Galt's Gulch

How Something You Spray On Your Kids Can Melt Your Car’s Paint

Posted by $ nickursis 8 years, 7 months ago to Science
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This is interesting, and a problem. Want a cheap way to trash someones car? Spray bug repellent on it. No need to slash tires... nasty..
SOURCE URL: https://www.yahoo.com/autos/how-something-you-spray-on-your-kids-can-melt-your-128334848277.html

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  • Posted by $ Susanne 8 years, 7 months ago
    What else is related to Kids and Ruined Paint? Eggs. We got (for some reason) our cars and house egged, and I remember my folks having to get the panels that were hit repainted and that got left to dry.

    What else? Acetone does quite the number on it too. Not sure the vehivle of delivery, a soaked rag thrown on a car or ??, but it will remove paint, as mom is asking "Have you seen my nail polish remover?"...
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    • Posted by $ nickursis 8 years, 7 months ago
      Yes, we use Acetone to remove residues in tools for semiconductor manufacturing, and what we are removing probably will not come off with DEET. So it probably beats it, but then I also would not dip my kids in it either....
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  • Posted by CircuitGuy 8 years, 7 months ago
    "It’s very difficult to neutralize using normal household products"
    Neutralize implies an acid or base. What they mean, based on the context of mixing it with soap or ethanol, dissolve.

    It’s not surprising that an organic with a low dipole moment is not soluble in ethanol, but I would expect it to dissolve in soap. The author finds all this freaky, but I think it’s less scary if you know some chemistry.

    I do think it's cool. My car is almost old enough I could just try it, esp if I'm going to get it painted.
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    • Posted by $ nickursis 8 years, 7 months ago
      Well, I think it is something to be aware of, if it can do that to paint, would you really want to use it on your kids? I think there was something else on DEET a couple years ago, I'll have to go looking.. But also, imagine what vandals can do with it as well.
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      • Posted by CircuitGuy 8 years, 7 months ago
        I use it on my kids. The first time I did I looked into the American Academy of Pediatrics info on it. They had some good info on how it repels insets without being toxic. I came away understanding it as safe, as things in this life go. I agree it is disturbing that it reacts with or dissolves paint, but I'd need more info before I'd associate that with health risks.

        It's great for vandals because it's so common.
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        • Posted by TheRealBill 8 years, 7 months ago
          Fortunately we aren't made of paint.

          It isn't rational to assume that a chemical reaction with paint necessitates an unfavorable reaction with the human body. Raise an eyebrow, perhaps. But as we are rather different constructs I don't see paint as a reasonable analogue to the human body. The dose makes the poison. Salt water is quite corrosive, but fine to consume in small quantities - beneficial in others even. Oxygen itself is highly destructive even.

          It seems a bit to me like people freaking out when a French fry fried in oil to the point the water has left it and it is sealed in oil doesn't decay in a year or two. Handy for fear mongering and FUD against the ignorant and not much else.
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        • Posted by $ nickursis 8 years, 7 months ago
          I am not always warm and fuzzy onour institutions and their assertions about "safety". I just saw a blurb on TV where an ambulance chasing law firm is suing Johnsons saying baby Powder is a cause of ovarian cancer, and was asserting if used in a woman's private area, has some huge chance of raising their risks. That seems a bit off...But something that eats paint is disturbing, except I saw Taco Bell Hot sauce eat the red paint off my 1976 VW Rabbit after a drunken party one night, in my sailor youth days.
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          • Posted by plusaf 8 years, 7 months ago
            Looking forward to the data those ambulance chasers will be sharing... Yeah, like talc and some fragrance in the bottle can do that?

            I'm awaiting the proof, and as yet, I don't think there's been ANY. Sort of like folks that buy patents and then sue companies for patent infringement.

            Real "contributors" to the well-being of society...

            Not.
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            • Posted by $ nickursis 8 years, 7 months ago
              Yes, I looked it up, and there has been studies for 30 years now. It seems Talc is mined and used to include high levels of asbestos, which was supposedly outlawed in the 70's. I went through several articles and they seemed to all add up to a 50/50 split with no conclusive evidence. But if you convince enough people to sue, they just settle out of court and the attorneys make their gold, while each participant gets 5.00 and a coupon for a free bottle of powder. There have been lawsuits in several states, so it seems they drive the ambulances to another state once they are done. James Sokolov comes to the forefront in the lawsuit records...
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  • Posted by DonSawyer 8 years, 7 months ago
    "trash someone's car" Keep in mind that YOU are responsible for the vandalism you or your children cause whether you do it by key scratch or chemical it can cost you thousands.
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    • Posted by $ nickursis 8 years, 7 months ago
      Don, that may be but how often does that occur? I am willing to bet less than 10% of the time, and this is just spray a strip down the length of a car as you walk by. Since it didn't change to white until overnight.
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  • Posted by $ Radio_Randy 8 years, 7 months ago
    This is the reason I remove my glasses when applying DEET and don't touch the plastic lenses. I've known about this issue for years, but continue to use the repellent because bug bites suck!
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  • Posted by $ Thoritsu 8 years, 7 months ago
    Bet it works. Bet it is easy to remove with dish washing detergent. Soap sure takes it right off my skin.

    This goes along with using Permethrin to make your own "bug off" clothes. I did this before going on safari. It works wonderfully. Be careful applying it though!

