Sunscreen vs G10

T

TheEdge01

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I have read that some lotions like sunscreen have chemicals that could damage materials like plastic. Has anyone on here ever experienced issues with this?
 
I’ve had sunscreen damage the plastic stems on a pair of sunglasses but I’ve never had any sunscreen damage on knives.

I don’t recall any of my knives ever coming in contact with sunscreen.
 
The Zieg said:
I've damaged Victorinox SAK scales with high concentrations of DEET, but not sunscreen.
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That's interesting. I was surprised to find out that rubbing alcohol damages SAK scales as well. I rub down my knife scales with a paper towell with a bit of alcohol sometimes to get rid of the oils and stuff, I did that with the nice shiny scales of my old Wenger and it immediately dulled the scales and changed the finish a bit.
 
Seeing as UV damages epoxy resins, maybe we should actually all be slathering our G10 handles with sunscreen to protect them. Probably not though, slippery hands aside.

I know some spray sunscreens (the kind in a pressurized can) use butane as a propellant and can contain denatured alcohol, which also act as solvents and might damage some plastics. Don't know about epoxy/G10 though.
 
G10 is epoxy/glass. Epoxy resins are usually crosslinked, and therefore very resistant to chemical attack. As noted, like all plastics, they are not immune to UV damage.

Victorinox uses Cellidor for their scales. Cellidor is a cellulose acetate butyrate thermoplastic and is not crosslinked. It is vulnerable to solvents. Get some high concentration DEET on it and you will see for yourself.
 
I think it Depends on the sunscreen
Some sunscreen sprays are chemical
Some are mineral sprays, same goes for cream sunscreen, also some sun screen have zinc in them Some dont.
 
lambertiana said:
G10 is epoxy/glass. Epoxy resins are usually crosslinked, and therefore very resistant to chemical attack. As noted, like all plastics, they are not immune to UV damage.

Victorinox uses Cellidor for their scales. Cellidor is a cellulose acetate butyrate thermoplastic and is not crosslinked. It is vulnerable to solvents. Get some high concentration DEET on it and you will see for yourself.
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Epoxy used in G10 is of the chemically crosslinked variety. It's impervious to sunscreen chemicals. Any chemical which could harm G10 should not be put on your naked skin.
 
G10 is nothing more than fiber glass cloth layered with resin, surfboard skins are fiber glass cloth some made with Polystyrene resin, some with Epoxy resin, never had an issue with sunscreen other than I didn't use enough or strong enough or put it on frequent enough. Now you want to talk Sunlight and UV Rays?
 
The mentions of damage caused by UV exposure on the resin make me want to wipe my G10 with 303 protectant!

Ok, not really, but it does lead me to wonder if it would help in cases of prolonged exposure to the sun.
 
I'd like to see any example of deteriorated or decayed g-10 from anything short of deliberate abuse.

It's just not going to happen.
 
zippifish said:
G10 is nothing more than fiber glass cloth layered with resin, surfboard skins are fiber glass cloth some made with Polystyrene resin, some with Epoxy resin, never had an issue with sunscreen other than I didn't use enough or strong enough or put it on frequent enough. Now you want to talk Sunlight and UV Rays?
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The term "G10" is specific to epoxy. If the laminate is not made with glass cloth and epoxy, it is not G10.

This is not the same as "Micarta" Micarta can be made with any of several resins. The reinforcement used can vary also.
 
knarfeng said:
This is not the same as "Micarta" Micarta can be made with any of several resins.
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And also several different types of cloth.

Linen, canvas, denim, burlap, just off the top of my head. Paper isn’t even a cloth but makes a lovely smooth micarta.

(Not to imply that knarfeng didn’t already know this. I’m just adding to the pile of variability of “micarta.”)
 
J. Doyle said:
I'd like to see any example of deteriorated or decayed g-10 from anything short of deliberate abuse.

It's just not going to happen.
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I do have an example of G10 that’s a bit bleached out, presumably from prolonged UV exposure, but I bought it used so I can’t confirm.

It is structurally and functionally perfect though.
 
I haven’t had sunscreen mess up any plastic but I’ve had DEET damage some stuff. But after seeing what friends have gone through with Lyme disease I’ll put it on.
 
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