Wasn't sure where to put this, so I'm putting it here, as I suggest any possible solutions may come from the realm of craft rather than medicine.
Here's the issue.
In the weaving room at my college, we have about 50 old looms. Very old looms, some of the frames are 200 years old. The metal is also old and less than clean. The wood hasn't been varnished or oiled in over 20 years I think and the metal parts are dry and dirty and I believe all covered in fine rust particles and the remains of dried out grease. Not to mention the slut's wool (oil with fibre, for those unfamiliar with the term) on the dobby mechanisms.
This isn't a big problem for me, though I did notice during the summer when I was employed to carry out repair and maintenance work on the looms that when working with the metal parts I had to wash my hands many times every day as they'd become black quite quickly. By the end of the day my hands would be far too dry and my eyes also were feeling a little dry.
Some of the girls though have excema or other skin conditions, which I believe is exacerbated by working on the looms. They certainly believe so, and I see no reason to doubt them.
It's also worth bearing in mind that major work was done on the roof about 8 years ago, during which the incompetent, cavalier and disrespectful people doing the work never put dust cloths on any of the looms despite being requested to do so, which coincidentally caused the breakdown of the majority of the computerised looms. There was also a flood around about the same time when a different group of incompetent workmen left the roof uncovered during a rainstorm, this has caused many iron and steel parts to get rusty. Most of them were saved and are still in use, but there are rust particles on everything, and I haven't yet figured out a creative and ingenious way of cleaning everything within the budget alloted to the weave department, as it would be a Big Job.
Anyway, all that. But to bring it down to things that could be done to make life better in the short term. I am going to start wiping down everything i use with a damp rag to catch old dust and ming. But is there anything I can do for the wood? Is it possible that using 50-200 year old looms which haven't received any wood conditioning could aggravate a person's excema? If so, is there anything to be done about it?
Andrew
Here's the issue.
In the weaving room at my college, we have about 50 old looms. Very old looms, some of the frames are 200 years old. The metal is also old and less than clean. The wood hasn't been varnished or oiled in over 20 years I think and the metal parts are dry and dirty and I believe all covered in fine rust particles and the remains of dried out grease. Not to mention the slut's wool (oil with fibre, for those unfamiliar with the term) on the dobby mechanisms.
This isn't a big problem for me, though I did notice during the summer when I was employed to carry out repair and maintenance work on the looms that when working with the metal parts I had to wash my hands many times every day as they'd become black quite quickly. By the end of the day my hands would be far too dry and my eyes also were feeling a little dry.
Some of the girls though have excema or other skin conditions, which I believe is exacerbated by working on the looms. They certainly believe so, and I see no reason to doubt them.
It's also worth bearing in mind that major work was done on the roof about 8 years ago, during which the incompetent, cavalier and disrespectful people doing the work never put dust cloths on any of the looms despite being requested to do so, which coincidentally caused the breakdown of the majority of the computerised looms. There was also a flood around about the same time when a different group of incompetent workmen left the roof uncovered during a rainstorm, this has caused many iron and steel parts to get rusty. Most of them were saved and are still in use, but there are rust particles on everything, and I haven't yet figured out a creative and ingenious way of cleaning everything within the budget alloted to the weave department, as it would be a Big Job.
Anyway, all that. But to bring it down to things that could be done to make life better in the short term. I am going to start wiping down everything i use with a damp rag to catch old dust and ming. But is there anything I can do for the wood? Is it possible that using 50-200 year old looms which haven't received any wood conditioning could aggravate a person's excema? If so, is there anything to be done about it?
Andrew