    Bug off clothes are a huge premium. You can buy sprays to do your own for about $30 for a couple of shirts...or you can buy Permethrin in high concentrations as bug killer, dilute it yourself, and treat your clothes for a fraction of the price. My wife, brother and I spend 10 days in Africa on safari with not one bug bite.
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    • Posted by $ nickursis 8 years, 7 months ago
      It all goes to what is a hazard and what isn't. No one makes something and then tells you it will eat your skin off or cause cancer. But then, it all also has to be seen as part of a picture that includes you will die at some point. Perspective I guess..
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  • Posted by Herb7734 8 years, 7 months ago
    Use Avon. No DEET.
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    • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 8 years, 7 months ago
      Doesn't work for me but it does work for some. Body Chemistry? My quote on the DEET was 25% of the 100% product. Woodsman Insect Repellent. Someone told me some years ago 55 was the optimum best age to start smoking as by the time cancer got you - you would be dead anyway. Some years later I found out I'm at the optimum age for using DEETS for the same reason. My Dad who lived to 94 just two weeks shy of 95 started on Jack Daniels at 80 one shot every evening for the same reason. But he had smoked a pipe since age 25 or 30. He even showed a prescription form the doctor for the booze. We switched him to some less expensive military commisary brand when the prices on everything went to the moon. just used the same JD bottle.

      ;
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      • Posted by Herb7734 8 years, 7 months ago
        I love that story. The only big drinker in our family was my grandpa and he only drank the cheapest whisky he could get. It was called "Corby's" and he'd polish off a pint at a time, particularly when playing cards.
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  • Posted by $ Abaco 8 years, 7 months ago
    A few years back on one of my fishing trips I discovered an old pair of fishing pliers buried in the mud. I could tell they were well designed and quite useful at one time. I remembered something my dad told me (from his experience wrenching on cars) about using coca cola to remove ruse. So, I took the pliers home, soaked them in a glass of coke for a few days and have used them ever since. Came out looking like new. I no longer drink the stuff...even though I love the taste. Haha...
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    • Posted by $ nickursis 8 years, 7 months ago
      Yep, we use it at work to simulate acid for drills to clean up, it PHs at 2-3 just like any good acid. It contains phosphoric acid, which we also used to use to etch wafers. I drink very little of it, but it is good for just that deal.
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  • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 8 years, 7 months ago
    DEETs. "will not damage cotton, wool or nylon, do not apply on acetates, plastics and watch crystals Do not apply to varnish, painted surfaced including automobiles." In part good stuff I use it.

    The back side of the Dave's Instanity Sauce has directions for using it to clean garage floors. I believe that is the hottest of the hot sauces commercially available without a prescription.

    It works effectively in a left over spray bottle for protection purposes but will cause blisters and burn eyeballs. Amazingly it isn't banned in California - last I looked and they don't require licensing of home made protective sprays such as household ammonia.

    Simple Green will soften fiberglass - not something every boat owner wants to use.
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    • Posted by $ jdg 8 years, 7 months ago
      If California ever bans it we'll rise in rebellion. The water shortage here has resulted in mosquitoes running wild and infecting people with Lyme disease. The county has been advising people to use DEET and drain pools of standing water for the last 3 years now.
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      • Posted by $ nickursis 8 years, 7 months ago
        I don't see that happening,simply because it seems less noxious than other options at this time. I did find there are some homespun recipes useing vinegar and lemon juice in a mix. Not sure if it would smell any better...
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    • Posted by $ nickursis 8 years, 7 months ago
      I remember when simple green was introduced to submarines to replace cleanser. It did not remove floor wax, so we had illegal cases of cleanser hidden for field day. The argument was cleanser ate the ball valves for the sewage pumps, but we just said that was what the A gangers (auxiliary men (non nuke machinists mates) were there for. My contacts in A Gang said that theory was just to justify the simple green.
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      • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 8 years, 7 months ago
        I discovered the fiberglass problem using it on my fiberglass hull. Luckily it's a pre 1970 construction anything later would have sunk if left alone. I also tend to use something clean it off and not leave stuff in the bilge but i still consider myself lucky. With the S. Green gone some fiber glass repair mix and a heat lamp it i guess recured itself The next dry dock i did a small test hole not all the way through and all was well. Posted the info and never pursued it.
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        • Posted by $ nickursis 8 years, 7 months ago
          Funny, I can't find anything on that in a search, other that cautions it will remove wax. Maybe you had something someone altered or something?
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          • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 8 years, 7 months ago
            They could have changed it that's been over ten years. I know I sent in samples of the scraped away interior side of the fiberglass. Never received an answer and never used it again on my own boat.


            We used that stuff on the merchant ships including MSC ships. Now here's the kicker. It was said to be so expensive they watered it down to where id didn't work. Not a lot of brain power in MSC. But that was steel. I can imagine you had a lot more eyeballs watching everything on a sub.

            Cheers!
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            • Posted by $ nickursis 8 years, 7 months ago
              Ha! Not so many eyeballs, just such small spaces the 4 sq feet of floor was easy to inspect during "zone inspection". I looked around and now boat people seem to love the stuff, some say to throw some in a bilge and let it slosh around on the way home and then rinse, some say to just spray and rinse. I never had any luck with it cleaning much and it seemed to smell funny, so I don't play with it.

              Thanks..
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    • Posted by plusaf 8 years, 7 months ago
      Reminds me of my first encounters with Dawn (R) Dish Detergent, some decades ago... it sucked every drop of moisture or oil out of my hands to the point where a half hour of hand cream just MIGHT make my skin feel 'normal.'

      It's lots milder now, apparently, but the memories linger.
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      • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 8 years, 7 months ago
        That was the new big competitor for Joy. Joy's claim to fame is sudsing in salt water. On the boats we used it for everything then saved rain water for a final rinse.
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