I received an email from Diane asking:

I wanted to put in handprints of the grandchildren into hypertufa recipe stepping stones for the garden. You spoke about it being caustic. Can it still be done?

My reply:

Hi Diane:
Thank you for contacting me. Yes, a hypertufa recipe is caustic due to the portland cement in it. However, since all you want is an impression of their hand, which means it is a rather quick contact with the wet ‘tufa, I have knowledge of people smearing a good coating of vaseline on children’s hands and then letting them make the impression. **Please supervise them washing off their hands thoroughly with soap and running water (don’t use a bucket of water).

If you follow this procedure, there should be no problems. The “caustic” issue really comes more into play when people are working for prolonged periods without hand protection. Just go to Google Images and enter in “cement burns” and you’ll see some nasty photos.

An even better choice would be to buy tight-fitting children-sized latex gloves.

Use your best discretion.

DO NOT allow anyone to press down their bare hands into any wet hypertufa or concrete mixture.

And make sure to wear your gloves, dust mask and goggles while mixing up the dry ingredients.  Please review the Hypertufa Safety Guidelines page on my website for all the facts you ought to know before you begin any ‘tufa project.

I hope this helps. Good luck with your project.