Always Use Protection

Ratmosphere

Moderator
Moderator
When handling fermenting substrate always use gloves and a mask. This morning I wore gloves to mix the substrate and my arms were exposed. My arms touched the substrate and now I have hives on them and my whole body is itchy. Not sure what happened here because I don't have any allergies.

 
It sounds like you have some pretty bad allergies towards what's in your substrate. It could be anything from the sawdust itself, yeast, the gluten and other proteins in wheat, to contaminants found in any of the ingredients.

It's a common practice in the US to use herbicides before harvesting grain because it not only kills weeds in the field, but it causes the plants to produce more seeds as a last attempt to ensure survival. Some people are actually quite sensitive to the herbicides, and many people who are diagnosed as being sensitive to gluten are actually sensitive to the herbicide residues left in grain products. I wonder if this might be something you're reacting to?

 
It sure sounds like it! Heres something crazy. Just came back from getting my haircut and decided to give my substrate a quick mix. I had a long sleeve shirt on with gloves. I mixed all of my buckets and after mixing the third my ankles started itching like crazy. It then moved to my knee. This sucks!

 
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