Protect your most valuable tools by choosing the right cleanser

From tool sets to tire changers to alignment racks, your automotive shop is filled with tons of expensive tools and equipment, but they’re not the most valuable ones. The most important tools in your shop are by far your hands, so it’s important to keep them clean and in good condition. Your hands are in constant contact with all kinds of dirt, ranging from brake pad dust to rust, oil and adhesives.  At the same time, manual labor causes additional stress to the skin and wearing gloves is not always an option due to the loss of dexterity. Bottom line, working in an automotive shop puts a large amount of stress on your hands and skin, resulting in dry skin to more advanced, painful and costly problems such as occupational dermatitis.

Failing to take proper care of your hands can have significant effects on an organization. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 50 percent of all working time lost to industrial illness is due to dermatitis. Just one case of occupational dermatitis can cost an employer approximately $3,500 in workers' compensation claims and an average disability of 23.9 days, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Often it seems so easy to use a shop rag with some thinner to scrub the dirt from your hands, but this tends to make things much worse. The solvent in these thinner products will dry out the skin making it even easier for dirt to cling to your hands and chemicals to easily penetrate the skin. A professional hand cleanser is a better option for cleaning hands in the workplace. Unfortunately, the hand cleansers that are common in automotive shops are far from professional. The hand cleanser you use shouldn’t be the source of or worsen skin problems.

Choosing a Cleanser

The type of hand cleanser selected is vitally important to skin health. Professionals in the automotive industry need a cleanser that can take off the dirt and contaminants they come in contact with daily. A common misconception is that a hand cleanser’s performance is measured by its ability to clean hands aggressively. However, in actuality, most cleansers far surpass the user’s actual requirements.

Other hand cleanser products tend to contain pumice as the scrubbing agent, designed specifically to help remove ingrained dirt from the hands. Pumice, a natural volcanic rock that consists of rough volcanic glass, is used in construction, housekeeping, polishes, erasers and beauty salons as an abrasive agent. This common ingredient without a doubt does a good job in these workplace environments to remove contaminants from objects. However, using pumice on your hands will remove the skin and most people can’t afford further damage to their hands.

There are far better scrubber alternatives available such as corn meal, olive stone or walnut shell. These scrubbers are natural and have the right balance between helping to get dirt off and being gentle to the skin. There are also environmental impacts to using pumice in hand cleansers. In comparison to pumice that will settle in ducts and pipes causing blockages, natural scrubbing are easily rinsed away, not prone to swelling and will therefore not cause plumbing blockage.

Many industrial cleansers also contain dangerous ingredients like petroleum distillates. Derivatives of crude oil, these solvents not only irritate hands but are absorbed through the skin and, over time, can lead to harmful levels of toxins in the body. Low-solvent and solvent-free cleansers are a safer option.

It is important to select a hand cleanser that is powerful and effective for the job but does not contain harsh chemicals that dry your skin. As an automotive professional, you need a cleanser that contains moisturizers that protect your most valuable asset and keep hands healthy and working.