My husband is whinging about the smell of Monomer

[Seraphine]

I'm a mobile therapist, but I do the odd set at home on clients that live nearby, and I do my own nails at home.

We had a blow out the other day involving monomer. My husband has always been tetchy about the smell, and I take great pains to keep the smell down so it doesn't bother him. I'm in a well-ventilated room, keep the window open, use Gigi's "scrubfresh on a pad" trick, and above all, try to use it when he's not home (it's tough though as he works from home). He moans about how stinky and horrible it is, but I've just been trying to work around him.

The other day, I needed to decant some into my small bottle I use in my case. I used a funnel, but still spilled a few drops. I cleaned it up, disposed of the pads I used outside the house, but there was still an odour. My husband went LIVID - I left the house at that point and he called me and shouted at me for having this stuff in the house. He doesn't want me to even keep it in the house, and has "forbidden" (his words!) me to use it in our home.

He was very critical, and accused me of being reckless with our son (who's 3) and his health, and that he (my husband) gets such terrible headaches from even the slightest smell of monomer that it must be really dangerous. I don't use monomer anywhere around my child, just to be clear!

He's away on a business trip for a few days so I'm still trying to calm down from this incident. Yet when I bring up wanting to rent a room someplace, he gets critical about the cost. I mean, I'm trying my damnedest to build a business and take care of our son, and the constant juggling has made me a bit crazy of late, but to be "forbidden" to work from home (or even do my own nails here!) has really peeved me.

I know we have some other issues to deal with, but I guess I'm just wondering if anyone has any suggestions? Ideas to minimise smell (any good portable ventilation machines, or any other tricks??), and what should I say to him about the health risks? He wants to see the MSDS sheets for my monomer, and while I've read them, he's quite uptight about things and will expect me to be wearing a hazmat suit if he reads them!

I guess I'm just looking for some guidance and some support - I want to just tell him to go to h**l about this, but I know that won't really help the situation. He's so critical about our industry anyway (he's a medical safety expert and ALWAYS looks for the "worst case scenario" with every situation) - the fact we use UV lamps (which cause cancer, don't we know!!!) and all these dangerous chemicals... but he doesn't seem to mind the money I bring home!

Ug. I'm very frustrated.

Thanks for listening!
Dawn

 

[Apex73]

:irked: grrrrrr. Could he be any less helpful?

If you a re now forbidden (grrrrrr!) to use monomer at home, & he moans about renting space, then I think your options are these:
Either seal up his nostrils with l&p (i like that one :hug or become a gel technician.

If you are doing all you can to keep the odour manageable (& it sounds like you've heeded Geegs advice on the subject) & he wont let you do it elsewhere,then I dont see what option (apart from the nostril sealing) you've got.

BTW I bet your kid would actually get to like the smell, I know my kids do! lol

Good Luck :hug:

 

[~Emmsybabes~]

It sounds to me hunny like whatever you say or show to him, he will moan anyway...

Like I said to a feller I had an arugument with a few months ago over a similar thing...
If it were THAT dangerous...we would all be dead !

I just don't think he will give in hun no matter what...he sounds like a stubborn one lol...

If you want to vent the blog girls have amazingly large ears and shoulders :lol: pop along to the blogs anytime you like hun, for "outside of work" chat...

 

[kaz]

Get a new husband. May seem harsh, but if my other half had (forbidden) me to use anything in our house, (that I pay half of everything for), he would get more than a few choice words.

Maybe point out to your husband that he doesn't seem to complain about the extra money aspect and used correctly, monomer etc is not damaging his or your sons health.

 

[~Emmsybabes~]

:irked: grrrrrr. Could he be any less helpful?

or become a gel technician.


Good Luck :hug:

Yeah but doesn't he moan about the UV lamp too ?

 

[Seraphine]

Thanks guys - I know this borders on "off work" subject, but I guess I hoped someone would see it and have some magical idea of dealing with odour. I'll try some odourless liquid but I still have a gallon of my regular monomer to go through first!

You know, if I became a gel-only tech, he'd gripe about how the UV lamp is going to cause blindness and retinal cancers, yadda yadda yadda. It's like banging your head on a brick wall with him sometimes!

