black hands from white oak?

[Harlan Barnhart]

Hi people,
I am new to posting but I look around often. I am building a set of entry doors of white oak and it is staining my hands and finger nails. Has anyone else experienced this? How long does it last? Various soaps and detergents I've tried don't touch it.

Peace,
Harlan

[Julian Nicks]

And I thought it was just me. Most of the furniture I have built for my house is white oak, and I always end up with black stains on my hands after working with it. The stains weren't that bad though, and mostly wore off after a good scrub. I am not sure, but it's probably due to the tannins in the wood that cause the staining.

[Mark Norman]

The walnut I got had my hands stained purple for a few days.

[Jim Koepke]

I wonder if this is due to personal chemistry.

It has not happened to me with oak. Has happened with black walnut husks. Those can be used with ammonia to make a black stain.

jtk

[Gary Blum]

Like Julian said, it's the tannin in the oak that causes the staining. The same thing happens if you don't lift the clamps up off of a glue joint and the iron and glue and tannin react. Leaves a nice black stain that takes more than a little sanding to remove. After working with oak all day, especially after a long scraping session, my hands are this nice purple/black color that looks like I haven't washed them in a while. I have had to explain this many times when going to an evening event. Red oak does this as well, but maybe not as bad as white oak. The good news is it does wear off. A good hair washing session seems to help quite a bit.

Kind Regards,
Gary Blum

[Ken Fitzgerald]

IIRC...someone mentioned using lemon juice to get it off.

[glenn bradley]

+1 on tannin. Doesn't do it to me but did blacken a buddy that was helping out(?)

[John Schreiber]

Mahogany does it to me. It's not dirty, it's a chemical stain. +1 on the lemon juice trick. The acid in the lemon juice reacts with the tannin and you get clean hands.

[Greg Crawford]

I'd have to agree with Jim, that it has to do with personal chemistry. I've never gotten anything like that from any oak, walnut, cherry, mahogany, etc. White oak effects my sinuses, but not my hands. I'll have to try the lemon juice after eating red pistachios.

[Richard Dooling]

Mahogony turns my finer tips purple. Heven't heard of the lemmon juice trick but I'll try it.

It has to br personal chemistry, when I had a shop, my partner never had this problem.

.

[Julian Nicks]

Personal chemistry? I would have never thought of that. Maybe that's why the mosquitos LOVE my blood, and don't bother my wife?

[george wilson]

Walnut turns mine purple,but not oak. Maybe some of us have more ammonia in our sweat? Might be a good question to ask a doctor about having ammonia in sweat.

[John Keeton]

George, walnut does it for me, as well, but not oak. Interesting comment on ammonia. Never thought about it, but each of us will have a different ph factor, and perhaps that is part of this.

[Jim Koepke]

Personal chemistry? I would have never thought of that. Maybe that's why the mosquitos LOVE my blood, and don't bother my wife?

Mosquitos can be repelled by diet. Eat more garlic and B vitamins than the others around you and the mosquitos will go to the tastier targets.


Walnut turns mine purple,but not oak. Maybe some of us have more ammonia in our sweat? Might be a good question to ask a doctor about having ammonia in sweat.

I do not know about ammonia in sweat, there have been articles on mixing household ammonia with the black walnut husks to make a stain.

jim

[harry strasil]

LOL, my sweat must be different it turns oak black where it drips or where my fingers touch it if damp.

[harry strasil]

a little off the subject but not much, in the old american indian society, the women were banished to a special teepee during there time of the month and if one of them touched a man's weapon it was destroyed. On the other hand I read somewhere where the touch of a pregnant woman will rust metal very quickly.

[John Keeton]

Since we are drifting off topic anyway, had a friend once that said wherever his wife spit, grass would never grow again! Her nickname was Black Widow - it was a very short marriage:rolleyes:

Maybe it was a chemistry thing??

[Dave Anderson NH]

Lemon juice is the answer. I keep a bottle of Real Lemon in the fridge jsut for this purpose. Warning though, those little nicks and cuts on your hands will tingle when using it.

Personally, I find that walnut, oak, mahogany, cherry, and many of the exotics like ebony I work with all cause the purple-black staining. A 20 second wash with the lemon juice before using the soap clears it up immediately. As for mosquitoes and black flies, I always keep my wife with me to use as bait. She gets bitten and I don't, Works every time.:D

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Lemon juice is the answer. I keep a bottle of Real Lemon in the fridge jsut for this purpose. Warning though, those little nicks and cuts on your hands will tingle when using it.

Personally, I find that walnut, oak, mahogany, cherry, and many of the exotics like ebony I work with all cause the purple-black staining. A 20 second wash with the lemon juice before using the soap clears it up immediately. As for mosquitoes and black flies, I always keep my wife with me to use as bait. She gets bitten and I don't, Works every time.:D

Wait 'til she reads this post and then see how long this continues!:rolleyes:

[harry strasil]

skeeters are attracted to perfume, cologne etc, I don't wear any of that cause my body chemistry makes it turn rancid and I offend people down wind of me. First wife insisted I use some underarm deodorant, till a half hour later at some kind of gathering, then she wished she hadn't brought me. I was sequestered outside. LOL

PS, bees etc don't like dryer sheets for what its worth.

[Peter Luch]

I was wondering why my fingertips were turning purple/black by the end of the day. Could not tell what wood it was but I have lots of mahogany I've been using.

The creek is great for this stuff!

Aloha, Pete

[Steve Clardy]

Had my own mill for 10 years.

Off bearing any kind of oak all day turned my hands black.

One day I had oak and cottonwood to mill.

After handling the green cottonwood for a few hours, my hands cleared up.