I put this thread here because Silver Nitrate is used in testing salt water levels in an SWG pool, so I figured I might find someone here familiar with my dilemma. The silver nitrate bottle in my Taylor salt water test kit was leaking, it got all over my hands, and now my hands are covered in nasty dark brown stains. I quick search on the internet is not making me feel very good. Apparently I may have to wait weeks for normal skin death/growth to remove these stains. Anyone know of ANYTHING that may help to speed up this process? Any chemical?
Silber Nitrate stains on my hands, any suggestions?
- Thread starter frankc29
- Start date
Perhaps a hand cleaner with pumice in it, like fast orange, lava, or other "manly after working on the car engine cleaner" will help exfoliate your skin cells faster...
actually, sodium cyanide will remove the stains but that is a cure worse than the disease. 
They wear off pretty quickly...they should be just about gone in a week or so. Just be patient!
(Stained hands are something I am very familiar with. I was a haircolorist for many years and silver nitrate is used to tint eyelashes.)
They wear off pretty quickly...they should be just about gone in a week or so. Just be patient!(Stained hands are something I am very familiar with. I was a haircolorist for many years and silver nitrate is used to tint eyelashes.)
Got this from:
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/in ... 732AAFrEyZ
"If I work with silver nitrate in the lab and feel I might have gotten it on my hands, here is what I do:
(A) rinse hands with DI water to get rid of any silver nitrate that hasn't yet become silver chloride
(B) bathe hands with photographic-strength fixer (or sodium thiosulfate) to get rid of any silver halides
(C) do above procedure before light has a chance to reduce the silver, turning the spots black... because once it's silver, you have to bathe hands in bleach or iodine, and I don't like doing that."
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/in ... 732AAFrEyZ
"If I work with silver nitrate in the lab and feel I might have gotten it on my hands, here is what I do:
(A) rinse hands with DI water to get rid of any silver nitrate that hasn't yet become silver chloride
(B) bathe hands with photographic-strength fixer (or sodium thiosulfate) to get rid of any silver halides
(C) do above procedure before light has a chance to reduce the silver, turning the spots black... because once it's silver, you have to bathe hands in bleach or iodine, and I don't like doing that."
I get these stains almost every time I do this test, even though I think I'm being very careful not to spill. Although my wife thinks I've been doing some digging in an undesirable anterior part of my body, these stains go away within about three or four days. I could expedite this process with a pumice stone or emory board, but that look on my wife's face is priceless!
Thanks everybody! Looks like I've reached the point where bleach or iodine are my only options left. I might just leave it alone for now. Bathing my hands in bleach/chlorine does not sound overly appealing. Iodine I don't know, doesn't that create stains of it's own?