I told him that my clients don't mind the smell, and then he asked me "well, have you polled them on the subject???" He seems to think they aren't telling me how bad it is! Well, I guess all that repeat business must be a fluke then. Plus, if I had a pound for every time I told a client beforehand that the monomer smells quite strong, only to be told "that's okay - I like the way it smells!"

.... and then another pound for every husband/boyfriend that walks into the house during a service and then comments on 1) what is that stuff?? and 2) you must love your job - you're high all the time! (honestly, I hear this a lot).

I'll check the blogs out - thanks for the heads up!
Dawn

 

[claireamy]

Aw Honey, sounds like a bit of a bad situation.

Try and stay reasonable (unlike him) and present him with the facts. Yes, these chemicals are dangerous if used incorectly or in the wrong hands. Reassure him that they're PERFECTLY SAFE if being used by a trained tech.

I think you've taken every measure possible as far as I can see to reduce the 'smell' and tell him to try and be a bit more reasonable (after all this is YOUR job/career and you are trying your hardest to bring home some bacon - so to speak!).

I have a 5yr old and a 2 yr old who never go anywhere near my nail stuff (I'm also a mobile tech so keep my things in the house) but I still lock it away just in case. I do occasionally do people from home when they're around and they're completely used to the smell now and it doesn't bother them. They're happy and healthy, especially as I'm earning a living to pay for them to have new clothes and holidays!

I suppose Im lucky as my hubby isn't bothered about the smell but I go to numerous houses where the hubby/boyf/son/dad moans like billy oh about the 'stink'. One bloke even said the other day that it was making his eyes water!!! I just laughed and told him to stop over exaggerating!

Good Luck, I hope you sort something out xx:hug:

 

[wishbabe]

Bless you!!:hug:

How frustrating when you are working around your children so he can do his job. Just let him know if you did not work from home on occasion and worked in a salon for instance he would have to pay a huge amount of money to child minders. He obviously has to spend time away from home with his work and should appreciate that you are there for his children.

I feel this is a little controlling on his behalf, maybe its not the smell at all, but a little insecurity on his behalf that you are making a go of things.:irked:

 

[izzidoll]

This is a very tricky one, as all monomers smell.
Some don't smell as strongly as others but they all do smell.

You obviously work safely and keep odours to a minimum so there is no point in going over any of that.

I don't know why, and I don't want to be sexist, but men seem more sensitive to the smell than women in general.

We work away and our female clients don't comment, then as you say the boyfriends and husbands appear and immediately they are in the door comment on the 'smell'.

When I had my salon my husband never hung about for long, as he didn't like the smell, but it was my Water delivery man that always used to moan and complain when he came.:irked:

I finally got an extractor fitted in the window, and the next time he made his delivery, he commented that we obviously hadn't been busy that day, as there was no smell!!!! We had back to back appointments all day lol!!!

To be honest that was the only way I knew how well my extractor was working, because obviously I was so used to the smell of my monomer I couldn't tell anymore!!

My husband has always been my best support for my career, despite the fact he like yours, hates the smell.
If I did nails at home or was practising techniques, he would always turn up his nose when he came home, despite my best efforts, windows open etc.

I don't know if your Vicki Peters monomer is has a particularly strong smell or not, but I found that since I changed brands, that my EzFlow monomer has passed the 'husband test'.

EzFlow is supposed to have 40% less odour, but to be honest with my sense of smell I couldn't tell much of a difference I just knew it smelled different. BUT when I use it at home, dispose of my rubbish and give a quick scoot of Oust about the house, my husband is none the wiser that I have been doing nails. In fact if I didn't have a new set of nails on he probably wouldn't believe me!!

Maybe not a scientific way of checking out if it has less odour but it worked for me!!

I know you are giving a lot of thought to renting a room, and you have a good opportunity.
Maybe this is the shove you need to get out and go for it!!

The only other thing I will say, is you should ask yourself is the problem at home really with the smell, or is that just a convenient thing for your husband to complain about. You need to figure that out before you make any changes to what you do.

