Citrus Degreaser in the Eye

Dear friends:

A word to the wise -- do not get citrus degreaser in your eye. I accidentally flicked a tiny bit
into my eye while scrubbing the drive train with a toothbrush. How it got up and under my glasses, I
don't know, but it did.

I flushed the eye for a short bit, then looked at the can of degreaser. 15 minutes of flushing, they
said, so I did about ten minutes more. Then I called Poison Control. They had me flush for another
10 minutes, this time with warm salt water. A thrill.

Then I patched the eye up with gauze, and rested it with cold compresses for about an hour. Called
Poison Control back, and described the level of remaining irritation. Now I've patched it back up
again, and am told not to use the eye for another hour. Then me and the nurse at Poison Control get
to decide if I am going to the emergency room. My fellow Americans know how wonderful it is to go to
emergency in the evening if you are not in imminent danger of dying. If I go, I'll be lucky to be
home by midnight.

So, just don't do this, okay? I think that I'm going to recover, because it was only a tiny flick,
and I did a heck of a lot of irrigation of the eye, but so far it has not been a great deal of fun.

Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky

"Where are we going?" "And why are we in this handbasket?"

-- from a bumper sticker

 

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] (Claire
Petersky) wrote:

> Dear friends:
>
> A word to the wise -- do not get citrus degreaser in your eye. I accidentally flicked a tiny bit
> into my eye while scrubbing the drive train with a toothbrush. How it got up and under my glasses,
> I don't know, but it did.
>
> I flushed the eye for a short bit, then looked at the can of degreaser. 15 minutes of flushing,
> they said, so I did about ten minutes more. Then I called Poison Control. They had me flush for
> another 10 minutes, this time with warm salt water. A thrill.
>
> Then I patched the eye up with gauze, and rested it with cold compresses for about an hour. Called
> Poison Control back, and described the level of remaining irritation. Now I've patched it back up
> again, and am told not to use the eye for another hour. Then me and the nurse at Poison Control
> get to decide if I am going to the emergency room. My fellow Americans know how wonderful it is to
> go to emergency in the evening if you are not in imminent danger of dying. If I go, I'll be lucky
> to be home by midnight.
>
> So, just don't do this, okay? I think that I'm going to recover, because it was only a tiny
> flick, and I did a heck of a lot of irrigation of the eye, but so far it has not been a great
> deal of fun.
>
> Warm Regards,
>
> Claire Petersky
>

Claire,

You gotta keep an eye out for that stuff. Hope it gets better,

Scott

 

"Claire Petersky" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Dear friends:
>
> A word to the wise -- do not get citrus degreaser in your eye. I

<<snip..>

> Warm Regards,
>
> Claire Petersky
>
> "Where are we going?" "And why are we in this handbasket?"
>
> -- from a bumper sticker

Another little tidbit worth noting...don't ever get WD-40 in your ear....an experience you won't
soon forget!!

Cheers,

Scott..

 

Here's another: After you've diced some habenero peppers, don't scratch your private parts!

"S. Anderson" wrote:

> "Claire Petersky" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Dear friends:
> >
> > A word to the wise -- do not get citrus degreaser in your eye. I
>
> <<snip..>
>
> > Warm Regards,
> >
> > Claire Petersky
> >
> > "Where are we going?" "And why are we in this handbasket?"
> >
> > -- from a bumper sticker
>
> Another little tidbit worth noting...don't ever get WD-40 in your ear....an experience you won't
> soon forget!!
>
> Cheers,
>
> Scott..

 

On a related note; one day a co-worker of mine arrived home after work to find his wife preparing
some kind of Hungarian pepper-type food. Since the kids were not at home, he convinced his wife to
go upstairs with him for some 'fun'. After about 30 seconds of foreplay, he raced to the bathroom
and spent the next hour soaking his privates in a sink filled with cold water. it seems that his
wife forgot to wash her hands . . . .

On Tue, 25 Mar 2003 02:40:47 GMT, Gary Smiley <[email protected]> wrote:

>Here's another: After you've diced some habenero peppers, don't scratch your private parts!
>
>"S. Anderson" wrote:
>
>> "Claire Petersky" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>> > Dear friends:
>> >
>> > A word to the wise -- do not get citrus degreaser in your eye. I
>>
>> <<snip..>
>>
>> > Warm Regards,
>> >
>> > Claire Petersky
>> >
>> > "Where are we going?" "And why are we in this handbasket?"
>> >
>> > -- from a bumper sticker
>>
>> Another little tidbit worth noting...don't ever get WD-40 in your ear....an experience you won't
>> soon forget!!
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Scott..

 

Gary Smiley wrote:

> Here's another: After you've diced some habenero peppers, don't scratch your private parts!

You're cooking and scratching your private parts at the same time?

Somehow I think you're going to have trouble inviting anyone to dinner after reading this...

