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Walnut stains

It's recommended to add salt to the lemon juice. Doesn't sound tasty. Might try baby oil too.

We sometimes collect walnuts and the hulls are far worse than the wood or bark for staining hands.
I asked my wife to remind me how we got the stains off. She said it has to wear off. So maybe do some wild horse training or take up juggling with rocks.

JKJ
 
Bar Keepers Friend contains oxalic acid. I’ve had much better luck with it than lemon juice. Probably not the best thing for your hands, so use at your own discretion.
 
Here's an old thread from Sawmill Creek asking the same question. @robo hippy was part of that chat, he suggested concentrated lemon juice. This means fresh squeezed from a lemon, not from a bottle where it is water diluted.

Other suggestions were downright idiotic. Straight laundry bleach? Dishwasher soap? Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face. Better read the warning labels advising otherwise with things like that.

These are harmless stains (within the skin, not on the skin) that'll fade away after a couple days with normal washing/bathing and skin sloughing, and those other chemical ideas will do far worse to your flesh.

Try fresh squeezed lemon juice, an acid as well. (It'll probably let you know of any cuts you have.) Try toothpaste and a scrub brush (or your tooth brush if you're so inclined), which is likely a caustic. Try baking soda (caustic) water wetted into a paste, with a scrub brush. Lots of "tries" there.... Or just ignore it and go on with life as normal, it goes away pretty fast that way. Show people, and make a joke about it. No big whoop.
 
Having been an on again - off again arborist for the past forty years about everyone in my life seem to just expect a shadowy discoloration on my hands 🤣
Time and soap, but usually more of the former…
 
These are harmless stains (within the skin, not on the skin) that'll fade away after a couple days with normal washing/bathing and skin sloughing, and those other chemical ideas will do far worse to your flesh.
This sums it up so what's the problem. I have gotten the stains many times even when doing flat work with dry red oak and never had any ill effects.
 
There is "concentrated" lemon juice for sale in the grocery stores. I always keep some handy, even if I don't turn walnut any more. I don't think it is diluted.

robo hippy
 
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