star san on skin...

[skiles3333]

Hi all-
I'm a beginning brewer and I just bought my first bottle of star san. Looking at the caution statements on the bottle, they make it seem like it's pretty nasty stuff. Is it overkill, or should you definitely wear gloves and safety glasses etc.?? Thanks!
Ben

 

[Donasay]

Once it is diluted properly, it is harmless. I have even drank the stuff to prove to my friends not to fear the foam.

I have gotten the undiluted on my hands once, I had a cut at the time and it got into the cut and hurt like bejesus, other than that it just makes the skin turn red and itch. Your hands won't fall off or anything, but definitely don't get the undiluted in your eyes.

 

[joejoe1881]

If you're just going to pour an ounce or two into some water I don't think the gloves and glasses are necessary, but if it makes you more comfortable go ahead. I'd wear gloves if I was going to touch the stock solution by hand, but Phosphoric acid is a weak acid and would just cause dryness/irritation instead of the chemical burns associated with a strong acid

 

[Revvy]

You're fine...Charlie Talley the inventor of it has even drank it, both diluted and undilute. Most of us dunk our hands in the diluted sanitizer all the time.

Listen to the basicbrewing podcast about Satsan for all the info you need to know.

http://media.libsyn.com/media/basicbrewing/bbr03-29-07.mp3

 

[NitrouStang96]

I've pretty much soaked my hands in a 1oz:1gal solution (5 times stronger than recommended) and saw no ill effects.

I think it's harmless.

 

[paranode]

It's not especially dangerous but I always rinse it off because it'll irritate my skin if I leave it for too long.

 

[Jared311]

I use StarSan and I have never had any problems with it. I have had the undiluted solution come in contact with my skin and I just wiped it off with water and it didn't leave a mark. I have also had my hands in the diluted solution for long periods at a time and still no reaction. So I wouldn't t worry too much. However, I have no idea what would happen if you somehow managed to get some undiluted solution directly in your eye. I suggest you don't try.

 

[HP_Lovecraft]

He is right that the package has some frightful warnings, but after listening to the podcast, Charlie says he has lots of government regulations, and liabilities to worry about.

I normally spray it on my hands, especialyl during bottling. The worst thing that ever happened was they seemed kinda dry.

Its a major ingredient in soda, though I still keep it away from the kids. You never know!

nick

 

[Willy Boner]

I'm thinking that stuff they have in port-a-pottys is a pretty close product of Starsan. Anyway they both kill 99.9% of nasty stuff. You wash your hands with that, don't use it for your fermenting vessel.

 

[skiles3333]

Thanks for all the input! Those answers are what I was hoping to hear- One less thing to worry about........

 

[malkore]

it'll dry out your skin a little, and if you have really sensitive skin, you might get a touch of dermatitis.

otherwise, I have drank an ounce of mixed star san solution. no ill effects. doesn't even taste that bad. I did this in the name of science...to prove the foam/residue has no impact on the finished beer flavor.

 

[Revvy]

otherwise, I have drank an ounce of mixed star san solution. no ill effects. doesn't even taste that bad. I did this in the name of science...to prove the foam/residue has no impact on the finished beer flavor.

And to this day he's never had a cold again

 

[Willy Boner]

Should cure halitosis too! Kills more than Listerine and probably tastes better!

 

[Reinheitsgebot]

just found this thread:

after bottling 110 bottles today, soaking and cleaning everything in StarSan, my hands are really dry. The skin under the strap of my watch is pretty red and swollen. But hey, the 17 six-packs of goodness are worth it.

 

[Rick500]

It dries my hands out a little, but I have sensitive skin, so no surprise there. No big deal, I just try to remember to rinse my hands off well after I use it.

 

[rico567]

Star San as it comes from the factory and Star San as it is diluted according to directions (1 oz. per 5 gal.) are two very different animals. Chlorine diluted in a swimming pool is harmless. That much concentrated chlorine could kill (and, in the trenches in WWI, it did). The concentration of solutions are among the things we must take into account as homebrewers, not only the strength of a sanitizer, but the concentration of sugars in our wort, etc.
I've gotten it on my hands and, since I employ a spray bottle, no doubt overspray on stuff, with no ill effects. My hands aren't exposed much, though, because I wear rubber gloves for most brewing operations short of bottling.

 

[EvilTOJ]

Why do you wear rubber gloves? Not that it's bad, it just seems like overkill to me, so I'm curious as to why.

 

[rickfrothingham]

its harmless as long as you don't leave it on your skin too long - I was sanitizing a hundred or so bottles last week while bottling a batch, and was dunking each one in hot starsan solution, swirling and pouring out back into the bucket of starsan, then bottling (it took a good hour or so). For the next couple days the skin on my hands was really dried out and peeling, despite me using a lot of lotion. StarSan preparations are just diluted acid; so its not going to hurt you, but it could rough up your skin if you're immersed in it a while.

 

[Bobby_M]

Yup, an extended exposure is rough on the skin. If you ever put a dirty piece of copper in starsan for an hour, you'll know why you don't want your hands in there too long.

 

[boneshb]

It dries my hands out, thats about it.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

I won't take any prescription pills that don't claim to fook me up if I mix them with alcohol. I figure that they are probably not really doing anything.

Based on that mentality, I would not use a sanitizer that does not claim to blind you and make you crap your pants if you squirt it undiluted directly into your eyeballs.

Maybe it's just me.........

 

[rickfrothingham]

It dries my hands out, thats about it.

yup, exactly... next time i'll know and be sure to use lotion right afterwards

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

yup, exactly... next time i'll know and be sure to use lotion right afterwards

nope, you want to use the lotion before you start.


Hold on, are we talking about the same thing?

 

[Sawdustguy]

I would wear glasses though. It doesn't take much of an acid to fark up your eyes. Citric acid in the right concentration can blind you. I don't know if I would take a chance with my eyes.

 

[rickfrothingham]

wait, why before you sta-

ohhh, i see what you did there.

 

[Doog_Si_Reeb]

I've never had it hurt my skin, diluted or undiluted.

However, I set the bottle on our laminate style counter tops in our old house. There was some undiluted StarSan on the side of the bottle that flowed down to the counter. It etched a subtle "C" in the counter, basically taking off the top coating. SWMBO was not impressed once we figured out where that weird mark on the counter came from...