Thursday, January 11, 2007

Wash your hands!

If you've painted with oils before, you know that getting that paint off of your hands can be a pain. I've tried a lot of different things. The abrasive hand cleaners like Fast Orange/Gojo work well, but if you wash with it everyday, you'll probably wear several layers of skin off in the process (trust me, I've been there.) Special artist's soaps are usually more expensive then they're worth.
Anyway, I've found that the best way to get oil paint off of your hands (or things like motor oil or grease) is by washing your hands with baby oil. The baby oil (which is just scented mineral oil) dilutes the quicker drying oils of the paint and keeps it from staying in the little cracks and crevices of your skin. It also helps wash away paint thinner from your skin. What's also good about baby oil is that it's relatively safe to use (mineral oil can be swallowed as a laxative, if you so desire, though I prefer to use it on my hands) and also inexpensive.

The nice thing about using mineral oil to clean other hard to wash oils from your skin is that it can be easily washed away with dish soap or liquid hand soaps. So, basically, you pour the baby oil on your hands, rub them together until the paint is removed from your skin, and then wash the remaining baby oil from your hands with soap.


 

2 Comments:

At 6:58 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

I have just started playing with oils again for small studies in the field. Thank you for the tip I will try it. If you have kids you may have it around teh house already!

 
At 6:05 AM, Blogger ArtloverLMD said...

Very good tip. Thanks! I usually just use dishing washing soap but it really dries my hands out. I think the baby oil will make a huge difference. :)

 

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