it happens

[gdaddy01]

after rolling around under your hot rod of choice, after you come in and rub your old hands with arthritis cream do NOT rub your eyes.

[Diogenes]

Look at the bright side--at least you didn't need to urinate at that particular moment.

[manofmerc]

I take a couple of aspirins before I get started .It seems to help with old arthur .

[gdaddy01]

good advice from both

[machyoung]

The arthur cream that I use says to wash your hands after application. Seems counter-productive to me...

[Falcon67]

Methanol and pumice-grit GoJo - same.

[cleandan]

I'm sure we have all experienced this in some fashion.
Working on mechanical objects exposes us to some irritating things....of which we find out in curious manners.

While the attention getting sensations you describe do make a lasting impression, I find it is the stealthy things that seem to get me the most.

Things like trac-lok additive............a seemingly benign little bottle of special lubricant.
However, should you get this on....well....anything, that thing will stink like the horrible additive for the next ten years and there is basically no way to clean it off.

[WConley]

In engineering school I rubbed elbows with a lot of chemistry majors.  You knew who they were because they washed their hands BEFORE stepping up to the urinal 

[FrozenMerc]

I don't wear gloves as often as I should, but I will never forget my first job at TRW Aeronautics.  Was working with Skydrol (Non-flammable aviation grade hydraulic fluid) and rubbed an itch on my nose.  Had a rash in the mustache area for months afterwards.

[Heo]

I'm sure we have all experienced this in some fashion.
Working on mechanical objects exposes us to some irritating things....of which we find out in curious manners.

While the attention getting sensations you describe do make a lasting impression, I find it is the stealthy things that seem to get me the most.

Things like trac-lok additive............a seemingly benign little bottle of special lubricant.
However, should you get this on....well....anything, that thing will stink like the horrible additive for the next ten years and there is basically no way to clean it off.

My father had a tube in a chalkgun with som realy sticky blackgrease probably boiled by the devil himself. That chalkgun never left the rack
but that devilsgrease was on everything in the shop. You was doing something and suddely you felt something sticky on your hand, and the amount of a matchstik head seamed to be enought to make spots on 64 car interiors, 44 pair of T shirts, 16 wieners  8 pair of jeans and a couple of leather jackets. Damned Impossible to wash of anything okay tool you could put in petroleum based deegreaser,,,,,,the wiener not so much. The trick to get rid of tar is butter.......well buttering up ones wiener seems.........a little kinky

obviously there was some devils grease on some of my clothes that wife washed together with her WHITE competition jodhpur pants. I can say i dont got awards for best family member of the month.

[WConley]

I'm developing a very long life electrical slip ring assembly for a special project.  It uses a custom blend of graphite powder and grease.  THAT STUFF WILL GET INTO YOUR UNDERWEAR IF YOU EVEN LOOK AT IT 

I feel your pain, Heo.  There are days when you'd rather not be around the nice hats.

[machyoung]

My kryptonite is anti-seize. I put it on one bolt and I have it on everything... That's just the way it is...