Allergic?

[mdallensr]

I ordered bee balm from Vermontwares.com, got it a a few days and have been using it about a week. No more cracks in my fingertips! I'm sure there are other products out there that treat winter dry skin, but this one works for me. Mike

[Thomp]

Never had allergys all my life, until i started getting stung by these southern red wasps,

ive cleaned poision ivy infested fence rows out for days at a time bare handed without a shirt, and only came up with scratches, for years,

now if i walk across the yard barefoot and i got posion ivy...tween my toes...

l recently i broke out with several face bumps & rash , they itch i scratch, they got infected, i used creams and ointments they spread,
this all comes just after i recieved a 40 pound order of basswood,
that might be why???
i never broke out from wood before, but i never had so much right at hand.

[GILLY]

Originally Posted by mdallensr

I ordered bee balm from Vermontwares.com, got it a a few days and have been using it about a week. No more cracks in my fingertips! I'm sure there are other products out there that treat winter dry skin, but this one works for me. Mike

I use a product called "udder balm" it was originally made for use on milking cows to keep their udders from cracking........it works really well and is not greasy or oily. I have noticed that I get burning eyes from carving birch.....guess I'll have to stop rubbing them when I carve.

[Mryooper]

Originally Posted by GILLY

I use a product called "udder balm" it was originally made for use on milking cows to keep their udders from cracking........it works really well and is not greasy or oily. I have noticed that I get burning eyes from carving birch.....guess I'll have to stop rubbing them when I carve.

MIne started to act after I cut myself on a edge of a basswood pile. After that when I just am about healed up , and I get near basswood it breaks out again. I guess I will have to use long sleeves.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

allergies are strange things! I just finished a cypress knee and my nose kept itching? never had it do that before, but this particular knee had a strange smell to it when I was painting it....it smelled like old stale tobacco, very pungentUnHappy I was wondering if maybe they put tobacco leaves in to boil to color or help get the bark off? don't know but haven't had that problem with a knee before! Cowboy

[Callynne]

I had a reaction to cherry wood...not carving though. We have a woodstove downstairs, I noticed that I was having cold like symptoms and the smell of the wood (in the log holder) bothered me. Later I noticed that where the wood touched my skin, I broke out in a rash.

I figured I was allergic to cherry, but here it was just an almost invisible mold that was on that particular batch of cherry, that was causing the problems.

Glad we figured it out, cherry is much too pretty a wood to be allergic to! I have every intention of carving some, eventually, when I learn to organize my time better!! Talking Deborah

[Just Carving]

I was reading your posts with interest since I too have allergies to a host of things but on occasion to wood carving. I couldn't understand why since I have worked with wood for years and never had trouble. And then, to have a reaction one time, and not the next==regardless of what I was carving, just didn't make sense. Until I read Calynne's post about the cherry with light mold, I too began to suspect mold allergies--especially after Dave mentioned the Cypress knee with the odor. I have found that if I carve wood that has been outside in the shed right after bringing it in--whether it be pine, spruce, basswood, or oak, my eyes bother me, i.e. itch, burn, tear--typical allergy reactions. But lately I am finding that if I let the wood sit inside the house for a least a week, I don't have as much trouble. I started letting the wood sit since it was pretty cold outside, and I wanted it to adjust temperature-wise before carving. So, for now, I think I have accidently resolved my problem. We'll have to see...

BTW If you have several allergies, and they are acting up, it will make the mildest allergy seem just as bad. So, if I'm doing work outside, and then I come in to carve, it will seem like the carving is bothering me just as bad as the grass, trees, mold, etc. So, sometimes, waiting until another day to carve, or at least a few hours until the allergies calm down, might be all that is needed.

[Callynne]

Bob, this might help. I had a couple pieces of cottonwood bark that had what looked like a light coating of a white, powdery mold on them. Just to be on the safe side, I put on a face mask and scrubbed them with some hot, bleach water. Figured that would kill most if not all the mold, if that was what it was. Figured if it wasn't mold, it would help kill off any little critters living in the bark.

It lightened the wood a little but by the time I was done carving it and had sealed it, it looked just like it should.

Might want to try that on any wood that you're suspicious of. Just be sure to wear a face mask, rinse the wood off and let it dry before carving it. Callynne