How do you remove a beeswax finish?

Re the posting from Saskatoon, while I think it is perfectly fine and sensible to provide the warning re the toxicities of such substances, that being the purpose of a MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) to provide the user or receiver of chemical substances with such information, in truth no one seriously is likely to ingest such materials, or be exposed to them over a long and consistent time frame.

Therefore in practical terms it is wise to apply a degree of common sense and appropriate precautions with what ever substance one applies to a surface to remove an old finish, be it Vodka :D, Metho :2tsup:, paint stripper or whatever.

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Originally Posted by soundman

seriously almost all solvents and finish products we use will have similar or related effects to those listed in the post above...when in similar exposures..

Almost all will be absorbed thru the skin.

White spirits and turps ( mineral spirits)......are among the safer and least toxic solvents we use...and very much safer than " natural turps".

cheers

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It may well be that mineral spirits is less toxic than "natural turps" however I get a headache when a can of mineral spirits is opened but not when gum turps is opened. I have a similar reaction to many petrol based solvents and oils. I'll stick with gum turps and continue using resperator and gloves.

ron

yeh well here is the problem.

Many people are sensitive to various chemicals, and experience greater short term effects than others.

There are also people who seem to be resistant or feel little or no short term effects from certain chemicals.

BUT we can not depend on our sense of smell or our reaction to chemicals as an indicator of their toxisity.

There are many chemicals, that may have very little indication by the way of short term effects of their long term toxisity.

The effects of these sneaky chemicals occur regardless of how safe you percieve them.

A great many of our most toxic substances present little or no short term indicators of their long term effects.

There is no point using a more dangerous chemical and then applying personal protective equipment.

If you are relyng on PPE, the protective equipment should be in place prior to opening the container....

This PPE you are relying upon, are you sure it is capable of dealing with the toxins in question, and how do you assess you PPE for continued effectiveness.

many organic solvent cartridges will remove the components that produce the short term effects (simple hydrocarbons), ( masking the danger) but allow the sneaky nasty stuff to pass.
Also if the cartridge is past its effective life, it may be allowing past the chemicals it is designed to stop..and you will have no clue...

As for gloves....even the best nitrile gloves will not hold out solvents indefinitely...or in immersion for for very long at all.


White spirit and turps.......I would call.....honest chemicals......their short term effects reflect their toxisity.

Gum turpentine...is one of those chemicals where the long term dangers......are possibly not reflected in their short term effects.

I will go back to a regular assertion heard here about.....there is no good reason to use gum terpentine, it is documented as having far greater health effect than mineral replacements which work every bit as well...in some cases better.

cheers

Ubeaut and Soundman make perfect sense. My post was meant to suggest that reactions to solvents will vary between people. Years ago (pre-OHSW?) my brother had to give up a good job in screen-printing because he became sensitised to one or more solvents.

Cheers