to it so be ready to rinse your hands real quick until you find out if you have any issues.

I hate to be out of sync with most of these responses, but I do use gloves. Starsan tends to get into any nicks, cuts, or hangnails and worsens them, makes them sore for several days after. They don't heal as well. I did not notice it at first because it doesn't hurt at all when you're using it. My 2 cents.

IffyG said:

Damn, that sucks. On brewdays, I'm pretty much elbow deep in my bucket full of Star San fishing for air lock parts. If I was that sensitive to Star San, I'd probably switch to Iodophor...

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I did switch to Iodophor. Only problem is, I have to order it from out of State because the LHBS isn't allowed to sell it..

-a.

Found the MSDS for it if anyone cares to read it. It'll tell you anything you need to know.

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/media/downloads/310/Star San MSDS Sheet.pdf

dbrewski said:

I hate to be out of sync with most of these responses, but I do use gloves. Starsan tends to get into any nicks, cuts, or hangnails and worsens them, makes them sore for several days after. They don't heal as well. I did not notice it at first because it doesn't hurt at all when you're using it. My 2 cents.

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Your not the only one. I have irritated dry skin for 2-3 days after fishing bottles out of a bucket of starsan when I bottle. I should start wearing gloves.

ajf said:

I did switch to Iodophor. Only problem is, I have to order it from out of State because the LHBS isn't allowed to sell it..

-a.

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Wait,what? Did that stuff get recategorized into Schedule I in New York or something???

chitowngator said:

Your not the only one. I have irritated dry skin for 2-3 days after fishing bottles out of a bucket of starsan when I bottle. I should start wearing gloves.

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they sell these blue rubber-ish gloves at home depot for $5.99. They are perfect, they have a lining too so I don't get sweaty and handling hot stuff is a breeze. They are not real long and eventually I'll get water in them if I'm not careful cause they don't dry out real good after that. If they start to smell, I ditch them and get a new pair. Those Blichmann gloves make my hands smell like rubberized crap, even after I turned them inside out and scrubbed them. My family would complain about the smell when I got into the car with them after wearing those! Plus these gloves are much thicker than the Blichmann. And now back to your regularly scheduled thread!

I spray star san in my hands or just rub the foam that i get from my vinator when bottling. Didn´t have problems with it, your hands can get a little dry if you are concerned about that just put some neutrogena cream in yor hands after your brew/bottling day

When bottling, I hold bottles in a big bucket of it to sink them, then draw them out, all bare handed. So, I get water logged with the stuff before I'm done sanitizing. No issues for me, but if I have an open scratch on my hand, it can burn just a little sometimes.

Oh, in case you are wondering, I normally bottle while completely sober.

what are you people doing that you need to spray down your hands in Star-san? I can understand if you are fishing around in a bucket for sanitized air-locks and what not....but intentionally applying it to yourself?? There isn't a step in my process where I need to sanitize my hands, nor would I assume at any point my hands are sanitized after applying Star-san.

Then there is a guy taking a sponge batch with it...seriously?

broadbill said:

what are you people doing that you need to spray down your hands in Star-san? I can understand if you are fishing around in a bucket for sanitized air-locks and what not....but intentionally applying it to yourself?? There isn't a step in my process where I need to sanitize my hands, nor would I assume at any point my hands are sanitized after applying Star-san.

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I could see doing this to handle 'splash' effects or to keep the barrier on your stirer higher. I was doing a kit wine yesterday and while stiring to mix it, some of the must splashed up and hit my hands, then the drops would come off. Enough to infect the must? probably not, but why chance it. Oh I use idaphor, and did spray my hands, but the reasoning is the same.

ajf said:

I did switch to Iodophor. Only problem is, I have to order it from out of State because the LHBS isn't allowed to sell it..

-a.

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I was going to suggest you look at a feed store for Iodine sanatizers. I hear that they sell it under a different label for sanatizing animals before milking, but since you are on long island, I'm not sure they have any cows or goats out there needing milking. Also maybe a restraunt supply. Allthough I guess it also depends on how much you've bought and how fast you use it. I just went ahead and bought a 32 oz container of Idaphor, knowing I'd use it (I haven't used more than probably 4 oz yet).

I wear gloves if I'm going to have extended contact with more than an incidental amount of sanitizer (I've been using Sani-Clean so far). There was a few day period a while back when I was doing a lot of messing with sanitizer, and by the end my hands were clearly irritated. It was similar to cold-chapped skin, not a severe injury, but uncomfortable.

So, if I'm just going to pop the lid on a fermenter and have a bit of contact with spritzed saniclean, I don't bother with gloves. If I'm bottling or something where I'm both going to have my hands near places I want to keep sanitized and be working with a lot of sanitizer, I throw on a pair of latex gloves. I also dip my gloved hands in the sanitizer in these cases. It's not necessary, as I try not to touch surfaces I want to keep clean, but it's a little insurance against mistakes.

With PBW, I wear gloves and have been considering wearing a dust mask and goggles when mixing it up. I kicked up a little puff of dust a few weeks back and got a whiff of it. That wasn't pleasant, and I've come closer than I like to splashing it in my face. I don't know whether it's harmful enough to REALLY worry, but I'm not very interested in finding out.