Corrosive Skin- Does Anyone Else Have This Issue?

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

My father had stainless steel plates, wafer thin, silver soldered to the backs of his gold watches. The exception was his dress watch, a Girrard Perigeaux (sp?) which was sent out to the jewelers on a nearly monthly basis to be cleaned and lacquered to prevent damage.

[luath]

If you can melt through gold, it's more a Superhero power than a disadvantage, I reckon.

[Bill aka Mole]

Have the same problem about the quick corrosion. Stainless steel watches that are water-proof to at least 30m have helped a lot. For me, it was actually a good thing to have this "problem" when I did work in a gun shop as a smith: I was able to pull cold bluing off metal within 1 to 2 minutes showing that some folks were less honest about their wares than others. Especially when dealing with folks talking about their special "Cobalt bluing" that was a speciality treatment offered by S & W back in the lat 70's. I pulled a lot of cold blue off during that time in my life. Lite oils and a clean cotton cloth have been a constant friend since that time when dealing with historical items.

[artificer]

Has anyone tried clear acrylic spray paint on these contact areas? I think it can be stripped with alcohol if it dosent work.

Given the fact that I've worn the paint off of my car door handles where my hand touches 2-3 times a day, I don't think acrylic would do too much.

Have the same problem about the quick corrosion. Stainless steel watches that are water-proof to at least 30m have helped a lot. For me, it was actually a good thing to have this "problem" when I did work in a gun shop as a smith: I was able to pull cold bluing off metal within 1 to 2 minutes showing that some folks were less honest about their wares than others. Especially when dealing with folks talking about their special "Cobalt bluing" that was a speciality treatment offered by S & W back in the lat 70's. I pulled a lot of cold blue off during that time in my life. Lite oils and a clean cotton cloth have been a constant friend since that time when dealing with historical items.

Ha Ha! That is fantastic! I'm glad someone found a way to use their 'powers' for good.

BTW: You're right, it can't just be stainless, must be pressure-rated stainless.

ith:

[Bill aka Mole]

I just received a copper Clan MacBubba pin. I'll have to wash it and my hands at the same time just to get it onto either my kilt or my bonnet. Enamaled items aren't immune either as there is always some exposed metal. During my time in the Navy, I've left thousands of permanent fingerprints on the silver coated fuses that we used onboard ship as I positioned them in my fuse pullers.

[Jack Daw]

I know it sounds odd, but I've been dealing with this issue ever since I got my first wristwatch (a smart little Mickey Mouse with the moving cartoon hands and a lovely red leather strap), and I'm wondering if anyone else experiences this, or knows of a cause.

Any metal that isn't either Stainless Steel, Titanium, Gold or Platinum is very quickly corroded in my presence.

I can just touch a piece of brass and within a few hours there will be a black fingerprint etched into the surface. Chromed watch cases with base metal bodies (usually brass) last perhaps two months before the chrome is worn off and the brass starts to dissolve away. As an interesting side-note, once the chrome is breached the watch dies. I can replace the battery, but it will only last a week before being completely drained.

Copper dissolves even faster, and the patina from it gets everywhere. If I touch untreated iron a rust shaped fingerprint will appear after in ~week.

When I'm working on brass cantles I end up wearing gloves when I get near the finishing stages so I don't blacken and have to re-polish my work. I actually waxed my personal one to provide a protective barrier so I wouldn't be endlessly buffing my fingerprints off.

My father thinks this is the funniest thing he's ever seen.

Does anyone else have this issue or know of someone who does? Any idea WHY it might happen?

ith:

I have this power. If only I had X-ray vision.

[Inchessi]

There's your problem...

[Pleater]

I had to use clear nail varnish on any item of jewellery I wished to wear, until I gave up wearing it.

Just why things were blued escaped me until I realised that other people could handle blued metal without making fingerprints.

I wear a plastic cased time piece on a cord round my neck if I need to know the time, and often remove it and put it on the desk or prop it up as wearing it causes it to lose time - despite it being digital. I used to make watch straps which were a continuous piece in contact with my skin with the watch and buckle on the outside. I developed a method of fastening them which meant I did not touch the buckle.

I have to be careful selecting frames for my glasses as the side pieces will corrode rapidly and can cause skin damage if they are metal coated or - even worse - all metal.

Laquered or wood or bamboo knitting needles and crochet hooks are my best option. I used to use a surgical scalpel to carve wooden hooks and needles before they became widely available. I wash and wax or varnish metal tools.

Cookwear is interesting - cast iron with wooden handles is not affected, but steel and aluminium items develop pits and holes. Some cutlery makes the food taste strange and I often use chopsticks, particularly when eating anything with a vinegar dressing.

To protect my very pale pink skin I use a factor 60 sun screen whenever I am out in clear weather, and my father and brother had/have Dupuytren's Contracture, indicating a Viking connection.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[Frank McGrath]

This happened to me one summer when I had a high sweating job. I picked up a watch band that encased the watch and had a cordura strip between me and the watch. I believe it was a military watch band. It had a flap over the watch. Instead of going thru a watch a month, the bands lasted about 3 months. The watches lasted until I broke the crystals.