Clean hands?

[charadamParticipant @charadam]

Dry granulated sugar (from the sugar bowl) with a squinch of Fairy Liquid has been my fallback for many years.

No hint of water must be added until you are clean and ready to rinse.

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

A long deceased uncle told us, as boys, of his surprise at a jam factory where he was sorting out a pump. When he asked about washing facilities (arms covered in oil and grease), he was directed to immerse his arms in a barrel of jam/marmalade to clean off the oil.

He never told us whether that barrel’s contents were destined for the production line, but did say he would never buy that make of jam/marmalade ever again, so we assumed it was! I would not be surprised if it was a common practice at any of the jam makers of the day.

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

Cheap olive oil from Aldi to get through the grease, then soap and hot water.

Apparently bread dough is better than pastry as you have to knead it much longer!

[pgk pgkParticipant @pgkpgk17461]

For cleaning tars and greases from animal coats we used crunchy peanut butter followed by olive oil then a mild detergent.

pgk

[john carruthersParticipant @johncarruthers46255]

As kids we always came home covered in beach tar, butter would dissolve it in no time .

Swarfega with a handful of sand chucked in the tin will move most stuff.

[SteveWParticipant @stevew54046]

Table salt also improves the effectiveness of hand cleaners and may be antiseptic.

[larry phelan 1Participant @larryphelan1]

Lidi,s do a hand cleaner called W5 which I find OK,then,wash up liquid. Stopped using thinners long time ago !!

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

Bread dough, peanut butter and grease – yumm!

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Solvol soap, which like Lava contains ground pumice. Then finish off with common handpump bottle handcleaner from the supermarket.

I also keep a bucket of water and washing-up detergent mixture in the workshop for quick clean up during proceedings or prior to going indoors. Probably more suited to our tropical climate than Ol' Blighty's though!

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

There was a story in ME (probably in the 1990s), one of the authors was visiting a school, and apart from visiting the metal and wood shops he went to the kitchen area and asked one girl what she liked about kneading dough, her reply was something like "it don't half clean your finger nails".

I just use the cheapest liquid hand soap from the Super Market (Pams).

Ian S C

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Generally use barrier cream to start with, then orange Swarfega… followed up by using Cif cream, get the dust out of pores when I've been machining CI, ( I usually have latex examination gloves on but these tend to split after a while ), no detrimental effect … yet.

​George.

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

Muc-Off (and others) do resealable bags of cleaning tissues which are good for cyclists and also in the workshop. I have used Muc-Off spray for cleaning my hands also.

[Perko7Participant @perko7]

My preferred cleaner (in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia) is Septone Orange Scrub which i normally get from my local Woolworths supermarket, or failing them from Blackwoods. Not sure if it's sold in the UK, their website only covers Australia and New Zealand. It's a grey-brown opaque liquid containing pumice as well as citrus oils and other skin-friendly ingredients like Aloe Vera, Vitamin E and Jojoba oil. I find it takes off most things, even epoxy adhesives and paint, but you need to scrub a bit for them.

[roy entwistleParticipant @royentwistle24699]

In my working days ( 1970s / 90s ) When I used to visit smaller printers. The usual cleaner was the fire bucket full of sand and paraffin or blanket wash

Roy

[SamsarandaParticipant @samsaranda]

I must say that I cringed when I read what some of you do to your hands to get them clean. I now suffer with contact dermatitis on my hands, main irritant that causes it is Fairy liquid washing up liquid, if I get any on my hands they blister immediately, not the only irritant but by far the most virulent. The dermatitis has only occurred in the past couple of years after a lifetime of working in engineering, fortunately the condition isn’t triggered by exposure to oils and greases which means I can carry on with my workshop activities. I currently use swarfega rapid for cleaning hands followed by washing with Simple brand soaps, if I am going to be doing anything very dirty, for instance cast iron, then I apply a barrier cream which helps greatly with getting rid of the muck. Having the condition of dermatitis I need to keep applying creams that keep the skin oiled to prevent drying out, the creams also to a certain extent act as barrier cream aiding cleansing. When I think back to the early sixties I remember using non leaded aviation gasoline for washing hands and also we used to wash our working shorts with it when I was in the Middle East, also like everyone else used various industrial solvents, some of which are now known to cause significant nerve damage akin to military nerve agents, no wonder that I now have skin problems. I would urge any of you who use harsh solvents, detergent liquids or such concoctions to think seriously about using only proprietary hand cleansing products, I can assure you Dermatitis is painful and certainly avoidable.

