I have Remove/Uni-Solve wipes to take off infusion sets and sensors and extra tape. It works great, and prevents my skin from basically ripping and then drying out for weeks after taking tape off (I have really sensitive skin). The only issue is the fact that I get bits of adhesive everywhere after using it. Even after washing my hands, adhesive remains on my skin and somehow makes its way onto my clothes, phone, diabetes bag, and so on.
I did a site change at work the other day and tried to use a wet wipe to clean up. It didn’t work that well. I also had a gusher, and got blood droplets all over my clothes, and it didn’t work well at cleaning that up, either. I think I may add a Tide stick to my diabetes kit!!
Just wondered if anyone here had suggestions for how to clean up all the goop after using an adhesive remover, since you all have had some other brilliant ideas that have made my life easier.
Just a personal preference here, but we tried the wipes and HATED THEM. They weren’t “wet” enough. We switched to the liquid…pour some on a cotton ball (saturate it), and there isn’t any residue left after rubbing the old site thouroughly for a few seconds with the unisolve. We threw out the wipes because, for us, they were worthless…we had to use far too many to a) take off any old site and b) clean anything at all so that the goop (residue) doesn’t remain on Liam’s skin. For us, it took having a fully saturated cotton ball to “get it all.”
Interesting. I have the liquid but I find it hard to pour onto a cotton ball, plus it came in a giant bottle, so I don’t use it often. I like the wipes because they fit in my diabetes kit that I bring everywhere. But maybe the next time I do a site change at home (probably tomorrow) I’ll try soaking a cotton ball (or cotton makeup remover pad, as that’s all I have, heh) and see if it works better.
I use Aveno face soap line of products, for my face; the foaming cleanser. When I need to use a cleaner such as Unisolve, afterwards I wash the area with Aveno, a few times.
I also use gloves, so it isn’t generally a problem getting all over my fingers/hands.
I use SkinTac with my (Edited to change Dexcom to) OmniPod, in the bottle with an applicator. It’s too bad that Unisolve doesn’t come with an applicator as well!
Gloves aren’t a bad idea to throw in there. I have to use gloves when I prepare food, otherwise my eczema flares up. I have yet to find reusable ones, so just use disposable ones. So I already have a whole box and may throw a few of those in there.
I have a tiny bottle of Mastisol adhesive but I haven’t tried it yet. SkinTac was a whole other issue with getting stickiness everywhere when I’ve used it (unfortunately I’m allergic to the rosin in it, hence trying Mastisol as an alternative).
Same here, I just use disposable gloves too. I get them at a food service/supply store; very reasonable in cost and work very well when I’m cooking or doing site changes and such.
Hummm. We use a larger wipe of a product called TacAway to remove the goopy part. If you PM me I could mail some? I buy them on amazon. A wound care doc turned me on to them a year ago, and I like them the best. They have a large area of the wipe, not too small. That being said, I really only use them to remove the adhesive from the skin after the pump/dex/sticker is off of EH. And then I wipe off the area with a wet washcloth (probably unnecessary). So I’m not sure if they’d do the job or not.
Maybe those followed by the cotton pad if you’re on the road/not at home?
I like these more than cotton balls! We use them for the alcohol prewipe when we are home.
I’m sorry it gets on your clothes and that you had a gusher and got blood on there. That is a bummer! Hopefully that’s the last one for a long time.
Thanks! I never considered TacAway since I can’t use SkinTac, and I didn’t realize they are larger than Remove/Uni-Solve wipes. It looks like they are giant alcohol swabs from the information I could find while looking for ingredients (never could find an actual ingredients list).
I didn’t think of throwing a few of those cotton pads into my kit, but it may be useful…then again, maybe a Wet One would be good enough if most of the adhesive is taken care of.
Just thought I’d update this thread to say that, when the adhesive remover wipes are used, rubbing the site with one of those cotton makeup remover pads run under some water works very well at removing all the adhesive gunk! I used this on my arm last night and there is no sticky stuff left behind.
You’re right, these are not magic - mostly alcohol. And full of stuff I might not normally want all over my skin, BUT they sorta work so I’m not complaining.
