Originally Posted by
Lancelot37
When I started my apprenticeship we had no gloves, in 1953. We plunged our hands into used engine oil, and new oil. We ran mercury through our fingers even when we had cuts in the skin as we didn't know the risks.
We breathed in PVC fumes. Wow, we must have been tough! Or daft!
Getting home after work I washed my hands in neat Domestos (bleach) mixed with washing machine powder to get the ingrained dirt out, before I went out courting. It was difficult as the fumes were overpowering. Severe cuts in the skin healed very quickly and I put that down to the bleach. Didn't medics use bleach and water to treat severe burns in the Korean war?
I bet you rode a bicycle without a helmet and when you went for a drive in the familey car, you stood on the front seat, right between your mother and father. How did we ever live to get as old as were are.
I remember washing my hands with MEK everyday before leaving the shop. Dried them out a little and turn them white but left no lasting effects. It was the only thing that would remove the sealant and grease. How, its been banned, I guess because it worked.