Corrosive Skin- Does Anyone Else Have This Issue?

[artificer]

I know it sounds odd, but I've been dealing with this issue ever since I got my first wristwatch (a smart little Mickey Mouse with the moving cartoon hands and a lovely red leather strap), and I'm wondering if anyone else experiences this, or knows of a cause.

Any metal that isn't either Stainless Steel, Titanium, Gold or Platinum is very quickly corroded in my presence.

I can just touch a piece of brass and within a few hours there will be a black fingerprint etched into the surface. Chromed watch cases with base metal bodies (usually brass) last perhaps two months before the chrome is worn off and the brass starts to dissolve away. As an interesting side-note, once the chrome is breached the watch dies. I can replace the battery, but it will only last a week before being completely drained.

Copper dissolves even faster, and the patina from it gets everywhere. If I touch untreated iron a rust shaped fingerprint will appear after in ~week.

When I'm working on brass cantles I end up wearing gloves when I get near the finishing stages so I don't blacken and have to re-polish my work. I actually waxed my personal one to provide a protective barrier so I wouldn't be endlessly buffing my fingerprints off.

My father thinks this is the funniest thing he's ever seen.

Does anyone else have this issue or know of someone who does? Any idea WHY it might happen?

ith:

[Father Bill]

Yeah, I have some tendencies in that direction, although not as bad as you describe. I used to rot watches in a week.

I just wash my hands a lot and it does seem to reduce it.

[Nighthawk]

It"s been years since I've owned a watch for this same reason. I don't have the problem as severe as you, but you can bet I clean, polish and season my swords every time I use them. Otherwise, I will end up with etched fingerprints in the blades.

[auld argonian]

Used to have this problem but it's abated as I've grown older. My perspiration used to corrode my clothing as well. Girlfriend of a friend of mine back in the day had the same thing. I'm the pale, blue eyed redhead and she was a pale, flaxen haired Scandinavian type so we figured it was some kind of Northern European/Viking thang.

Best

AA

[tundramanq]

Artificer, A lot of people have fairly acid skin and copper is easy to corrode. Chrome develops micro cracks and exposes the copper underneath to corrosion. Chrome plate only sticks well to copper so they copper plate before the chrome plating. Surgucal stainless is about the only thing I can keep in contact with my skin - surgical because I am sensitive to nickel that leaches out of regular stainless. Most watch backs are made from this alloy. I just purchase watches with plastic cases.

[ForresterModern]

Does anyone else have this issue or know of someone who does? Any idea WHY it might happen?

ith:

The biggest component of sweat besides some oils is salt and water, and virtually all exposed skin sweats to some degree, some places more than others (thank goodness for Right Guard). Hands actually sweat pretty significantly in certain situations and salt and water are corrosive to certain metals. Water by itself can be corrosive but adding salt really increases the rate and varieties of corrosion that occur. Free Chloride anions (Cl-) and sodium cations (Na+) from salt form in water, which also itself dissociates into free hydrogen cations (H+ like in acid) and free hydroxide anions (OH- like in lye), so you have a lot of dissolved ions wating for something they have a higher affinity for than each other (particularly the metals you are handling---base metals and copper and tin and lead containing elements in particular) to be available to bind with = corrosion. Copper binds tightly with chloride forming copper chloride which alonng with oxides is part of the green patina we see on copper and certain brass items with aging, and what sometimes causes cheap metal watches to leave black or green stains on our wrists). There are also a number of other less concentrated chemicals in sweat (potassium, carbonates, zinc, etc...) that can also contribute.

Also, believe it or not, some people have strange and unusual electrical conductivity patterns in their bodies that can drain or kill a watch in short order. Some of that may be related to the fact that sweat is a great electical conducting liquid, even better than water. I had a friend years ago who could not wear a wrist watch of ANY variety that had a battery, as they would drain and die within about a day of putting them on. Old style wind up watches were less of a problem, but also tended to die within a few weeks, presumably becasue of internal corrosion messing up the delicate moving parts. His solution was a variant of a pocket watch which he clipped on a belt loop that remained separated from contact with his skin by his clothes. He also use to get freebies from drug companies (now a no-no) with things like pens with digital clocks, a clipboard with a calculator/clock, etc... which usually worked unless he had regular long term contact with them to his skin.

Stranger than fiction.

[CDNSushi]

Also, believe it or not, some people have strange and unusual electrical conductivity patterns in their bodies that can drain or kill a watch in short order.

Stranger than fiction.

Yeah! I've heard of it too. A friend of mine was telling me about a friend of his who has the problem. Not only can she not wear watches, but anything electrical around her goes nuts. Apparently she can't even have her own car because it won't start half the time!

Go figure!

[tundramanq]

A little "Twilight Zone" music here would be nice..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b5aW08ivHU

[celt72]

I have the same problem, but not quite as bad as you. I can only wear stainless steel or gold watches and jewelry. It used to be a bigger problem for me when I was growing up in Texas, but now that I live in Seattle, I don't seem to sweat as much. I always understood that it was because my sweat had a very high acidic pH. It is annoying for me, but that is about it.

[Burly Brute]

I think it is definitely common, to some degree. I sweat by the bucket fulls, and just don't wear much metallic items. I would agree though that washing your hands a lot helps. I would say those hand sanitizers too, maybe dry up your hands some. Idk though, I would say the best suggestion would be to ask your primary care doc. Good luck man!