Red Rouge Health Hazzards

I have heard that this polishing material is bad for your health. Is
this true? If so, is there another polishing material that you would
recommend? Thanks.

I have heard that this polishing material is bad for your health.
Is this true? If so, is there another polishing material that you 

Pretty much all polishing compounds are dust - red rouge is iron
oxide, mostly. None of them are toxic (i.e. poisonous). They qualify
as nuisance dusts, and dust is bad for your health. But it’s not
something to get all uptight about, if you have a decent dust
collector.

I have heard that this polishing material is bad for your health.
Is this true? If so, is there another polishing material that you
would recommend? Thanks. 

It’s iron oxide (rust). Like any finely divided metal oxide, it
will be a respiratory irritant if you breath excessive amounts of it.
Basically, all polishing mediums produce dust that you wish to limit
your inhalation of. Here’s a link to the MSD sheet:

http://www.newportglass.com/amsredrg.htm

Ron Charlotte – Gainesville, FL

Most polishing compounds are fairly innocuous - but there are
exceptions. All require the use of common sense. "Buffing boogers"
when you blow your nose are an indication that you have not used
common sense!

All come with an MSDS these days, or you can request one - or look
it up yourself online.

Vegans might have a problem with those polishing compounds that use
animal fats as binders…

Brian

Thanks for the advice. But what if I don’t have a dust collector?
Also, is it true that I will need to put items into an ultrasonic
after they have been polished? Or is there another way to clean off
the polish, i.e dipping it in silver cleaner?

Personally I didn’t like the mess of using tripoli and rouge so I’ve
started using rubber abrasive wheels with very good results. However,
they do create a fine dust of metal particles, so you need some dust
protection. I have to start taking my own advice on that one.

Brian Corll
Brian Corll, Inc.
1002 East Simpson Street
Mechanicsburg, PA 17055

Annabel

Also, is it true that I will need to put items into an ultrasonic
after they have been polished? 

Soap, water, a good brush, and a little elbow grease!

Margaret

when I had no dust collector I put shallow pans of water under the
wheels. This helped to keep the dust down, still very messy and
should wear a mask of some sort. And you do need to clean the
compound. Hot soapy water and an old soft tooth brush.