Reloading Tip No. 1: Boraxo

Boraxo

I've talked about this on The Unofficial IPSC List, but I just realized that I've never mentioned it here.

I reload a lot (though not so much during the winter months; it's too cold in the garage!) and when I get done my hands are covered with grease, carbon, lead and powder residue -- whatever comes from handling brass, powder, bullets and that filthy Dillon XL-650.

When I use one of those waterless hand cleansers, my hands feel like I've been washing in solvent.

Regular hand soaps just don't do the job. They're too wimpy. I have to scrub and scrub, use a brush (ouch!), and I often still have black crud in the knuckle-wrinkles.

A few years ago I remembered that my father, a mechanic, use to wash withLava, a bar soap with pumice. It worked, but his hands were sore and red when he finished. (I know how they felt; I've used it myself.)

Then I also remembered the can of Boraxo in his shop. So I found my own can of Boraxo at the grocery store, brought it home and tried it.

Wonderful stuff! A little Boraxo powder (actually, it's more like 'granules') and hot water, wash-wash rinse-rinse, maybe finish with some of that wussy liquid "Antibacterial" soap if I want to smell like a flower, and all the black crud is gone.

The best part is that my hands don't hurt, they don't feel chapped and dry, and they're not red.

I don't know why people still use the waterless hand soap crap if there's water handy. Lord knows, you STILL have to wash in water to get the "soap" residue off, and it makes your skin (well, MY skin) burn.

Buy the Boraxo. It's cheaper than dirt. And you don't have to coat your hands with greasy hand lotion, as my father did every working day of his life, just to feel like the skin on your hands maybe won't break if you move your fingers.

Your hands won't stink of petroleum distillates, either. You can go right to the dinner table without smelling like the crank-case of a '49 Chevy pickup, and (also) not have to worry whether there's still some lead residue on the hand you're using to hold the Pillsbury Buttery Dinner Roll.

PS: Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. The background in the picture? Yep, that's the notorious BoomerShoot T-shirt.