Have you ever used the Great Stuff to fill the cracks and gaps that exist in your home? Have you successfully done the work? There are plenty of online pleas for help about accidentally spilling the Great Stuff on hairs and skins, especially hands. You can see from these threads that such situations happen all the time. And we all know that it is hard to remove the Great Stuff from skins and hairs. If you have been in this predicament, the post would tell you how to get Great Stuff off your hands. If you are planning to use the Great Stuff to fill some gaps, this post would provide tips for you.
What is Great Stuff?
Great Stuff is a kind of expanding foam that can expand up to 1 inch to take the shape of gaps. Many people would like to fill gaps and cracks in their homes with the Great Stuff because it is easy to use. It works well to help minimize unwanted airflow whether indoors or outdoors.
Is The Great Stuff Toxic?
The uncured Great Stuff can be toxic. It is a chemical, after all. But once the insulation foam is cured, it is non-toxic and forms a non-hazardous solid. When the foam is sprayed out, some harmful gases may be produced. Accidental inhalation of these gases by yourselves or pets can cause the following problems, lung and eye irritation, shortness of breath, sore throat, and fever. Nevertheless, you can avoid such situations by taking up protective equipment while using the Great Stuff.
How long is Great Stuff take to dry?
Great Stuff Insulation Foam Sealant will be tack-free in approximately 10-15 minutes. And it will fully cure in 8 hours. After curing, the expanding foam can be cut, sanded, plastered, or painted. The higher the humidity, the faster the foam will cure. Therefore, you can use water to make a faster foam curing process.
How To Remove The Great Stuff?
Unless you are covered head to toe, you would easily get the Great Stuff on your skins, especially on your hands. This seems a common issue of working with it. When the expanding foam is still uncured, you can remove it from your skin without too much trouble. The acetone will help you remove it without damaging your skin. Acetone-containing solutions, such as nail polish remover, are readily available. However, once it cures, you could not get it off with solvents or other chemicals. So, the first thing to do is to check the foam is still wet or not. Then you can define how to work with it. Here we are going to talk about how to deal with such two situations.
Remove Uncured Expanding Foam
- Step 1: Wipe As Soon As Possible
If you get Great Stuff on your skins, you should immediately wipe off as much of it as possible. This is the foremost action to take when such a situation happens. Whether you get all of the expanding foam off your hands or not, this is good for the next step.
- Step 2: Using Acetone To Dissolve
After you have removed the wet foam from your hands, you could remove the rest with acetone. Acetone is a chemical reagent. Although the common household chemical that contains acetone is the nail polish remover, make sure yours has contained. The nail polish remover that has no acetone could not make any help to get great Stuff off your hands.
- Step 3: Wash Your Hands Thoroughly And Moisturize
After scrubbing your hands with acetone to dissolve the expanding foam, you can take the soap out from the soap dish and wash your hands with it. Washing hands will help rinse off the acetone and the remains of the Great Stuff. You can also apply moisturizer, such as olive oil and jojoba oil since acetone can be drying to skins.
Remove Cured Great Stuff
When the Great Stuff dries out, it would be harder to remove than when it’s wet. The dried-off Great Stuff may lead to harm to your skin and even can cause you to bleed. So, you have to be extra careful when doing this work.
- Step 1: Rub To Remove The Dried Foam
The first step to deal with the cured great Stuff is to rub it with a pumice stone. You should use the pumice stone to wear as much of the foam. But remember not to rub too harshly because that would harm your skin.
- Step 2: Wash Your Hands
After loosening the foam, you could wash your hands with warm water and soap to make the leftover foam soft.
- Step 3: Apply Petroleum Jelly
You’ll be on the verge of success at this step. Dry your hands, then apply a generous amount of petroleum jelly on your skins and wrap the area with plastic bags. You need to wait for at least one hour to let the foam soften. A more effective way to remove dried foam is to exfoliate it with a body exfoliator after it has softened. But this is not recommended if your skin is overly sensitive. You could only use the warm soapy water to get the soft Great stuff off your hands.
Tips For Using The Great Stuff
Getting the Great Stuff off your hands is a hassle. So you would need to make some preparations and learn some tips before using it.
Preparations For Using The Great Stuff
To prevent getting the Great Stuff on your skin, you may have to wear gloves, safety glasses, long pants, long sleeve shirt, a cap, and shoes that are about to wear out. If you have long hair, you’d better tie your hair up. Otherwise, if some accident flips the expanding foam into your hair, you’ll have to get your hair cut.
Tips For Using The Great Stuff
- Check The Expiration Date: Using an old can of foam will result in non-ideal performance–the foam would not expand to its typical size or even couldn’t expand and solidify.
- Mask The Area Around The Crack With Tape: You wouldn’t need to be afraid of the area around the crack would be covered by the foam. When the foam comes oozing out of the crack, you just simply wait for it to solidify and cut it off with a serrated knife.
- Keep A Solvent Nearby During The Applying Process: If the foam intrudes into an area that you don’t want to apply, you should wipe it off with acetone solution as soon as possible. Or that it would begin to expand quickly.
- Don’t Use Expanding Foam Around Outlets And Windows: The foam expands quickly and can surround the wires entering the box. Then it would be hard to change the wiring configuration in the outlet. One of the main uses of expanding foam is to fill sealing gaps, especially gaps around windows. But you should remember to use the low-expansion foam or that you couldn’t open the windows.
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