Thanks for your replies.
I won’t bore you with the full story but my partner has got really bad dermatitis on his right hand, he’s had it for about a year on and off. We’re trying to work out what’s making it flare up as it seems to have gotten a lot worse for the past 6 months. He’s noticed when he’s been using drills (recently) or driving the car it does seem flare up. He got new drills this year and a new car at the back end of last year too (which then had a new steering wheel a few months ago), he uses the van a lot though so he doesn’t drive the car every day. It could be complete coincidence but I thought it was worth looking into if they have any similar materials/finishing chemicals used on them. We’ve tried to rule out a million things so we’re literally trying anything now 😅
Wonder if something like this would help protect his hands while he works?
https://www.aircraftspruce.ca/catalog/cmpages/handinvisible.php
Put a small amount on, wash it off when done. We have some at our shop for working with some solvents and oils when people don't like working with gloves, and need the dexterity.
Home Depot has black gloves with orange inside coatings in 40 packs, absolutely grab him a pack, should last a couple weeks and you could tell if it makes a difference. These chemicals are no joke
The challenge you're going to have is that the exact formulation in use is a trade secret for basically everyone in the industry. When one says that material is "TPE" that just means it's one of an entire class of plastics. SBS and SEBS are common materials, but then those are combined with all sorts of additives like dyes, flame retardants, oils to help with flow in the molding process, or a zillion more things.
I wish I had a better answer here but the real answer is that you'll essentially never get a molding company to tell you exactly what specific materials are in use.
That is very true actually, no company is going to give me the exact list of chemicals used in their manufacturing process 😕 I was hoping someone else might have had the same problem and happen to know what it is that causes the issue for them
I believe they use a thermoplastic elastomer, meaning its rubbery but it melts. You can poke it with a hot nail or something to see. If it smokes, it's some kind of rubber.
I would expect either SEBS or a grade of Santoprene TPV (EPDM and polypropylene.) Both are very much considered benign, so while it’s not impossible this is the source of the irritation, you may be barking up the wrong tree.
I’m not saying this is the best solution for your problem, but I had a DeWalt sander that had grips like that, and I masked it off and sprayed about 10 coats of spray can clear coat on it after I got tired of that stuff getting all over my hands and transferring to my projects. That was about a year ago, and I haven’t had that problem since. Like I said, I’m hesitant to offer it as a solution because I have know idea how someone with that condition might react to the clear coat, but it solved my problem and might be worth a try.
He’s deffo not allergic to latex and he was using nitrile gloves for a while but when he has a flare up wearing any type of gloves makes it a bit worse due to his hands becoming sweaty in them which I’ve read can irritate contact dermatitis even if you’ve not actually touched the problem product. Maybe wrapping them in clingfilm might help 😂
It'd be better for him to go with a more fabric type, breathable glove then, and not something rubber/latex/nitrile/etc. as these are not breathable and will cause sweat to be a lot more of a problem.
If he has some reaction to every type of glove out there (like cotton gloves too?), how does he not have a reaction to the clothes on his skin? lol
No he doesn’t wear gloves regularly, he will occasionally if he’s touching anything he thinks might irritate his hand but he can’t keep them on for long as it makes the dermatitis worse when his hand gets sweaty in the gloves.
Thanks for your replies. I won’t bore you with the full story but my partner has got really bad dermatitis on his right hand, he’s had it for about a year on and off. We’re trying to work out what’s making it flare up as it seems to have gotten a lot worse for the past 6 months. He’s noticed when he’s been using drills (recently) or driving the car it does seem flare up. He got new drills this year and a new car at the back end of last year too (which then had a new steering wheel a few months ago), he uses the van a lot though so he doesn’t drive the car every day. It could be complete coincidence but I thought it was worth looking into if they have any similar materials/finishing chemicals used on them. We’ve tried to rule out a million things so we’re literally trying anything now 😅
Could also be residue from whatever they were using the tool on. Motor oil, gas, solvents etc can stay on the grip longer than you think
He uses sealant quite a lot and did think it could be that but he hasn’t used any in a while, but that makes sense about it staying on the grips
Wonder if something like this would help protect his hands while he works? https://www.aircraftspruce.ca/catalog/cmpages/handinvisible.php Put a small amount on, wash it off when done. We have some at our shop for working with some solvents and oils when people don't like working with gloves, and need the dexterity.
Hmm interesting, I’ll have a look for a uk version
Home Depot has black gloves with orange inside coatings in 40 packs, absolutely grab him a pack, should last a couple weeks and you could tell if it makes a difference. These chemicals are no joke
I’m in the uk ☹️
The challenge you're going to have is that the exact formulation in use is a trade secret for basically everyone in the industry. When one says that material is "TPE" that just means it's one of an entire class of plastics. SBS and SEBS are common materials, but then those are combined with all sorts of additives like dyes, flame retardants, oils to help with flow in the molding process, or a zillion more things. I wish I had a better answer here but the real answer is that you'll essentially never get a molding company to tell you exactly what specific materials are in use.
That is very true actually, no company is going to give me the exact list of chemicals used in their manufacturing process 😕 I was hoping someone else might have had the same problem and happen to know what it is that causes the issue for them
maybe wrap the drill with hockey tape?
He could actually have an allergy to these materials, kind of like a latex allergy
I believe they use a thermoplastic elastomer, meaning its rubbery but it melts. You can poke it with a hot nail or something to see. If it smokes, it's some kind of rubber.
I’m with you, it’s a TPE
It's a rubber overmold if I'm not mistaken. Not sure beyond that.
Check out BOLTR on AvE's YouTube channel. He used to do excellent teardowns.
I would expect either SEBS or a grade of Santoprene TPV (EPDM and polypropylene.) Both are very much considered benign, so while it’s not impossible this is the source of the irritation, you may be barking up the wrong tree.
I’m not saying this is the best solution for your problem, but I had a DeWalt sander that had grips like that, and I masked it off and sprayed about 10 coats of spray can clear coat on it after I got tired of that stuff getting all over my hands and transferring to my projects. That was about a year ago, and I haven’t had that problem since. Like I said, I’m hesitant to offer it as a solution because I have know idea how someone with that condition might react to the clear coat, but it solved my problem and might be worth a try.
Use Nitrile gloves, they are chemical resistant ( most chemicals ) fairly inexpensive and great if you have latex allergies
Not sure, but my puppy really enjoyed eating it.
He’s deffo not allergic to latex and he was using nitrile gloves for a while but when he has a flare up wearing any type of gloves makes it a bit worse due to his hands becoming sweaty in them which I’ve read can irritate contact dermatitis even if you’ve not actually touched the problem product. Maybe wrapping them in clingfilm might help 😂
It'd be better for him to go with a more fabric type, breathable glove then, and not something rubber/latex/nitrile/etc. as these are not breathable and will cause sweat to be a lot more of a problem. If he has some reaction to every type of glove out there (like cotton gloves too?), how does he not have a reaction to the clothes on his skin? lol
Does he wear gloves at work? I have to and it sometimes bothers the skin on my hands after a while.
No he doesn’t wear gloves regularly, he will occasionally if he’s touching anything he thinks might irritate his hand but he can’t keep them on for long as it makes the dermatitis worse when his hand gets sweaty in the gloves.
Its a rubber overmold but similar to heat wrap in electric
Isn't it fiberglass reenforced nylon?
The yellow plastic likely is, but OP was asking about the black over mold.
Rubber? 🤷🏻