- [Narrator] Let's talk about personal protective equipment,
or PPE.
I'm pretty passionate about safety, so let's talk.
A lot of the materials used for molding and casting
can be very irritating and/or toxic to human skin,
eyes, and mucosal membranes.
You'll need gear to protect yourself.
Eyes.
If you're like me and you need your eyes for later,
the very first thing I insist on in my shop
is a pair of safety glasses.
Safety glasses should protect you from flying debris,
dust, liquid spray,
or anything else you don't want in your eyeball.
Often, you need to get extra close
to your project in process and an ounce of prevention
is worth a gallon of cure.
Safety glasses come in different sizes and styles.
Make sure you get a pair that are so comfortable
protecting your eyes that you actually wear them.
They shouldn't distract you from what you're doing.
Skin protection.
After eyes, one of the bare minimums
for this ooey-gooey stuff is a pair of rubber gloves.
When I say rubber gloves, I'm referring to the very thin,
high dexterity type of similar quality
to those used in medical practice.
I'm partial to nitrile gloves, as they have help up
under all of my casting and mold-making over the years
without deteriorating.
Latex is an option, but will start deteriorating
under a number of different stresses,
like oil of petroleum-based products.
Be aware of any skin allergies you may have
before applying gloves to your skin,
as your pores will open, and it's sealed pretty well,
they will begin to sweat inside the gloves.
Other materials of glove available include
vinyl and neoprene.
When you're considering what skin protection to invest in,
I recommend protection you'll actually wear.
Gloves come in different thicknesses, lengths, colors,
and materials, so as long as they can withstand
the materials you're using, wear the gloves
that give you the right combination of dexterity,
comfort, and skin protection,
so that you won't be constantly taking them off,
increasing the chances of chemical exposure.
Skin sensitivities are a fickle beast.
I don't recommend doing a spot test on your skin
to see if you're going to have to go to the hospital later.
Avoid coating yourself, or pouring free hand,
as the individual components of the uncured materials
can give you some serious and un-fun skin reactions.
So, I don't like doing anything more than I like breathing,
how about you?
Some of the materials you can use for
mold-making and prototyping can be seriously
toxic and hazardous to your health.
I particularly like the 3M masks, as they are adjustable,
seal to your face, and have replaceable filters.
You can get them in different levels of filtration.
Disposable paper dust masks can help particulate matter,
but don't protect against fumes and other gases,
which can make you breath harder around the mask,
pulling more of the toxins into your lungs.
Choose your filtration needs for the task at hand
and write down the date you start using them
so you can replace them as needed.
Filters are comparatively easy to replace,
so give your lungs a rest.