There may be deeper issues here, about you becoming a successful and more independent woman and he may be a little insecure about that, but I suppose that discussion is really for the blogs, or a private matter for you to sort out.

Best of luck whatever you do.:hug:

 

[~Emmsybabes~]

I told him that my clients don't mind the smell, and then he asked me "well, have you polled them on the subject???"

if I had a pound for every time I told a client beforehand that the monomer smells quite strong, only to be told "that's okay - I like the way it smells!"
All the people (female) who have walked into my house LOVE the smell too.....Me included...the smell makes me happy lol...if it was a perfume...I would buy it :green:

.... and then another pound for every husband/boyfriend that walks into the house during a service and then comments on 1) what is that stuff?? and 2) you must love your job - you're high all the time! (honestly, I hear this a lot).
You and me both hun....men always think I must walk around permanently stoned lol.....They honestly react like I have dog poo smeared all over my table !

I'll check the blogs out - thanks for the heads up!
Dawn

I just wanna say, I know I mentioned the blogs, I just meant if you want to sneak on and have a good 'man rant' lol, (you can make them private :wink2
I know this thread is mainly about help with the odour hunny :hug:

 

[Seraphine]

You guys are the best

My husband and I definately have issues, but because he's a scientist and specialises in risk management and safety, I hear about this all day long.

I don't think my VP monomer is particularly bad smelling - I have others that seem to smell worse! I know VP has an odourless but I don't know how much less odour it produces, and I'm always wary of losing strength in my product. Still, you are right to think of other products to try.

I use Oust too! I open my doors and wave lots of fresh air in, give a blast of Oust, take all my rubbish away quickly... he still moans.

I'm still looking into room rental, as my son is off to nursery in August and that will free me up for a 4-5 hour stretch each afternoon (plus still do evening work) but I want to speak to a business advisor first to make sure I've not forgotten to include anything in my costings. I've still got a lot of research to do before I make the jump!

Izzy - what kind of extractor do you use? Does anyone have a portable one they like?

Thanks again guys
D

 

[Apex73]

You guys are the best

My husband and I definately have issues, but because he's a scientist and specialises in risk management and safety, I hear about this all day long.
I don't think my VP monomer is particularly bad smelling - I have others that seem to smell worse! I know VP has an odourless but I don't know how much less odour it produces, and I'm always wary of losing strength in my product. Still, you are right to think of other products to try.

I use Oust too! I open my doors and wave lots of fresh air in, give a blast of Oust, take all my rubbish away quickly... he still moans.

I'm still looking into room rental, as my son is off to nursery in August and that will free me up for a 4-5 hour stretch each afternoon (plus still do evening work) but I want to speak to a business advisor first to make sure I've not forgotten to include anything in my costings. I've still got a lot of research to do before I make the jump!

Izzy - what kind of extractor do you use? Does anyone have a portable one they like?

Thanks again guys
D

Have you got a copy of Doug Schoon's book (nail structure & product chemistry)?
If not, get yourself a copy & ask your husband to read it.
It should help him see the facts of the subject.
:hug:

 

[katlu]

I've had several rows with mine about the smell. I do more mobile work than home work, I do actually prefer working from home but the smell is an issue. I now go out to the garage to practice new designs etc, just to escape the moaning. I spend so much time in the garage that we have now decided to convert it into a salon. I am absolutely thrilled to bits, just need to space and the peace. Have you thought about doing the same, cheaper than renting space? Also I have read a few thread on here where people have purchased those wooden outdoor houses, set them up in the garden and turned them into salons. If you have space in your garden that would be an option. You need to do a search on this, it could well solve the problem.

 

[JANEY K]

Have you got a copy of Doug Schoon's book (nail structure & product chemistry)?
If not, get yourself a copy & ask your husband to read it.
It should help him see the facts of the subject.
:hug:

A man that is an internationally known scientist, educator and author with over thirty years experience in the beauty and personal care industry & knows more than others.good book
j x

 

[geeg]

You guys are the best

My husband and I definately have issues, but because he's a scientist and specialises in risk management and safety, I hear about this all day long.

