Thread: A surprising occurance.

Cotton work clothes regularly catch fire wire welding and oxy cutting. You get a knack of what it feels like when your clothes are on fire. You get a hot wind feeling running up your body, and you're like "hang on a sec, I'm on fire..."

Cotton work clothes regularly catch fire wire welding and oxy cutting. You get a knack of what it feels like when your clothes are on fire. You get a hot wind feeling running up your body, and you're like "hang on a sec, I'm on fire..."

Sounds like u have been reading my journal.

Yep got a 3 inch hole in my trouser cuff after a blob of metal from the welder fell into a fold. How I didnt singe the carpet (its not hair, its a pelt) beneith is beyond me.

No wonder my father taught me to use welding gloves from an early age. "Its not to protect your hands son, its to put out the fire when u set yourself alight".

Originally Posted by jatt

No wonder my father taught me to use welding gloves from an early age. "Its not to protect your hands son, its to put out the fire when u set yourself alight".

rofl, i'll pay that.

Originally Posted by jatt

No wonder my father taught me to use welding gloves from an early age. "Its not to protect your hands son, its to put out the fire when u set yourself alight".

how funny but true..i never heard that one before..... very very funny

Several years ago I did a lot of overhead structural welding. A new boilermaker joined us and laughed at us older hands wearing protective leather gear.... until about five minutes after he started welding overhead and half his nice shoulder length red hair went up! I've always found that human beings are not all that fireproof!

Buzz

Yeah do my fair share of welding under trailers. Got the hood (looks like what middle eastern women wear) and the long sleeve jacket. I will take looking like a dork any day over welding burns.

Originally Posted by jatt

Yeah do my fair share of welding under trailers. Got the hood (looks like what middle eastern women wear) and the long sleeve jacket. I will take looking like a dork any day over welding burns.

That's for sure! Besides, some women are attracted to blokes wearing leather!

Buzz

Ok heres a tip for you flaming welders.

Grab a pack of borax ,ie raw washing soda and wash you duds in a strong mix.

It does not make them fireproof, but stops the flame thingy happening.

If you have migged for a living ,note the fading on the shirts come from radiation.

This is turn acererates the wear and tear on the fibre and makes them real thin.
They are most likely to burn with a flame as I found out.it was a mate who got the idea from SES training who put me on to the borax idea.


While I think of it,my mate who smoked used to regularly burn the front pocket out of his shirt,where he kept his matches.He never used a BIC lighter for obvious reasons.

Grahame

Originally Posted by Grahame Collins

Ok heres a tip for you flaming welders.
Grab a pack of borax ,ie raw washing soda and wash you duds in a strong mix.

Err, this only works if you don't rinse off the borax
AND
From any Borax MSDS

ACUTE EFFECTS
SWALLOWED: May cause nausea, vomiting, gastrointestinal irritation and diarrhoea.
EYE: Irritant to eyes.
SKIN: Can cause irritation especially after repeated or prolonged contact.
INHALED: Inhalation of dust will result in respiratory irritation. Can be absorbed through the mucous membranes with resultant toxic effects.

CHRONIC EFFECTS
Repeated or prolonged contact with skin may cause dermatitis. Studies on exposed workers indicate that repeated or prolonged exposure can result in coughing, nose bleeds and shortness of breath. Animal tests show that this substance possibly causes toxic effects upon human reproduction.

OOps!

My error there Bob. Good job you checked it.

Crikey: I my clothes where washed with this bloody stuff for ages.
Modern day cotton based PPS clothing for welders is obviusly treted with something else then!

Borox is also the basis for a lot of oxy brazing,silver solder and welding fluxes.
Sorry about that boys.

It will teach me to checkMSDS listings on such things . I would not want be the cause of making any one ill.

Thanks Bob
Grahame

Originally Posted by Grahame Collins

OOps!

My error there Bob. Good job you checked it.

Crikey: I my clothes where washed with this bloody stuff for ages.

Borax is an excellent detergent provided you rinse it out again. Having worn a pair of (tightish) jeans that were hung out to dry without being rinsed properly, I can assure you that turned out to be right uncomfortable especially in the softer area of the legs near ones private parts. I was itching so badly I ended up swabbed by self with calamine lotion.