Splinter removal

Sterilize tweezers or needles with alcohol. To use tweezers to help remove the splinter, disinfect them with rubbing alcohol. This can remove bacteria that may cause infection to your skin.

  • You can get rubbing alcohol at pharmacies and many medical supply stores. Grocery stores and large retailers also sell rubbing alcohol.

Employ a magnifying glass and good lighting. One thing to consider is using a magnifying glass when removing the splinter. This may help you see the splinter more clearly and reduce the risk of injuring your skin further. In addition, make sure you remove the splinter in a well-lit area to help you see it better.

 Break and lift the skin over the splinter. Using your pin point precision tweezer, break and lift the skin flap that rests over the splinter. This can help you more easily grab the splinter and remove it more quickly.

  • If you have to dig deeply to break the skin or see the splinter, consider going to the hospital or your doctor to reduce your risk of injury.
  • Breaking the skin and lifting the skin should expose the tip of the splinter.

Grasp the splinter with tweezers. Once you’ve exposed the splinter’s tip, grasp it with your tweezers. Gently pull out the splinter.

  • Pull out the splinter at the same angle that it entered your skin.
  • If you have to dig deeply with your tweezers to get at the splinter, you may want to see your doctor to remove it.
  • If the tip of the splinter breaks off, you may need to either see a doctor or try re-grasping it with your tweezers.
  • You can generally remove splinters that entered the skin horizontally and are fully exposed by opening the skin with a sterile needle and flicking it out.

Squeeze the wound gently. When you’ve successfully removed the splinter, gently squeeze it until you see some blood (if it’s deep enough to bleed). This will wash out germs from the wound.

  • Don’t be too vigorous. If the wound doesn’t bleed, you can use other methods to clean out any germs and bacteria, including antibacterial ointment.

Disinfect the area. Wash the area where the splinter was after you’ve taken it out of your skin. This can clean any lingering bacteria and germs in the wound. Afterwards, apply an anti-bacterial ointment.

  • You can use a mild soap and water or an anti-bacterial wash to disinfect the affected area.
  • Pat the area dry with a towel. Don’t rub, which can irritate your skin.
  • Apply an antibiotic ointment. Put an antibacterial ointment on the area g up to twice per day. This can minimize the risk of infection on the affected area.
  • Purchase an antibiotic ointment such as bacitracin, neomycin, or polymyxin B. Many brands will put the three into one product and call it “triple antibiotic ointment.”
  • Cover the area with a bandage if you like.
  • Use the ointment as indicated on the packaging.
  • You can by antibiotic ointments at most pharmacies and some grocery stores.

Watch for signs of infection. If you start to experience any signs of infection from the site on which you removed the splinter, see your doctor immediately. She can prescribe a course of treatment and remove and lingering bits of the splinter that you were not able to see. Signs of an infection include:

  • Drainage from the site
  • Pain
  • Redness or red streaks on the area
  • Fever

Black Oxide

I gave you the letters from Dessert Storm, so I thought that I would show you an article that was in a Hartford newspaper about shipping it there! We sent our black Oxide tweezers, so that they wouldn't reflect the sunlight alerting other soldiers of their whereabouts.

An Uncle Bill Story!

With all these new interesting national celebration days like pirate day and toilet day (yes toilet day), I forgot about national grandparents day back in September. Though my grandparents are gone, I still think of them often. Especially “Uncle Bill!”

I still remember the first time that I saw my grandfather’s work room for the tweezers down in his basement. It was a tiny room behind the stair case and next to the extra freezer. I’d always wondered what was behind that closed door.

As we walked through the door there was so much metal in the room on ever shelf and the small table, yet everything was in order. He let me make my own tweezer that day which, for an eight year old, was the most exciting thing ever! He did the bending of the mental, but I cut the tip with the hacksaw.

At this point, the tweezers were already being produced by El Mar. Co, but my grandfather was very much a part of the production. Once he died in 2000, my parents would travel to Connecticut from California to make sure that things were up to par, while also visiting family.

The business was just a hobby for my grandfather after retirement; he was an engineer who loved the many wonders of life. I think that he would really enjoy seeing how the business has continued on the way it has. We sell all the way to Japan from the US and many countries in between like South Korea, Australia, France, and more. He was an amazing man and I will never forget the fun times we had.

Holiday special

HOLIDAY SPECIAL: Every 5 tweezers bought, you get 1 for free!

Squarespace, the site that I set up my website through is not set up for specials like this, but I still wanted to offer it. So upon checkout the free tweezer will not show, but worry not! The extra tweezer(s) will be shown on the invoice and in the package!

There is also a BONUS for orders over 20. That would normally be 4 free tweezers, but for every 20 I will add an extra 2 into that order. So if you order twenty, toy will receive 26. If you order 40, you will receive 52 and so on! Happy holidays!

Pluck with less pain!

Once you've got your tweezers out, it's time to get busy. But don't start plucking without some preparation. First, you want open pores so hairs can be more easily removed. A warm shower or bath beforehand can help with that to make your skin relaxed and soft. Don’t have a lot of time? That’s fine too. Place a hot washcloth on your face for a few minutes. You should also prepare the tweezers. Some beauty experts recommend placing tweezers in the freezer before you use them. The cold metal numbs the skin as you pluck, reducing pain.

Proper technique is extremely important. Use a spiral brush to shape your brow and get hairs into place. Next, if needed, use brow scissors to trim longer hairs, checking for equal balance and proportion as you work. Now you're ready to start plucking. Grab each hair at the root and pull smoothly in the direction of hair growth. Remember: Don't use tweezers to remove hair over large areas because it can cause ingrown hairs or scarring. And consider applying a soothing cream after tweezing to reduce redness and inflammation.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone! I hope that the chocolate hangover isn't too bad! :-) Here is a picture of spooky nail art that you might want to consider for next year. You can use the tweezers to get perfect placement.

