I use nitrile exam gloves that I buy at Costco. But if you are in a place where you can’t get gloves, then liquid dish soap on dry hands, scrub them together, and then have someone sprinkle some regular sugar on your hands and scrub again. The sugar is a good abrasive and when you rinse the sugar goes away.
A friend who does a lot of work on bikes suggested this trick to me a few years back, and it’s wonderful: coffee grounds. Grad this morning’s coffee grounds from the trash, scrub your hands over the trash bag, brush them off as well as you can, and then rinse them in the sink. You get the abrasive effect comparable to Boraxo, the oils in the grounds tend to dissolve the heavier grease, and when you’re done, your hands smell like that Peruvian blend that you love every morning. It’s not perfect – there’s some stuff it won’t remove (dried Permatex #2, for instance), and it doesn’t get every bit of the stuff from your hands. But I used it while rebuilding a boat transmission, and my wife never once complained about my dirty hands. (And for those who love nitrile gloves…I’m with you 100%. But when a finger on the glove rips…go for the coffee grounds!)
Or double glove. It beats waiting for your hands to dry after you take the nitrile glove off.
I use disposable latex gloves. Not only do they keep my hands clean, but they give me the ability to grip, much of which I’ve lost due to arthritis. I can’t grip tools or items firmly enough to get any friction without the help of the latex gloves.
I keep a pump bottle of “Fast Orange with Pumice” at the shop along with Lava Soap for the minor cleaning. We don’t have running water at our end of the building, so I keep a 2 gallon garden sprayer filled with water for rinsing.
At home I keep a condiment (ketchup/mustard) bottle at the kitchen sink filled with Boraxo. I also keep one of these in my truck to clean up after shoeing a horse. A hint…throw in a couple of stones to keep it from caking up.
The OP …because it’s not needed often… may want to keep a spray can of “Gunk degreaser” at the laundry tub along with a fingernail brush. It works great to loosen the heavy stuff and then a little Dawn to clean up with.
Yosemite
I use nitrile gloves.
A hand cleaner can be used to remove grime from the hands. But it doesn’t remove the crud from under the fingernails.
With the gloves, you remove them and save them for the next job, or if they’re really crudded up you just toss them into the garbage.
Thirteen dollars for a 50 pair box is pretty cheap.
Tester
@Tester; when I know I’m going to be working on something real grimy, I put a little hand cleaner in each palm. Then as if scratching your palm you work the cleaner under your nails. Then wipe off the excess. It just keeps the grime from clinging under the nails.
That is…if you remember to do it!!! I forget a lot…what…who are you …and why am I here???
Yosemite
OK, I use Goop and it really gets my hands clean but still leaves some crud under my nails. So when I jump in the shower and briskly shampoo my noggin it all comes out.
That works for me too @My 2 Cents. But we must remember, we have some follicly challenged people that come here.
Why is it that when I go get my hair cut and the girl is shampooing my head I say “I’ll give you exactly two hours to knock that off”.
Yosemite
Oh yeah. My apologies to the “follicly challenged”. Come to think of it I’m “heading” in that direction too
I have a friend that says that he’s not bald…that’s a solar collector for a sex machine.
I’m 60 and have a full head of brown hair with a little gray, but my beard is totally gray.
Go figure!!! At least I don’t have one brown and one gray eyebrow, then I’d feel a little funny about people looking at me for something other than my good looks.
Yosemite
Way I heard it, if you’re bald in the FRONT, you’re a “thinker”; if bald in the BACK, you’re a "lover."
And if you’re bald in BOTH, you only THINK you’re a lover!
…I thought I was the only one who cleaned his nails with his hair
Good one @Meanjoe75fan;
Blacksmiths have always used Boraxo for a welding and brazing flux too.
As I was told, the old blacksmiths from years back used Boron as a flux. Then one day a smithy got the idea to add a pinch to his soapy hands to try and get the grime off. Hence, Boraxo was born. I never buy fluxed rod. Just heat the rod and dip it into the Boraxo.
So no one is confused, I’m talking about gas welding not arc.
There was a young boy sitting on a bale of hay, watching the smithy make the shoes for a horse. The smithy finished the first shoe and tossed it on the floor to cool. The young boy jumped off the bale of hay and tried to pick up the shoe…burning his fingers he dropped it quickly.
The old smithy looked at the kid and said “kinda hot isn’t it”. The boy replied "No sir…it just doesn’t take me long to look at a good horseshoe.
Yosemite
Dishsoap, like wesw said, apply soap then scrub/wash hands, don’t rinse, then wet your hands and add about a tablespoon of sugar as well and scrub and rinse. Sugar is an abrasive and not a chemical or too harsh. I like cheap cotton gloves for working on engines better than nitrile type (too sweaty and they tear easy) but you are gonna greasy, accept that fact… GOOP is good and that orange stuff is real good… and a fingernail brush…
It is also helpful to apply a dose of hand cream before starting work. It fills in the pores which will otherwise take in the grease. Dish soap works well for this purpose too.
Hamburger. Or any greasy meat. Gets hands clean, but I generally make the first patty small and toss it.
Fast orange and a hand/nail brush. They sell the brushes at the auto parts store for $2. One side has a nail brush. Using no water until clean is the key as someone else mentioned. Fast orange doesn’t seem to strip as much of the natural oils from your skin as the harsher soaps. My hands and nails look pristine afterward without much time or effort.
Hamburger. Or any greasy meat. Gets hands clean, but I generally make the first patty small and toss it.Should you ever offer, I'm declining your dinner invite, ok???
For a hoot, take a look at this old advertising film from 1920 for “Flash” hand cleaner. If you watch carefully, you’ll see the words “A necessity for mechanics”. From the Library of Congress archives.
I see it remains possible to purchase old tins of Flash hand cleaner on the internet. I presume people buy them as curiosities or a way to remember old times. And as antiques they go for a pretty good sum too. Maybe save some Gojo containers in the closet for funding the grandkid’s retirement? … lol …