Always wash your hands in cold water. If you use hot, you will open your pores and the garlic oil will get in.

I have that stainless steel thing shaped lieka bar of soap. It works, I swear. I generally use at least 4-5 cloves of garlic at a time, and I crush and mince it, so I definitely get the garlic on my hands. That stainless thing and water gets the smell off.

People try it out at my apartment, and are always shocked at how well it works.

Of course, the real trick is that any regular stainless steel object will do the job (not sure how), so if you've got a small mixing bowl or whatever, it should get the smell off. But the soap-shaped thing is only 5 bucks or so.

I've read that keeping a half of a lemon or lime handy, and rubbing it on your fingers will rid you of the garlic smell.

I personally love the smell of garlicky stinky mitts, so haven't tried it.

I must be the only person who experiences this only to a very minor degree. Like cremarie, I like the smell, but find it fades from my hands with one wash only and requires no steel, lemons, or salt.

I just touch my faucet.

Yup stainless steel's the ticket. I wish I knew, on a molecular level, why that works so well.

I just hand-wash one of my stainless pieces of silverware with regular dish soap, making sure to really rub the silver. Rinse, dry, voila, garlic-B-gone!

Another vote for the stainless soap bar.

I keep a box of latex gloves around for when I deal with garlic or hot pepper. I just put one on my left hand and use it to scoop up the stuff.

You can also rub your fingers/hands with parsley. It always works for me, and it helps me use a big bundle before it goes bad.

I was in the dentist office and Tyra Banks suggested using a bit toothpaste to soap up with. Then again your hand might be a bit minty, but that may be better than the garlic.

I run my fingers along the blunt side of the knife I've used to chop the garlic. You're washing your knives by hand anyway, right?

Ever notice that all the stainless steel solutions involve running cold water over your hands? That's because the cold water does all the heavy lifting. Just rub your hands under cold running water. Done. If your water isn't cold enough, rub an ice cube in your hands under the running water.

How does the stainless steel thing work? Gravity's Rainbow - you were at the dentist with Tyra Banks?! Lucky you!

Honestly, all you have to do--if you have a stainless steel sink--is wipe your soapy hands on the tub and it goes away immediately. Don't be a sucker and buy a bar just for this purpose. Surely you have something around the kitchen that is made of stainless steel.

I suspect it doesn't have to be *stainless* steel to work. I have my dad's old butcher knife (yes, he was a butcher when he was young). It's carbon steel, and it always worked to remove onion and garlic odor from our hands.

So, just run your hand (carefully!) over your knife blade when washing it and no odor. Works for me every time.

I once read that the stainless steel works only if it isn't polished, so the surface is microscopically rough, and so it brushes away the particles... but that can as well be a nonsense. For garlic I use this so it's really practical: http://sol.pupazzo.org/?p=391

The new Martha Stewart line at Macy's sells "soap bars" made of stainless steel to remove cooking smells from hands.

The mother in the Spanish family I stayed with gave me her trick--hold your hands vertically under running water and wiggle your fingers a bit--don't rub them together or you'll rub the oil in. Blot dry. Works like a charm!

I don't mind the smell either, but I usually let my daughter peel the garlic and then use a garlic press. Sometimes I do chop it though, and I don't seem to have too much trouble getting the oil off with warm soapy water. I've heard rubbing with salt helps.