--
Linux Registered User # 302622 <http://counter.li.org

 

"Gary Smiley" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> Here's another: After you've diced some habenero peppers, don't scratch
your
> private parts!

After you've scratched some habanero peppers, don't dice your private parts! Mark Lee

 

"Claire Petersky" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Dear friends:
>
> A word to the wise -- do not get citrus degreaser in your eye. I accidentally flicked a tiny bit
> into my eye while scrubbing the drive train with a toothbrush. How it got up and under my
> glasses, I don't

I cant believe it was that bad. When I was a kid, we used to siphon gasoline daily, often getting a
mouth full of gas. We used to fix deep cuts with superglue too, because it bonds skin instantly. I
bet the poison center would say to flush the mouth for 15 minutes after that too.

 

In rec.bicycles.misc Scott wrote:
: When I was a kid, we used to siphon gasoline daily, often getting a mouth full of gas.

there has to be a story there.

: We used to fix deep cuts with superglue too, because it bonds skin instantly.

you were a pretty smart kid.

http://www.lubbockonline.com/news/052197/medical.htm
--
david reuteler [email protected]

 

"S. Anderson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
>
[snip Claire's bit]
>
> Another little tidbit worth noting...don't ever get WD-40 in your ear....an experience you won't
> soon forget!!
>
> Cheers,
>
> Scott..

I've got to ask... how? How did you get WD40 in your *ear*?

Vic.

 

Claire Petersky <[email protected]>:
>A word to the wise -- do not get citrus degreaser in your eye. I accidentally flicked a tiny bit
>into my eye while scrubbing the drive train with a toothbrush. How it got up and under my glasses,
>I don't know, but it did.
[...]
>
>So, just don't do this, okay? I think that I'm going to recover, because it was only a tiny flick,
>and I did a heck of a lot of irrigation of the eye, but so far it has not been a great deal of fun.

Ouch! It sounds like no fun at all. I hope there's no permanent damage.

All this reinforces my own decision of a few years ago to use plain old water and plain old
dishwashing detergent to clean bicycle parts.

To clean my chain, I put a mix of about one part detergent to three of water in a fancy on-the-bike
chain cleaner; run one good pass; then run several with just water, rinsing out and refilling the
cleaning machine each time, until the chain is more or less free of suds. (With a rag handy to wipe
up the suds that go everywhere.) Quick wipe with a rag if there's a lot of water left on the chain;
let dry overnight; apply fresh oil (or whatever you prefer) and go. If I'm in a hurry I use WD-40 to
push the water out, and let that dry for an hour or so before applying real lubricant.

To clean other parts, I use a somewhat weaker detergent-and- water mix with conventional brush and
rag and sponge (except that I don't have to worry that my solvent will dissolve the sponge). If
something is caked with hard muck, I soak it overnight in soapy water.

All this sound scary--isn't water the enemy? Won't my bike crumble instantly into rust? But it's
water, not hydrochloric acid; being caught in the rain doesn't make my bike crumble either. As
long as you don't forget and leave parts soaking all winter, and take the extra few seconds to dry
parts before reassembling them, it ought not to be a problem. And plain detergent and water are so
much more pleasant to work with than the toxic degreasers that I am willing to do a little extra
work for them.

To be fair, cleaning your chain this way is pretty messy, but the mess itself is much more pleasant
to clean up. And it's not a lot of fun getting soap in your eye either, but it's over quicker and
there's less aftermath to worry about.

I have only done this since I came to Toronto, where the humidity is moderate most of the year. I
don't know whether it would work as well in a foggier or steamier place, like northern New Jersey or
Seattle or New Orleans. It ought to work just fine in California, and I wish I had thought of it
when I lived there, simply because it would mean I'd have spent many fewer years needlessly screwing
around with much less pleasant substances.

Norman Wilson Toronto ON
--
To reply directly, expel `.edu'.

 

Norman Wilson wrote:
> All this reinforces my own decision of a few years ago to use plain old water and plain old
> dishwashing detergent to clean bicycle parts.

Detergent or dish soap? The detergent is pretty ugly stuff. Soap is ``mild to the hands'' etc. They
use it to clean birds and sink ducks.
--
Ron Hardin [email protected]

On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

 

Vic wrote:
> "S. Anderson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:<[email protected]>...
>
> [snip Claire's bit]
>
>>Another little tidbit worth noting...don't ever get WD-40 in your ear....an experience you won't
>>soon forget!!
>>
>>Cheers,
>>
>>Scott..
>
>
> I've got to ask... how? How did you get WD40 in your *ear*?

I got LPS in my ear after spraying it liberally on a frozen nut under a car, then turning on my side
to get a wrench -- DRIP! No more than annoying. I wonder what happened with WD-40?