D

Then approach him like a scientist. Here is the info you want. From The Geek.

Hope I can help clarify things here.

First off, there is no relationship between an odour and the potential danger level of anything. Carbon Monoxide is odourless, but will kill you. Many products are odourless, but still evaporate (and thus form vapours which is what you breathe in). Ill babble on about that in a moment!

The next thing that is important to understand is the difference between exposure and overexposure. Every chemical (as mentioned previously; a chemical is anything you can see or touch except for light and electricity) has a safe exposure and unsafe exposure level and no chemical is dangerous unless you become overexposed to it.

In this context, when you overexpose an area of the body to a chemical (ingredient) then the body's immune system starts to come into play (nails do not count as they are not living matter!). Depending on the amount of the offending chemical (in this case 'ingredient') and strength of it as a sensitise, the body will slowly and subtly in the beginning, however after each repeated overexposure, it will respond faster and more 'severe'.
In this case, the overexposed area will being to show signs of irritation (redness, temporary burning, etc...). Repeated and continual exposure (even months later) will cause the symptoms of irritation to increase in intensity, eventually manifesting itself as an allergic reaction. Once again, this is because the body's immune system believes that it is 'under attack' by a particular ingredient and responds accordingly. This is really no different than when someone eventually develops an allergic reaction to a metal like nickel or gold (i.e. earrings). Other good examples are latex, poison ivy, perfumes, detergents, etc... The body 'thinks' these are potential pathogens and a threat to the body, so the body 'attacks' the ingredient to protect itself. This is seen as a 'reaction'. It is important to note that this is localised. In other words, swabbing product on their lateral folds wont cause a reaction to appear on their butt. Furthermore, you will only overexpose them IF you get it on their skin IN THE FIRST PLACE AND THEN CONTINUE TO GET IT ON THEIR SKIN TIME AND TIME AGAIN!

To put things into perspective, traditional gels are FAR more likely to cause the body to go into full alert with skin exposure than monomer and polymer systems. There are some exceptions, however no gel is less likely to cause irritation than a L&P system (except for light cured L&P systems and in many cases, odourless L&P systems!). The funny thing to note here is that the odourless systems (gels and odourless/light cured L&P) are FAR more likely to cause irritation as they contain stronger sensitisers! Though not absolute, a general rule of thumb is; less odour means more potential for irritation!

So, skin exposure aside, what about breathing in this stuff? Gels have a substantially lower evaporation rate as they are pre-formed monomers. That doesn't mean they aren't evaporating, it is just substantially lower (most gels still contain monomers as flow modifiers).
When anything (in this case monomers) evaporate, they form a vapour which is what you are smelling. But is your nose a very good gauge on the relative safety of a chemical? Nope. It's a pants gauge.

Your olfactory sense (sense of smell) is over 10,000 times stronger than sight. Your sense of smell can pick up and identify something in the air that is less than 1 part per million (ppm's are how air quality are measured). In this instance, your nose can strongly identify monomer molecules in the air when there is less than 1 for every million parts of air! Can you imagine for a second being able to 'see' a needle in a haystack containing over a million straws of hay?!?

The average nail salon is around 100-200 times below the safety threshold level for exposure to EMA (the key monomer in L&P enhancements). To put that into perspective, your exposure to the safety threshold levels of carbon monoxide on your way to work is potentially higher.

Many, many air quality studies have been done in many parts of the world in nail salons because of peoples 'concern' about the 'dangerous' substances they may be inhaling in the salon. Every single time without fail, they determine that the salon air quality is FAR below any type of level to be concerned with. This doesn't mean that you should not practise proper extraction and ventilation! It just means put things into perspective! For some, a curry house stinks - but it doesn't mean it is going to kill you!

HTHs!



