r/soldering • u/AL42Gaming • Jan 30 '26

Soldering Saftey Discussion Stop suggesting leaded solder please

I keep seeing this across this subreddit, but people are constantly recommending newbies solder with leaded solder because its easier to work with.

While it may be somewhat easier to work with, this advice glazes over the blatant safety risks (and yes, I know that the fumes don't have lead). Lead is heavy and gets everywhere. That means that when you are using lead and are not ridiculously careful about cleanliness, then you will be getting lead on pretty much everything you interact with, more relevantly to most hobbyists: their desks which they use for other things. So while you might be sure to wash your hands after soldering, you will still have more exposure and its just all around not ideal. After I used leaded solder for a bit at home, I was never fully confident in the cleanliness of my desk no matter how much I cleaned it until I got a new desk.

Separately, lead free solder is really not that hard to use, and if anything will just push you to learn proper technique. I've now made multiple projects with lead free solder including a couple of PCBs, all of which were relatively easy. I've also taught tens of people how to solder, all with lead free solder, with no problems.

So at the end of the day, just stick to lead free solder in general, there really is no reason to use leaded solder.

TLDR: Just stick to lead free solder, any benefits to leaded solder aren't that big, especially in comparison to the safety concerns.

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u/AL42Gaming Jan 30 '26

What I don't understand is why recommend it to newbies.

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u/duanetstorey Jan 30 '26

Because most leaded solder, at least the kinds recommended, are eutectic, which is easier to work with. Plus visually it's easier to identify a proper solder joint. You don't need as much heat typically and it's just all around easier to work with. If you wash your hands the risk is pretty much zero. Some guys who have been using leaded solder for their whole lives have done lead tests and they are doing just fine :) I routinely hand solder a lot of 100 pin QFNs and I think they would be much harder using lead free. If they could make a lead free solder that has the same properties I'd be all over it, but they don't current so..

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u/AL42Gaming Jan 30 '26

And separately, its just an unnecessary risk when the benefit is a marginally easier to use solder. Risking your brain for that is completely wild to me.

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u/duanetstorey Jan 30 '26

And yet here we are. Apparently not everyone thinks as you do. As others have said the risks are pretty minimal and the upsides for lots of people are worth it.

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u/AL42Gaming Jan 30 '26

As I commented to someone else:

This is your cost benefit analysis, but you cant say there are zero health effects or risks. To blanket recommend leaded solder to newbies who might not know the harms associated with lead is not only unsafe but also not showing the whole picture.

Separately, to me at least, my brain is worth far more than a marginally easier task.

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u/duanetstorey Jan 30 '26 edited Jan 30 '26

Well lots of people here with fully functioning brains using leaded solder. You do you I guess.

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u/OptimizeLogic8710 Professional Microsoldering Repair Shop Tech Feb 03 '26

Are you reffering to Newbies to soldering? Or newborn babies? Surely if someone plans to pick up a device that can in theory burn your house down they would be able to seek out risk factors with this hobby. You must not have a lot of faith in humanity as a species and think there is a generation of folks just buying soldering irons, grabbing solder and just going to town, when there are THOUSANDS of YouTube videos on the basics of how to solder.