Nice Skin … Polyurethane?

Posted October 14th, 2011 by cdclocks@gmail.com

Yeah.  Note to self: do not apply polyurethane in the dark.

…and in answer to your question…  Yes, I did.

The short of it is that I have 20+ small wooden projects that I need to complete tomorrow, but they needed a coat of polyurethane first. 

Well, rather than laying them flat, spraying from one side, waiting to dry, rolling and spraying from another side, etc., I figured out a jig to stand each of them on end (by the tip), so I could spray them from all angles and leave them on the jig to dry.  Problem is… I didn’t have all the supplies I needed to make the jig.

I got all the supplies from town, but by the time I got home, put the jig together and got all the pieces on it, it was dark.  …and I was in a hurry.  Ooops.

I took the jig outside (mounted pieces and all) and (since it was windy) I moved a decent distance from the house.  …in the dark.

I opened the can of spray polyurethane, but couldn’t quite make out the red dot on the push button.  50/50 chance of directionality, right?  Ugh.  I SO should have known.  (There’s a reason I don’t gamble much.) 

Polyurethane — straight into my own hand…all over my trigger finger.

(((Sigh)))

Well, I did manage to turn the can and spray the projects, but once I got back inside, I was afraid to look at my hand.

hmmm.  Clear satin spray polyurethane…doesn’t really “show” well on skin, but I knew I needed to clean it off!  …off to the sink!  Apparently, fingernail polish remover doesn’t work all that well on polyurethane.  At least, it didn’t FEEL like it worked well enough.  I still couldn’t SEE what I was trying to remove. 

To be on the safe side, I pulled out the denatured alcohol.  THAT’s good stuff!  I still can’t SEE if the polyurethane is gone or not, but I FEEL like I’ve melted away anything that could possibly be on my skin …as well as a layer or two of dermis, I’m sure.

Oh, well.  LOTS of Oil of Olay to be applied liberally.  🙂 

…and if I awake in the morning to a discolored, chemically sealed finger, you’ll find me scrubbing with the purple degreaser (from the automotive aisle) and some serious Palmolive soaking.  Oh, Madge?

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