[melaniejs (OP)]

Harry asks:

How do you remove an excessive amount of petroleum jelly from the skin?

Anyone know?

[chiralSPO]

I would recommend a disposable composite cellulose fiber matrix (a paper towel)

[Bored chemist]

An alternative would be to emulsify the material into an aqueous phase cleaning agent using, for example,  a soluble salt of a long chain carboxylic acid as the emulsifying agent. (Or soap and water)

[Harry01]

Hi guys,

Thanks for your interest. Naturally I tried soap and hot water and kitchen roll. Believe it or not I actually tried a lot of things. It's actually been on my skin for 5 years.

Thanks

[Bored chemist]

It's actually been on my skin for 5 years.

No, it has not.

[Harry01]

Love the arrogance.

You're welcome to test it but I don't recommend it.

Half a jar of vaseline on a localised area of skin. Let's see how smug you are then...

[evan_au]

I actually tried a lot of things. It's actually been on my skin for 5 years.

I would see a dermatologist. It sounds suspicious.

[Bored chemist]

It is possible that you have greasy skin.
It is not possible that you have anything that has been on your skin for 5 years, simply because you skin isn't that old.

"Throughout your life, your skin will change constantly, for better or worse. In fact, your skin will regenerate itself approximately every 27 days."
From
https://www.webmd.com/beauty/cosmetic-procedures-overview-skin#1

[Harry01]

While it is true that your skin replaces itself it is still true that there is vaseline stuck to it. I never had vaseline stuck to my skin for 30 years of my life. Interestingly I never applied that much.

Have you tested it yourself? I was surprised too...

[Bored chemist]

I have used vaseline for greasing vacuum  fittings.
And I didn't bother with gloves, so I got it on my skin.
And it's not there now.
So, it's pretty clear that it comes off.

So it's not going to be there after 5 days, never mind 5 years.

[Harry01]

ooh we've got an intellectual, folks. 

But did half a jar get on your hands thoroughly worked in and allowed to dry.

I am merely suggesting that the quantity matters. Possibly how it's allowed to dry after being worked into the skin.

No, generally vaseline even in moderate amounts comes off the skin but experience has taught me that a very large amount can stay on the skin.

Thanks

[Petrochemicals]

Hi guys,

Thanks for your interest. Naturally I tried soap and hot water and kitchen roll. Believe it or not I actually tried a lot of things. It's actually been on my skin for 5 years.

Thanks

No it has not.

[Bored chemist]

ooh we've got an intellectual, folks. 

Just one.

and allowed to dry.

The reason I was using vaseline on vacuum gear is that it has a very low vapour pressure, and it's fairly stable WRT polymerisation. It doesn't "dry".

I am merely suggesting that the quantity matters.

Do you accept that, if there's lots on your skin, most of it can be wiped off (for example, with a paper towel or a rag)?

[Harry01]

Look guys, I'm not a chemist but I'd be very confident to prove I'm right if it might help someone engage in me finding a solution.

You say it doesn't 'dry' fair enough. But it is certainly easier to remove from the skin on initial application.

I'm on here to solve a problem. I used vaseline before and it came off. In 30 years of my life so maybe you can problem solve the conditions whereby vaseline CAN stay on your skin andwhat would be helpful is propose a solution.

At the very least you will see there are circumstances where it is difficult to remove from the skin.

Thanks for your interest

[chiralSPO]

At the risk of being ignored, I will add my own, "no, you did not have petroleum jelly stuck to you for several years"

I won't say your wrong about what your skin feels (how would I know), but I can be pretty certain that there must be another explanation.

As explained by others, we shed the surface of our skin frequently enough that nothing stuck to the surface can stay long (say it's permanently affixed to the surface, where does it go when the surface falls off?)

Perhaps you injected the jelly deeper into the tissue, more like a tattoo? (NOT recommended) Even then, I would be very surprised if it stuck around for more than a few weeks.

I applied petroleum jelly (liberally) to the backside of my son on a nearly daily basis for multiple years (until potty training), and I would bet that there would be no way to distinguish his anus from that of a similarly aged lad who had never gotten such treatment. (and that part is more absorbent than normal skin)

[Harry01]

Oh god. It's a very large amount of vaseline worked into a small surface area of skin.

You can say 'No, it's not there as much as you like.' You can say that. We can go through the balance of probabilities if you like. The skin does she'd it's skin this is true but there is something going on here that at the very least 'involves' vaseline. No I did not inject it as I would have included it in the information I sent.

I can give you a list of the things I've tried.

It would seem rather odd that in my 35 years of being alive on this planet having not had vaseline stuck to the skin in this way for 30 of them that it would be curious now to come to a science forum to post about it.

Maybe it defies your experience and so you've never encountered it. Well I'm sorry that the universe can be difficult. At least I know enough to know I don't know and to try to find out.

And let me say this: it would be a bit daft, dare I say it 'unintelligent' to be absolutely convinced of something when it turns out that there IS a circumstance where vaseline can indeed stay stuck to the skin.

One fact doesnt mean that another might exist together. This is how our complex universe works. Like you I may have remained ignorant of this possibility for the totality of my lifetime but having it happen to me forced me to reassess what I 'know'.

[Bored chemist]

You can say 'No, it's not there as much as you like.'

OK, let's assume we will.
Why do you think it's there?

Look guys, I'm not a chemist

I am a chemist.
But what you need is a doctor.
There seems to be some doubt about which particular branch of medicine.

[Harry01]

I challenged you to test it didn't I. It's available in most shops. No substitute for good practical science.

Yes, I have seen the doctors and they prescribed hibiscrub and a cream. The hibiscrub seems to do something but not quite enough. When I put too much on before I used an alcohol based gel and left it on then together with hot water and soap it came off.

I'm afraid you don't have any experience in this. I don't really care what you've studied or think you know.

How do I know it's there? Well I have nerve endings on my skin to feel and I have eyes that see. My eyesight was just checked. I can send that as evidence that I can see. I could also verify that I have a functioning nervous system too if you required it.

You demand proof. I can understand that. But it seems to be a specific problem that relates to a specific condition being met.

it absolutely is. And I challenge you to test it. If it's as easy to prove as you say then it comes off. If you honestly test it.

Then we'll have to find a solution together.

Thanks

[chiralSPO]

The solution is go to a doctor. It's going to be very difficult to exchange the necessary information by sending each other snaky messages.

In person, a trained professional has a chance of determining what is going on.

[Harry01]

Well I hope so. But it's a three month wait to see the specialist. I switched practices because of this problem. Because no-one was listening.

I only presented with this specific in 2015. I hadn't had it the rest of my life.

No, I wouldn't expect your son to have vaseline on his skin if applied in that way. I had used a lot of it before though I did find it difficult getting it off. Maybe I used a cream too and them used a nail brush. It certainly wasn't easy.

Any number of the people have viewed this forum can test it. All they have to do is prove it can, under certain cinditiins, stay on the skin for more than '5 days'?

I never said it would work with a little...

And then I'm probably owed an apology because I never started the snarky comments.

Not nice. Had chronic pain for 30 years. The doctors 'knew' that didn't exist either. Even when I was wrong about the causal mechanism I was not wrong about the symptoms.

It was a valuable lesson for me in life. But the social isolation was horrific. We don't function well in those circumstances.

Got psychosomatic symptoms. Another real thing that we don't understand very well, no-one talks about. I hope someone is reading this and identifies with this.

That's all you can have in this kind of situation. I'm going off topic but I hope someone finds this useful.