Nickel Allergies? Use Nail Polish!

A great idea, but has anyone found jeans that are manufactured without metal in them?

Personally, I haven't had good success with nail polish. Firstly, it wears off and assuming you're using the clear stuff it's difficult to tell when it's worn too thin to be effective.

As for nickel-free jeans, this appears to be a tough one - the manufacturers simply aren't labelling the content of the metal yet.
http://www.nickelallergyfree.com/index.php?k=finding-nickel-free-jeans

You can take a pair of needle nose pliers and on the back of the metal button (inside pants) work the pliers under it. The inside of your pliers should have an "open spot" where the clasp fits. You want to work the pliers to this spot. This loosens the rivet and pops the button off. Then you can patch the hole and put your own button on. The Doctors told me nail polish and patches would not work. Only removing the nickel completely was the only option if I wanted to wear jeans.

Sorry to hear about your situation JF, sounds like you have a more severe allergy than me. I've used clear nail polish and I've also tried hypoallergenic belts but the nail polish just wore off after about a week and the "hypoallergenic" belt still gave me a rash, it just took a little longer to show up. I've been using a new polish called metscreen, its designed for people with metal allergies and so far I haven't had any rashes, keeping my fingers crossed.
http://www.metscreen.com

This is an interesting post. Thanks for the information.

I had no allergies til I worked at a nickel plating plant. Now umm, ya, had to quit that job.

Anyhow, I use bronze belt buckles, I don't try to wear jeans, but I might now with the removing the button idea THANKS!

Kinda feel bad. Was my birthday tonight and my brother and sister in law got me this real nice watch and I am like SWEET! Then I am like oh... umm. They thought I hated it and I don't. I tried it on for a sec just in case and it immediately started what I call "nibbling" me, which seems to be the precursor to inflamation. They told me to exchange it for one with a leather band, I just smiled sadly and showed them the back of the watch face.

So, I have been tooling around the net tonight. I wanna keep this watch, I like it a lot. Nail polish was the first thing that occured to me, which people seem to agree works somewhat. I also found something called "L'Protect" and another called "Nickel Guard" which purports to out perform nail polish...they both just look like nail polish.

The idea of having to re-apply every week doesn't really bother me. I did some much more radical things in the past, I could live with that.

I work in a lab, which bothers me alot, chemicals in general irritate me now. BUT...I have a bunch of nickel there and I am going to try some other random coatings on myself and see if I can't find something at home depot or something (thinking maybe epoxy, teflon, or some other inert polymer) that will work and last. If anything comes of it, I'll mention it here.

I had no allergies, then I went to work at a nickel plating plant and it almost ruined me. I looked like Freddy Kruegar by the time I quit.

Now I am allergic to everything, and I still work in a lab, the chemicals drive me bonkers.

Nice trick with the buttons, maybe I can finally wear jeans again.

I wear bronze belt buckles which do not seem to nip me too bad. Thing is tonight for my birthday my brother and sister-in-law got me this really nice stainless watch and I am like "SWEET" then I am like "Oh..."

They thought I hated it and it made me feel bad, but then first thought was clear nail polish. So, I went diggin around the web looking for stuff so I can wear this thing. Nice to confirm the nail polish, re-applying once a week does not bother me in the least. Compared to some of the more radical things I did at the plating company, that's easy.

I am going to take some nickel metal and try some other coatings. I wish they made teflon in a can, that would work. Epoxy probably will too, maybe even some x-urathane of some kind. If anything comes of it I will post.

If I posted 2 things saying almost the same thing, sorry, not sure what is going on with how fast posts update, I click refresh and it's gone.

New watches all come with a thin clear piece of staticy plastic stuck on the back to protect it from scratches. These are usually supposed to be removed at the store before the watches are placed in a display, but any store that sells watches would be able to give you some spares. Why dont you just use one of these? Get one for a slightly larger watch and cut it to the exact shape, it should stay on forever.