The Geek
aka Samuel Sweet

 

[aliceellen1974]

its funny but being mobile a lot of the husbands or partners of the ladies i do manis, pedis or enhancements on MOAN about the smell of products - ie polish remover and especially monomer - however the women either dont really notice it or find it a pleasant smell - its an interesting topic from a psychologists point of view (sorry have a psych degree!)

x

 

[pinkmonkey]

Hey Seraphine,
My husband used to moan like mad about the smell until we did what a previous post suggestd and bought a log cabin from Finn Forest.
Its' fully double glazed with a fully opening window and has a double mortice lock. I painted the inside white and put lino down it's connected to the mains electricity and has a sink in the corner no plumbing required.
All my customers are so surprised when they come and it is toasty warm.
I see like me you are based in Scotland so you will bound by the same constraints i was, which were ;

1) If your mortgage company hasn't been notified and approved your running a business from home then your public liability insurance is invalid. Some mortgage companies have no problem mine did. However they approved of a garden business as outwith my home.

2) If your not using the room in your home for a domestic function as well as a home salon and someone reports you or the council finds out then your council tax may be increased.

3) planning permission, as the cabin is a wooden building it does not require planning permission as it is classed as a "non-permanent" structure.

So bob's your uncle, all boxes ticked. My husband and father-in-law had the entire thing done and dusted in a weekend as the logs slot together no nails required. Only thing is the price (£2,800) but think about how much rent, water, electricity, contents insurance and outfitting a premises would cost you in comparison ? I had shopped around for premises before going down this road and calculated i'd be £3,500/yr in rent etc. so in less than a year it pays for itself. Best part is no strangers in your home and no travelling to work, also no concerns about salon security at night cause your there ! If a customer wants to use the bathroom then they can go in the garden bushes (joke) te he he..On their client record card i have a statement which they must sign which says i will not accept responsibility for personal injury or damage to property on my premises, this allows for customers to use my bathroom.
I have found this such a stress free way to build my business as if i have a quiet spell i'm not worrying about rent and electricity ticking away.
I can take some pictures and post them for you if you like ?

Only irony is my husband sometimes comes into the cabin when i'm practising after hours and actually has the cheek to stand there bitching about the odour !!!** What can you do ? Can't live with em, can't kill em !
Oh and short term, NSI sell a mini extractor called the "fuminator" which i find very effective.

 

[Seraphine]

Hi Rae!

Thanks for your post!

It's funny as we are considering a Finn Forest cabin for my husband - he already works from home, but often has issues with household noise (he is often on teleconferences with 30 people, or doing online lectures, so he can't have any extra noise in the background) so we were going to set him up outside.

If he keeps fussing at me, maybe I'll get a huge one with an extra bedroom in it for him, and he can be out there all the time!!

I have a "friend of a friend" who has a florists in a bigger town down the road - she's moving to a bigger premises on the high street and I'm going to speak to her this weekend about seeing if she's got a little room for me. I think the two businesses would work well together, and she's been very supportive in the past. We'll see what she says!

I can't put a permanent set up for me in the house - I'm in a Persimmon development, and there was some rule in the deed about not running a business with foot traffic (my husband doesn't have visiting clients, so he's okay). I don't have a lot of clients coming to the house - very few, actually - and most of those are friends first. I just work off my dining room table (not the most professional, but my mobile setup is pro all the way!) But my husband moans even when I'm doing my OWN nails, so even if I had no clients here he'd still be complaining.

I'm off to check out that Fuminator - thanks for the heads up!

I feel a lot better and more equipped to debate with him when he gets home - I really feel committed to my career and am tired of having to defend myself! You all have been such a tremendous support - THANK YOU!!!!

 

[geeg]

You know, it is so easy to minimise the odour to practically nothing that I can never understand what all the fuss is about! If you are getting allot of odour or complaints about odour ..... do the following.

1. Quit wiping the monomer out of your brush on the paper! Wipe on a lint free pad that has been dmpened with ScrubFresh instead and there will be virtually no odour.

2. Always cover your dappen dish immediately after use.

3. Put all used paper and wipes in a lined metal container and empty frequently.

4. Transfer all monomer to the dappen dish with a pipette.

5. Follow manufacturers guidelines and install an extraction ventilation system.

Just doing these things will virtually eliminate odour in your working area

 

[kellyyork]

i know opi do an "odor free" monomer. never tried it but it might be worth a go?? x