I don't know about you, but the stainless steel trick has never really worked for me when trying to get garlic or other strong food smells off my hands. But I recently found something else that does work: coffee beans!
I've used coffee beans and grounds to freshen the refrigerator and it turns out this works on skin, too. To get rid of stubborn smells like garlic, onions, or fish, just rub a few coffee beans in your hands. When the unwanted odor is gone, wash with soap and water (unless you want to smell like cup of joe, instead!). I like the fact that this trick utilizes something I always have in the kitchen, rather than requiring the purchase of special soap, for instance.
Do you have any other tips for getting cooking smells off hands?
Related: Good Question: How To Get Garlic Smell Off My Hands?
(Images: Flickr member Christian Kadluba licensed under Creative Commons)
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The trick with stainless steel always worked for me with garlic-hands the trick is to run your hands and the blade under cold water while rubbing the side of the (large) knife (carefully) on your skin. Coffee grounds are brilliant for odors in the garbage. Although I prefer to compost it I will use it for the trash if it smells.
But then I'll smell like coffee... which is somewhat equally unappealing for the smell of my hands
I'll stick with the stainless steal thing for tough odors, and soap for others.
Lemon. I use a lot of lemon juice in cooking. I keep the peel on the sink until I've done the garlic or onions. Then I rub my fingers and hands in the empty lemon halves and dumb them. Works great.
Perfume nerds swear by the following for "scrubbers" (nasty smells you want OFF NOW but are horribly persistent):
- a small amount of Tide (or other detergent) rinsed off immediately
- witch hazel
- unscented deodorant
I find stainless steel and/or lemon works just fine for kitchen odors, though.
This has worked for me for many years. And as for smelling like coffee, I never noticed.
Stainless steel with a bit of soap has always worked for me, and it doesn't waste anything that could be considered food. I'm a tea drinker, so I don't have coffee beans hanging around, but if I did I wouldn't waste them this way. I always have stainless steel spoons near the sink (how else would I taste what I was cooking?) and I just grab one and rub it over my hands with 1 drop (really, you don't need more) of dish washing liquid under running water when I've been chopping onions or garlic, and the odor is GONE.
For messier jobs (meatloaf mixing, anyone?) I use non-latex examining gloves, which I also use in the garden and when doing things like cat litter duty.
Sephora (or at least the one by me) have a few containers filled with coffee beans at the perfume section. You smell the coffee bean container after each perfume to clear your nose of the previous scent :)
I work at a coffee shop, so I constantly smell like coffee. Neat tip for anyone else, though.