wheel cleaning help please!

A strong word of caution when using cleaners that contain Flourine. This type of acid disassociates (breaks up into ions in water) completly and Flourine is highly toxic to people. It is toxic since the Flourine will bind with Calcium in your bones and cause decalcification. In concentrated solutions it can even cause death. NO Megs products WILL NOT cause death but you need to be VERY careful when using these types of solutions.
You will need:
* a pair of gloves that are to be used with acid (latex/nitirle gloves from Home Depot will NOT be sufficient) - only use these gloves once then throw them away. If you abraid them throw them away and get another pair.
* to cover your arms or any exposed skin
* a pair of ANSI spec goggles, better yet a faceshield
* if you are going to use a respirator (a respirator is NOT an N95 dust mask from a harware store) you will need an acid cartridge specifically designed to also handle Flourine. This respirator also needs to be fit to your face - no facial hair. No good seal = you might as well not spend the time nor the money.
* properly dispose of the rinsates from your work
*KEEP ALL CHILDREN AWAY FROM YOUR WORK!

Don't mean to sound like a freak but Flourine is not something to fool aorund with and can be used as long as it is done in a safe manner. A beautiful car is useless if you can't drive it.

 

Flouride is the same chemical faily as Ammonium Hydrogen Fluoride or Hydrofluoric acid (HF),
Other names: Ammonium bifluoride (ABF) Ammonium hydrofluoride, Ammonium acid fluoride
[: Ammonium hydrogen fluoride is the inorganic compound with the formula NH4HF2. It is produced from ammonia and hydrogen fluoride]

Fluoride compounds
CASR number: Not applicable
Molecular formula: Fluoride: F-
Hydrofluoric acid: HF
Sodium fluoride: NaF
Synonyms: Fluoride: CASR # 16984-48-8
Hydrogen fluoride (hydrofluoric acid): CASR # 7664-39-3
Sodium fluoride: CASR # 7681-49-4

(See also "Wheel Surafce Cleaning" detailing school section

 

Ok I worked for a chemical company right out of college for a few years and fully understand the purchase, sales, shipping and receiving of hazardous chemicals. Now that being said I can't just run down to local store and purchase the likes of 98% sulphuric acid, Phenol, 50% formaldehyde or the like. These chemicals need special handling and are not going to be sold to the general public. Not only that but if these types of precautions were the standard for handling Megs Wheel Brightener do you HONESTLY think you could just package it up and ship it all over creation with no hassles? I mean really? Look at all the trouble Carlos went through and all the hoops he had to jump through to ship in and then ship out some Tardis. But I don't see anyone on here harping on Tardis. This has to be a much more hazardous chemical than Megs WB if you have to go to such lengths to ship it. Again I'll state that a chemical as dangerous as you try to make Megs WB out to be would NOT be sold to just every average Joe Blow on the street.

 

JL -
I am not trying to be chicken little and saying that the sky is falling just trying to offer some helpful advice so that everyone can use these products without incident. I could bore you with simialr statements about items such as brake cleaner, toilet cleaners, paint stripper, etc.

This product is regulated DOT and a number of other regulatory bodies as a corrosive liquid and needs to be packaged and shipped in a certain way. Each logistics company such as UPS, FedEx, DHL have their own practices as well. I used to teach these type of classes.

I have some experieince in this field from managing environmental, health and safety programs for 25 yr for fortune 100 companies in semiconductor, biotech and surface coating industries , having an undergrad in chem and an MS from a med school.

We handle a lot of "danergous" chemical products all the time and I was trying to be helpful. If you and others on this this forum believe that I am overduing it with this type of information, then I will keep my mouth closed or you can give me a ban.

I just wanted to make sure that all of us who enjoy making our rides shine continue to enjoy them for a long time.

 

No I don't think you are overdoing it by any means and I respect that you can offer up excellent info, however I do think that as you state this sort of blanket comment can be given to numerous products that are handled everyday with virtually no adverse side effects. I could go on and on about how dangerous a chemical is like Phenol. Its a poison plain and simple and is absorbed through skin contact and results in death many times. When handling it you must be in full chemical resistant rain suit including hood and respirator. With that said though it is an effective main ingredient in Chloreseptic Throat Spray and you don't have to don up everytime you have a sore throat and wish to use it.

I guess my point is that yes Megs WB may contain a chemical that is hazardous in certain quantities and concentrations, however so do thousands of products that we use everyday without a second thought because they were deemed non hazardous in their application according to quantity or concentration. I just think we could have this same debate about many products and it seems as though Megs WB is singled out for whatever reason.

 

Not trying to single out Megs by any means, they are a reputable company. You are correct that we can buy the chemicals and cause harm to ourselves easily if we do not heed warnings. If we heed these warning an take proper precautions, we can use them with little impact to ourselves. This is certainly not a blanket statement stating we can use such items without proper protective action and expect everything to be OK.

Again not singling out Megs products, it just happened that it was mentioned and I know that other products from other manufacturers, e.g., Eagle One, etc, contain similar chemicals.

 

What gloves would you recommend for this acid?

Recommended material for chemically-resistant gloves for work involving a variety of chemicals.

Use Nitrile rubber when handling any of the following -

Alcohols
Ammonium fluoride
Freons
Hexane
Hydrofluoric and hydrochloric acid
Perchloric acid
Perchloroethylene
Phosphoric acid
Potassium and sodium hydroxide
Water soluble materials, dilute acids and bases

Chemical Resistant Gloves Guide

 

so does this mean my nitrile gloves will be ok?

 

nitrile gloves will be fine. just make sure they aren't loose on you so nothing can leak in through the top