Dave W

[Rik ShawParticipant @rikshaw]

I don't have the problem. I wear latex/nitrile examination gloves (ooerr!!) which I buy at the car boot. At about £2.50 for a box of a hundred. Sometimes I can buy them cheaper so I presently have enough boxes to last quite some time.

Rik

[JonParticipant @jon]

Never heard that one before Dave from Fairy, i use Persil original green cuts better than the red or yellow anti bacterials. If that fails its on a sponge.
I dont have dermatitis but come out in a rash/blisters if wear gold or use most other soaps than Pure or white natural.

Tried almost everything under the sun nipper gets stuff like that cheap ie Muck Off, swarfegas green and orange and the like, got loads never gets used just ok for mellow oils.

If Mr Persil dont cure on a sponge or not = rare, its time for Elbow Grease on dry mittens, just wash off with water.
Its also the best thing for cleaning your car alloy wheels!
Came about from a senior sales person at a national retail outlet selling all of above names, Muck off, swarfega etc. Just go to your local pound shop, Amazon, Sainsburys, Tesco etc £1

[John RandallParticipant @johnrandall96767]

We used to send the apprentices to the stores for elbow grease 30 years ago they normally came back and said

ain't got none!

[GeorgineerParticipant @georgineer]

No takers for a wet bar of soap sprinkled with Vim or Ajax then?

Or Best Universal Grit Grime and Effluent Remover?

George

[Barnaby WildeParticipant @barnabywilde70941]

Like Samsaranda I'm now paying the price of a lifetime of cleaning hands with ignorance & apathy, but the bonus is I do get out of the washing up. A major downside is the wince from my grandaughter whenever I go to pick her up during an attack.

I now wear blue nitrile gloves for almost everything, including gardening after witnessing a neighbours fingernails drop off 1 by 1 after a fungal infection.

I have yet to find a soap I can use without bringing it all on. Vaseline is just about the only thing my hands can tolerate.

[colin wilkinsonParticipant @colinwilkinson75381]

By far the best, and over many years of working on motorcycles I have tried most of them, is the Wurth hand cleanser. Not being able to get it free anymore is quite upsetting. Colin

[VicParticipant @vic]

When I worked as a painter at a boat builders we used to use Swarfega and sawdust to get paint off our hands, worked a treat. Later on as a Mechanic when working on friends cars at their houses I found sugar and washing up liquid worked pretty good.

[VicParticipant @vic]

Posted by Mick Charity on 27/05/2018 05:33:18:

Vaseline is just about the only thing my hands can tolerate.

Have you tried Aloe Vera gel? I’ve found it very good on dry sore skin. You can “reactivate” it’s soothing effect once dry by moistening again with a little water. Holland and Barret sell it but make sure you get the pure Aloe gel without any additives.

[SamsarandaParticipant @samsaranda]

Mick, I had problems finding a soap that was benign enough not aggravate my dermatitis, I found that “SIMPLE” Soap is okay, I do get Cetraben cream and Q.V. Gentle Wash prescribed from my GP, I believe they are both available without prescription. Cetraben although a cream to apply to the skin is also good for hand washing, works very well and leaves the skin moisturised after. Suffering today as I used Citric acid yesterday for descaling the shower head and got some on my hand. Like you I use blue Nitrile gloves for any activity where I know contact is going to cause problems with my dermatitis, only problem is my hands sweat so much in rubber gloves, but better than suffering skin problems. I also get excused washing up. My advice is to try using Cetraben if you aren’t already, it had dramatic results when I started using it.

Dave W

[FLguyParticipant @flguy]

About 55 years ago my uncle told me to use clean motor oil as it has strong cleaning agents in it. He made some compound of motor oil, fine saw dust and lanolin….that worked very well. Today I use Dawn dish soap and clothes that exfolliate your skin, works very well too.

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