I've done some dumb things in my life, matter-of-fact I've done a LOT of dumb things in my life. I'm sure I've done enough stupid things that I could dedicate a whole blog to them; "All the stupid, dumb things I've done in my Lifetime Blog".
So what's one more thing to add to the ever growing list ?
I have thin, fragile fingernails and when I do wire work my nails take a beating. I tend to use them as a fulcrum to bend the wire into the "neck" of a loop. After making several wrapped loops using my thumbnail as a bending point I usually end up with a chip or a notch in the middle of the outer edge of my thumbnails. That's not normally a problem until I try to do seed bead work and then the tough nylon beading thread always finds its way into that notch and most of the time it causes the nail edge to split down towards my thumb. Recently, like a couple of days ago, I had this happen and I thought I'd take care of it before it got worse or before it got painful. I've tried bandaides before but they're awkward and it's hard to do bead work with a bandaide wrapped around the tips of ones thumbs. I recalled hearing that some ladies used super glue to help hold a cracked or split nail into place until it grew out but this was a little different since it was right down the middle of my nail. Anyway I devised a plan, I found some gauze and carefully cut it to fit the top part of my thumbnail and then I glued it down with a healthy dowsing of instant glue (Loctite 454) . When it was dry I coated both nails with clear nail polish and thought I was all set. It was the next day as I was washing some dishes that I realized that one of the make shift nail splints had come off in the wash. No problem, I'll just reattach a new one.
The first thing I did was take nail polish remover to remove the clear nail polish and any traces of the old 454 ... OMG ... the upper part of my thumbnails have dissolved. No joke, the glue had etched half way through the nail and I could see and feel a very distinct line where the healthy nail is and where the nail USED to be. Insert very strong curse words here and a whole lot of them !!!
Now instead of a week or two to wait for the split to grow out I will have to wait 2 or 3 months for half of my nail to grow out. Yeah this HAS to rank right up there with some of the dumbest things I've ever done.
Hello? Anyone still there? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
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Sooooo yeah it's been awhile since I posted. So much has happened over the
past 5 years! If you are one of my Facebook friends, you've seen the vast
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Yikes! As I'm reading about the glue, I'm thinking "oh no, she didn't!" which became "oh no, she DID!" Guess you won't do that again ; )
ReplyDeleteBut wait! I have for years, and I read this in a magazine, cut a small patch of paper from a tea bag I tore apart (it was dry), placed it on the tear, wrapped it over the edge of the nail, glued it down with super glue, just on the spot not all over the nail, filed it smooth, put on nail polish and been done with it! Doesn't last that long if you have your hands in a lot of water, but it never ate through my nail! So you aren't stupid, seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to do. The only time I had something happen to my nail/nail bed, was when I had fake nails removed and they tore layers of my nail away. I still had a nail but it was so thin if you pressed it, it would indent a little. Took a year or so until they all grew out. What if you wore a thimble on your thumb? Do they make plastic ones? That might be better than metal.
ReplyDeletePoor thing, it must hurt like crazy! And to make you feel better, a friend of mine long ago, picked up the super glue thinking it was eye drops and put it in her eye!
Sarah - Right, now I have another thing that I can tell children that they should NEVER do. LOL
ReplyDeleteMandy - I think the secret is in the glue and I have a feeling that Loctite 454 might not be quite the same as "Krazy Glue".
ReplyDeleteI just got a shudder down my spine reading about your friend that put it in her eye. That must have been incredibly painful, hope it didn't damage her eye or do permanent damage to her vision.
At least I can live for the next few months with the top half of my thumbnails being thinner than thin. When they say you can never be too rich or too thin, they weren't talking about fingernails. :D
Oooooh....you poor thing...Ouch!!! I'm bad at using my nails for "things" too and getting a notch and then it getting worse or ripping down low, but I will never try to glue it back together. I wonder if you could go to a nail salon and have them repair it so the recovery won't be as long.
ReplyDeleteIt's kind of funny...no matter how old we get or how much experience we have, somehow we all still manage to do dumb and silly things...me included BIG time in that group!
Here's to a speedy recovery. :-)
do the exact same thing as you with wire. I always end up trying to cut them down as far as possible so that the crack in the middle doesn't show or catch on my clothes too much. I thought when I starting reading this that our whole plan sounded completely reasonable - I was assuming that the glue made it too stong and then you caught the nail on your clothes and ripped it off... that's what I tend to do since I don't manage to get rid of the nick in the middle enough :)
ReplyDeleteOuch!!! I have had my nail ripped off before and it hurts so much growing back. Hope it will be okay soon.
ReplyDeleteOuch. Well, it's what some call a "learning experience" - sounds better than an error! The glue's solvent is the culprit.
ReplyDeleteOh my I haven't heard of such a thing before, how terrible! Hopefully you will recover sooner. have you considered using something to harden your nails?
ReplyDeleteOuchie mama! Hope it grows in fast.
ReplyDeleteGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA between your finger and the other gals eye just GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA . DId you know there are pages and pages of "How to remove super glue" from things??? EEkkkkk Well you have no nails and I have no clothes!!!We are both under the bus.
ReplyDeletePatty from
www.mylifeunderthebus.typepad.com
Oh no!!! I cringed as I read this. It reminded me of bending a nail back and having it break down in the quick. {{{shudder}}} I hope you don't have any problems with it as it grows back.
ReplyDeleteWOW! You really have no idea how many times I tried to post a comment on your blog :)
ReplyDeleteBut finally with the help of a few "Sweeties" who also had had problems with posting comments on blogger I (OK, my Hubby :) was able to work it out and now I am back YAY!!!!!
Hope your "digits" are healing well!
I love your necklace, did you post it in your Etsy Shop??? 'coz I am sure someone would grab that gorgeous work of art in a heart beat :)
Have a lovely Monday, cheers, T. :)
Yikes! How awful. I think we may use a variation of that Loctite to hold airplane screws in place ... for a LONG time. I would never of anticipated that result. Hope it does not hurt too much. But as far a dumb things goes, I've done some very stupid things myself (like shooting a rubber band stretched over a straightedge ... right into my eye! AS AN ADULT).
ReplyDeleteI wonder if one of those steel thumb guitar picks could be modified for you to protect your fragile nails while you work.
PS...I like your comment about the 3 B&W dressed women...so fun to learn more about your tastes.