House Cleaning With Tweezers

Tweezers are an important staple for any at-home first aid kit. But they have many uses.

Remove cracked eggshells when cooking.
Broken shells fall into the bowl? Use a tweezer to pull it out. It is less messy and tweezers are easy to clean.

 Pull hair and more from the shower drain.
Afraid of the mystery gunk stuck deep inside the drain? With tweezers you don’t have to gu your hands up with whatever buildup is down there. Phew!

 Grab crumbs from under stove burners.
Not only is it safer than using your fingers (ouch!), it keeps your kitchen smoke-free.

Tighten loose screws on your glasses.
Don't have a miniature screwdriver on hand? The point is just small enough to work.

Pluck pesky animal hairs off sweaters and coats.
Unfortunately that lint roller doesn't always get every last strand. Tweezers will help get the ones that won’t budge with a roller alone.

Thread a needle.
Tweezers are really convenient when you have to pull a tricky thread through a needle's eye.

 Help kids improve fine motor skills.
Using tweezers can help increase your little one's hand and finger strength, shoulder and elbow stability, and grasping techniques.

Untangle necklaces.
Sometimes delicate chains are too small to untwist with hands alone. Tweezers can really help.

Other at home uses: Beauty:

Apply false eyelashes.
It’s hard to get the precise application, but with tweezers it makes it easier and you'll avoid sticky fingers from the glue.

 Design a fancy manicure.
Ready to up your nail art game? Use a pair to decorate your tips with rhinestones, striping tape, or studs. You can use the same technique for adding small beads to your crafts, or stickers to your scrapbooks, too.

Uncle Bill

Here is another picture of The Uncle Bill with his wife, my grandma, Betty. Although both gone, they were wonderful people with great hearts. They both spent lots of time on their porch in the summer playing games with their grand kids and enjoying the fireflies. They were also a good and dependable neighbor and liked to attend church on Sundays being very much apart of their community. I'm sure my grandpa would have loved to get to know more customers because he loved to market his ideas and meet new people.

The "Uncle Bill" family

The picture below is of the whole family on Bill's side. His three sons, also very talented and inventors, are with their families as well. You can spot my family as I'm the only granddaughter in the mix. I believe that this pictures is from the late 80's or early 90's.

Tweezers origin

I thought that this was very interesting. I looked up the origin of tweezers and found out that they originated in the mid-17th century. In an earlier blog, Tweezers of the 664 BC, I posted a picture of what they looked like before they were called tweezers.

Tweezers is an extended form of obsolete tweeze ‘case of surgical instruments,’ shortening of etweese, plural of etui.

It is interesting to see just how far we have come of the many centuries!

Family day

My grandfather was really into having family days. My father took over that tradition (along with many other similarities.) Today was the Solano Stroll in Albany California which is a huge day out with families and booths occupying the whole street of Solano Ave (a mile long). About 250,000 people show up to this little town and enjoy the festivities with their families and friends. among those family are many owners of the Sliver Grippers. I thought that I would share this information for those travelers since it is still summer. If you are ever in the Bay Area, Albany is a nice suburban town and the current home of the Silver Grippers.

Automotive

Use these tweezers on i/core pins. They are designed to securely hold the smaller diameter pins that are used in i/core but will also hold the larger diameter pins that are found in standard cylinders.

Short and simple, but very effective! Go try!

The “beauty” of tweezers

If you’re serious about your brow maintenance, these are a great investment. The extreme pointy-ness of the tweezer has its advantages. They are brilliant for precision, so they’d be ideal for the perfectionists out there. These tweezers can isolate specific hairs; handle a single, or very short hair; or small, fine hairs; or even (perish the thought) an ingrown one.

It’s not only great for women who have been tweezing for many years; it’s equally well-suited to a young woman just learning how to use a tweezer. It will help you capture that stray hair (e.g.., around the chin area) and it definitely lends itself to a “search and pluck” technique. 

The tweezers are made of the highest quality stainless steel – it’s durable, and it doesn’t rust.

Tweezer Art

I have a wonderful customer who has been using the tweezers for her art work and another for her nails. The tweezers allow you to apply nail art accessories with pinpoint precision. Try rhinestones, glitters, confetti, gems, fimo cuttings or any other 3d designs. Do the same with 3d artwork, or separating beads for beadwork like making a bracelet or necklace. There are endless uses when it comes to tweezers. It's always nice to try something new and have some fun!

Sharping your tweezer

No beauty/first aid/camping/construction/doctor/etc. kit is complete without tweezers. They're an essential tool for many uses. If your tweezers see regular use, they're bound to get dull eventually. Dull tweezers can't grasp small objects or hair well, so you might be tempted to toss them and buy a new pair. If you have a nail file, emery board or sand paper on hand, you can use it to breathe new life into your tweezers.

Items you will need

  • Tweezers
  • Towel
  • Nail file, emery board or sand paper

Step 1: Rinse your tweezers under lukewarm running water for a few seconds. Dry the tweezers well with a towel.

Step 2: Hold the tweezers in your non-dominant hand and hold a nail file, emery board or a piece of sand paper in the other.

Step 3: Close the tips of the tweezers around the abrasive tool.

Step 4: Pull the tool out toward you using a single quick motion. Push it back in, and then pull it out again. The tweezers will sharpen as the blades rub against the tool's abrasive surface.

Step 5: Repeat this process a few more times. Get the best results by pulling and pushing the board in different directions.

Step 6: Check the tweezers for sharpness. If the blades are still dull, go through the sharpening process again.