David

 

"David Kunz" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Vic wrote:
> > "S. Anderson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> >
> > [snip Claire's bit]
> >
> >>Another little tidbit worth noting...don't ever get WD-40 in your
ear....an
> >>experience you won't soon forget!!
> >>
> >>Cheers,
> >>
> >>Scott..
> >
> >
> > I've got to ask... how? How did you get WD40 in your *ear*?
>
> I got LPS in my ear after spraying it liberally on a frozen nut under a car, then turning on my
> side to get a wrench -- DRIP! No more than annoying. I wonder what happened with WD-40?
>
> David
>

Well, it was a case of boys being boys I suppose! This was after I had put grease on someone's
saddle in the shop as a joke. In return, I got WD-40 in the ear! It felt like my eyeball was going
to explode out of my head!! The worst ear-ache I've ever experienced. It subsided after 10 mins of
rinsing, but I'll never forget that episode!!

Cheers,

Scott..

 

On Tue, 25 Mar 2003 02:40:47 GMT, Gary Smiley <[email protected]> wrote:

>Here's another: After you've diced some habenero peppers, don't scratch your private parts!
>
>"S. Anderson" wrote:
>
Habenero peppers have up to300,000 Scoville heat units. I was working on a formulation using our soy
solvents for a company that makes self defense pepper spray. They use a genetically engineerd pepper
grown in India with a Scoville rating of 2M! I was really, really careful, but some must have seeped
through the latex gloves. Immediatly after I returned from the bathroom, the burning started! It was
the afternoon from HELL!

http://wiw.org/~corey/chile/scoville.html

BTW, we are about to release a soy based degreaser that contains none of the acidic orange solvent,
D'Limonene, and out performs all the citrus degreasers I have tested.

Any solvent type product is an eye irritant, but the acid in the citrus cleaners exacerbates
the problem.

Cya

Bob Denton Gulf Stream International Delray Beach, Florida www.sinkthestink.com Manufacturers of
Sink the Stink

 

In article <[email protected]>, "Mark Lee"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> "Gary Smiley" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > Here's another: After you've diced some habenero peppers, don't scratch
> your
> > private parts!
>
> After you've scratched some habanero peppers, don't dice your private parts! Mark Lee
>
>
>

Sage advice!

Don¹t ride your Habanero for a while, either...

Spring has sprung!

HAND

--
³Freedom Is a Light for Which Many Have Died in Darkness³

- Tomb of the unknown - American Revolution

 

Ron Hardin <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Detergent or dish soap? The detergent is pretty ugly stuff. Soap is ``mild to the hands'' etc.
> They use it to clean birds and sink ducks.

The only thing worse than sink ducks are shower stall starlings.

 

Me:
>> All this reinforces my own decision of a few years ago to use plain old water and plain old
>> dishwashing detergent to clean bicycle parts.

Ron Hardin <[email protected]>:
>Detergent or dish soap? The detergent is pretty ugly stuff. Soap is ``mild to the hands'' etc. They
>use it to clean birds and sink ducks.

Possibly you have me on chemical lexicography. I had thought that the stuff that comes in bottles is
generally detergent (probably in fact suspended in water) and the stuff in solid bars is soap.

In any case what I use is the bottled stuff sold for domestic (sic) dishwashing use; in fact I
usually snitch the bottle from the kitchen. The bottle bumf for the stuff I used to clean my chain a
couple of days ago says its `powerful formula with thick, rich suds cuts through grease to leave
dishes sparkling clean while being gentle on your hands.' My chain ended up only ordinarily clean--a
very thin film of oily stuff remained when I was finished--and my hands felt untouched, but I can
testify to the thick, rich suds and it did cut through most of the grease. (Like butter?)

I use the same stuff as a cheap bulk shampoo, so I know that it stings a bit if you get it in your
eye, but it's not nearly as bad as the petroleum or citrus products seem to be. I suppose someone
who was really worried about it could use baby shampoo.

I got the idea of using soap and water from a mountain-biking friend. He uses laundry detergent. I
haven't tried that; the kitchen is handier than the laundry room to my bike-work area, and a bit of
collar-around- the-chainring doesn't bother me, so I haven't tried that.

Norman Wilson Toronto ON
--
To reply directly, expel `.edu'.

 

I may be wrong myself. Anyway you want to distinguish dish_washer_ detergent, which is awful stuff,
from dishwashing-by-hand bottles, which in the case of Ivory is just soap I think. Maybe some are
detergent too but aim at not eating into your hands.
--
Ron Hardin [email protected]

On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

 

<Scott> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...

> I bet the poison center would say to flush the mouth for 15 minutes after that too.

You may scoff at all that irrigation of the eye, but the upside of the treatment has been just some
minor irritation today and an OK from the doctor this morning.

I also really appreciate the posts about the peppers. I've been kinda blue all day, and the laughs
did me some good.

Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky ([email protected])

"Where are we going? And why are we in this handbasket?"