Wet Cement and Grease on Your Hands: Cleaning Up and Caring for Skin on the Jobsite

Concrete finishers, masons, form setters and laborers all know the feeling. You get through a pour, peel off your gloves, and your hands are gray, tight and sore. A week of that and the knuckles crack. Some guys get burns and don’t even know it was the cement.

Concrete on hands is more than a mess. Wet cement and jobsite grease are two of the hardest things your hands deal with on a build. Here’s what each does to skin, what to do on the shift, and how to clean up and care for your hands at the end of the day.

Why wet cement is hard on skin

Wet cement is very alkaline. When portland cement mixes with water or with the sweat on your skin, it becomes caustic. Left on the skin, it works through the outer layer and can burn the living skin underneath. OSHA says skin contact with wet cement can cause cement burns and irritant or allergic dermatitis.

The tricky part is that a cement burn is easy to miss while you’re working, and it keeps getting worse as long as the cement stays on your skin. CPWR warns that these alkali burns can progress. The worst burns happen when cement gets trapped against the skin: inside a glove, down a boot, under a knee pad.

Cement can also cause allergy. CPWR warns that the chromium in cement can cause allergic contact dermatitis. Once you’re sensitized, even small amounts can set off a rash, and it can follow you for years.

Grease, tar and grime on top of that

It isn’t only the concrete crew. Operators and mechanics deal with grease and hydraulic fluid. Roofers deal with tar. Everyone deals with dirt. Most of it doesn’t wash off with plain water, so people reach for whatever is in the truck: gas, thinner, a harsh degreaser.

Those work on grime because they dissolve oil. They also dissolve your skin’s own oils, which is what keeps moisture in and irritants out. Strip that every day and your hands get dry, rough and cracked, and cracked skin lets more cement and grime in. It’s a loop.

On the shift: keep cement off your skin

No cream makes wet cement safe on bare skin. The first line of defense is the gear and the rinse.

• Waterproof gloves, with the cuffs taped or tucked so cement can’t run in. Cloth or leather gloves soak it up and hold it against your skin.
• Long sleeves and long pants, with pant legs over the top of your boots, not tucked in.
• Waterproof knee pads if you’re finishing on your knees.
• Change wet gear. If cement gets inside a glove or boot, stop and deal with it. Don’t finish the pour first.
• Rinse right away. Wet cement on skin? Rinse it off with plenty of clean water. OSHA expects washing facilities with clean water, non-alkaline soap and clean towels for workers exposed to portland cement.

Check your cement’s safety data sheet and your site’s PPE plan. They’ll tell you the first aid steps for that product.

End of shift: clean up without stripping your hands

At the wash station, you want something strong enough for jobsite grime that doesn’t rely on solvents. I.C. Heavy Duty Hand Cleaner is a pumice scrub that strips tar, oil, grease, carbon, sap and adhesives. It’s solvent-free, silicone-free and alcohol-free, and benzalkonium chloride kills 99.99% of germs. It has a light lemon scent.

How to use it:

1. Rinse any leftover cement off with clean water first.
2. Work the cleaner into dry or damp hands, around the nails and between the fingers.
3. Scrub for 20 to 30 seconds, then rinse well.
4. Pat dry with a clean towel.

No sink on the site? Keep I.C. Antibacterial Waterless Hand Cleaner in the truck. It removes tar, oil, grease and adhesives with no rinse: apply, scrub, towel off. It comes in single-use foil packs. Use it for grease and grime when there’s no water. For wet cement, rinse with clean water first. A waterless cleaner isn’t a substitute for getting the cement off.

After you clean up: take care of dry, cracked hands

Once your hands are clean and dry, put something on them. I.C. Advanced Repair Hand Cream is a dimethicone skin protectant (dimethicone 4%) that helps prevent and temporarily protects chafed, chapped or cracked skin. It’s fragrance-free.

• Use it at the end of the shift and before bed, after your last wash.
• Put it on while your hands are still slightly damp. AAD says that helps.
• Rub it into the knuckles, fingertips and around the nails, where cracks start.

Hand cream is for dry, chapped skin. It doesn’t treat a cement burn or a rash.

What to watch for

• Red, painful or blistered skin where cement sat against you. Treat it as a burn. Rinse with plenty of water and get medical care, and tell the clinician it was wet cement. CPWR says cement burns can progress and should be seen without delay.
• An itchy rash that keeps coming back on your hands or wrists, even with gloves. That can be a chromium allergy. See a clinician.
• Cracks that bleed or won’t close.

For more on what the jobsite does to skin, see our construction page and the construction Field Notes.

FAQ

Why rinse right away if my skin feels fine?

Wet cement is strongly alkaline, and it keeps working on the skin as long as it’s there. A burn can be easy to miss at first and get worse with time. Rinse with clean water right away, even if it feels fine.

Can a barrier cream protect me from wet cement?

No cream makes wet cement safe on bare skin. Waterproof gloves, the right clothing and a fast rinse come first.

What should I wash with after working with cement?

Clean water first to get the cement off. OSHA expects non-alkaline soap at the wash station, and CPWR advises a pH-neutral soap or cleaner. Check your cleaner’s safety data sheet. Then a hand cleaner for grease and grime, and a hand cream on clean, dry hands.

Sources

• OSHA, Standard Interpretation, April 11, 2008 (portland cement dermal hazards and washing facilities): https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/standardinterpretations/2008-04-11
• CPWR / eLCOSH, Physician’s Alert: Skin Conditions (cement alkalinity, chromium): https://www.elcosh.org/document/62/d000281/Physician%2527s+Alert%253A+Skin+Conditions.html
• CDC/NIOSH, Skin Exposures and Effects: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/skin-exposure/about/index.html
• American Academy of Dermatology, Dry skin relief from handwashing: https://www.aad.org/public/everyday-care/skin-care-basics/dry/coronavirus-handwashing