Wood splinters...

[Softus]

...are bleeding painful, especially from rough sawn roof timbers, and I'm fed up of getting them under my skin and being too cowardly to cut them out until they've gone septic, at which point I have no choice but to get medieval on myself.

Anyone got any ground-breaking techniques for dealing with them?

 

[BoxBasher]

Yup:

Failing that a good soak in a hot bath and a pair of tweezers.

 

[Softus]

Them's for pansies BoxBasher.

Failing that a good soak in a hot bath and a pair of tweezers.

Ta - I'll resort to the usual, which means I'll be reeking of TCP for a couple of days.

 

[Steve]

I find it strangely pleasant to pull out a splinter under my skin

 

[Softus]

I'm with you Crafty, but I have one here that's about 12mm long and barbed at every micron of its length.

 

[ricicle]

They're best when they go under your fingernail

 

[big-all]

They're best when they go under your fingernail

sadomasakist [spelling!!!]

 

[noseall]

had an inflamed lump on the back of my hand, between fingers right on the web bit.
when it got really angry the wife decided to give it a squeeze.

there was an audible 'pop' as a small but impressive looking piece of wood popped out. it was 1/4" long an a couple of mill across.

the wife was salivating, dribbling as she completed her surgery. she actually likes squeezing spots, so this was bliss.

 

[Thermo]

break the skin with a needle, soak in warm water for 20 mins, should ease out or use tweezers. Dont be a big girls blouse my two year old daughter sits there as good as gold while i perform mini surgery on her when she gets them!

 

[clf-gas]

Sugar and soap on a plaster.

Rub the lint of a plaster on a bar of soap and then add a little sugar, apply plaster to affected area and leave over night.

works as a drawing ointment

 

[RF Lighting]

Brand new stanley knife blade works a treat.

It has to be new so it is super sharp, and you should be able to tease the splinter out with the very point. You may have to cut a tiny bit of skin, but it shouldn't be too bad.

As has been said soaking it in warm water first will soften the skin and make it a little easier.

 

[giblets]

If you have access to new syringe needles they are the best ever for the job "in hand" (sorry 'bout that )

'Er indoors (being a vet ) has an unlimited supply.

 

[JohnD]

One of my ex-wives used to keep a bottle of Strongbow or Woodpecker with the first-aid kit, handy for when she got a splinter or thorn in her fingers when gardening.

She used to say as soon as she got a pr1ck in her hand, the best thing was to put it in cider.

 

[WoodYouLike]

Some tropical wood splinters are the worst - they 'crawl' inwards, not outwards!

 

[Softus]

Don't worry John - some of us appreciated it.