Upkeeping a legitimate home workspace

Quote: Originally posted by smaerd

I figured I would share what I know and ask for more advice about up-keeping a home chemistry work-space. I know what my intentions with home chemistry are but I also feel it is very important to make sure anyone who were to come by could clearly see them as well. Not that I show people my work-space primarily because of people's ignorance. Note-book: An important thing I have learned is to keep a hard-copy lab note-book. This is important for a few reasons, it helps me to see what I have done and improve on old experiments. It also is important because it keeps documentation of how and when chemicals were made which are on the shelf. Its also demonstrative for the passion for the hobby. Labels on chemicals: I tend to include a chemical formula or drawing of the structure, a short-hand name, and molar mass as well as date of creation for home-made chemicals. For purchased chemicals I provide a name, CAS, and the NFPA diamond. Chemical storage: I keep my oxidizers away from my acids and solvents. Solvents away from acids, and ethers away from everything. One thing I don't do is keep M.S.D.S. hard-copies around would this be a good idea? Keeping things clean: I try my best to make sure I don't have chemical splatters sitting around and that I don't leave glass all over the place after experiments. ----------- Wondering what other advice other people have? (If there's already a thread like this my post can be deleted.)

As far as chemical storage what I have done is dedicated a closet to it in which I installed some wooden shelves with guard rails to prevent things from falling. Liquid are stored in flat plastic trays. Finally, I replaced the door handle to one with a lock and key(which has always been common practice in workplaces of mine where very toxic materials were stored). Even though it is only myself and spouse living in the place it is an additional security measure, keeps everything out of sight to visitors, and would keep any visiting family's children out of harms way.

As far as MSDS's go, I understand that they should be kept in hard copy in an organized binder etc etc. This is too much trouble for me to print hundred and hundreds of pages and organize and index them. The only printed ones I have are the ones I receive from chemical suppliers with orders.

My alternative is using an app (theres an app for that!) on my iPhone called Chem Safety. It is a free electronic database of MSDS information that is very complete and very fast to use.

Another thing you have left out (I think) is safety equipment! Have a bucket of sand, fire extinguisher, fire blanket and an eye-wash bottle aside from the usual gloves and goggles etc. I recently bought a Bel-Art eye wash bottle for I think 18$, I keep it filled and in an easy to reach location. It can prove to be invaluable in case of unexpected splashes.. Whenever doing an experiment I bring it to my work area so that it is always by my side.




[Edited on 11-12-2012 by Mailinmypocket]

I store my flammables in a heavy-duty filing cabinet.

The contents I have in it are as follows;

1L iPrOH

600ml EtOH

600ml acetone

600ml EtOAc

5ml pyridine

150ml xylenes

500ml toluene

10ml trichloromethane

100ml benzyl alcohol

Small amount of THF, needs to be distilled

500ml MeOH

500ml white spirits

30ml n-pentane

30ml 2-ethylhexanol

250ml dichloromethane

small canisters of butane gas (for burners)

10g sodium metal

2g lithium metal

Hehe

If you want to know my sources, U2U me