Removing Food Odors from Hands

Besides wearing food handling gloves, there are ways to remove the smells of food preparation from your hands. This guide is about removing food odors from hands.

Solutions: Removing Food Odors from Hands

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Remove Garlic and Onion Odors from Hands

To get the garlic smell off your hands just rub them against your stainless steel sink. It takes the smell right away!

By skiven from MN

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Remove Onion Smell With White Vinegar

This isn't exactly a cooking tip, it is a cleaning tip to use while you are cooking. To get the onion smell off your hands, rinse them in white vinegar. There will be no trace of onion.

Source:

By Clynn from Inglis, FL

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Removing Seafood Odors from Your Hands

After eating blue crabs, our hands always smell bad even after several washings. We use cider vinegar on the claw meat, so when we are finished eating, we pour what is left from the little bowl over our hands and rub it like we are washing up. I'm sure vinegar would also help remove other odors due to handling.

By Jayme from Harrisonburg, VA

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Tomato For Onion or Garlic Smell On Hands

After cutting onions or garlic, use a tomato to wash your hands (it doesn't have to be immediately). Some people say minty toothpaste does the job, but it's never worked for me.

By TeeeeeeeeeeJ from Canada

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Removing Cooking Odors from Hands

To eliminate cooking odors from your hands, onion, garlic, shrimp, etc., rub a few coffee beans in your hands. The oil in the beans will absorb the odors.

By Bobbie from Rockwall, TX

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Remove Garlic and Onion Odors from Hands

Tip for remove garlic and onion odors from your hands.

Use Stainless Steel

An easy way to remove these smells from hands is to soap them up and rub them along a stainless steel fossit or knife. It really does work but it must be stainless steel. This has been handed down for generations. (05/26/2004)

By J Walker

Try Salt

Rubbing salt on your hands really does help remove odors! (07/30/2004)

By Noelle

Stainless Steel Spoons

A solution to odors on your hands from cooking, such as fish, onion, and garlic smells etc. Stainless steel is known to remove odors from hands by simply rubbing the hands on the stainless-steel under running water. There are special stainless-steel discs that are sold to remove odors. Save your self the money and use a stainless-steel spoon, or anything else stainless-steel and hold it under running water while rubbing your hands with the item. No more odor! (11/22/2004)

By Gary S

Use the Faucet

I've lived in this house for 30 years and the faucet is chrome. When I peel an onion or clean and mash garlic, I turn on the cold water just a bit to wet my hands. Then I rub them on the faucet for just a few seconds, rinse and dry my hands. The odor is gone. I have shown this to my children, grandchildren and friends that I have to "prove" this to. If you don't believe me come on over and I'll let you cut the onions for my favorite french onion soup. LOL (11/23/2004)

By Great granny Vi

Stainless Steel Worked!

I have always had a problem with this as I love garlic and sometimes I can still smell garlic oils on my hands 2 or 3 days later. I just tried this stainless steel solution and it really works like a charm!

Thanks for the tip! (01/23/2005)

By Adam Pitcher

Stainless Steel Worked for Me Too

I cut up a lot of onions today at my job and nobody had a clue how to get rid of the smell! I went all day trying everything. Then I found this website. I tried the stainless steel method and to my surprise it actually worked! This is no joke. I recommend using this method all the time. Thanks a lot! (04/07/2005)

By Tajuana

Noxema

Noxema takes off the smellof onions on your hands (07/26/2005)

By ynottony

Worked for Me As Well

Wow. I totally didn't beleive this site, but I tried the stainless steel method (spoon and cold water) and it totally got rid of the garlic odor from my hands! (11/08/2005)

By Faye

It Really Works

OH MY GOSH! this really worked! I looked in our drawer at work and found one stainless steel spoon, but it didn't work. Found a second and I'm all set! Thanks for the postings! That smell on my hands was driving me NUTS! (11/09/2005)

By LindaM

Toothpaste

try toothpaste. seems to work with me, the key is not to use hot water, otherwise your pores will open up and the odour will get under your skin. Cold water and a mild abrasive, like toothpaste. The stainless steel is supposed to work by neutralizing the sulphur or sodium... but i never got it to work. (03/15/2006)

By Toothpaste

Lmeon Juice

It might burn the hands, but lemon juice or a lemon peel is wonderful! I rub it into the cutting board, and smells fresh. It's like no onions ever touched it! Stainless steel is great too, Norpro makes a little "soap bar" just for that. (03/15/2006)

By camo_angels

Stainless Steel Bars

When cooking, I often end up with onion or garlic smell on my hands. Soap just doesn't do the trick. You can buy expensive stainless steel bars to wash your hands with to remove the odor. But who wants to spend a ton of money when you probably have a drawer full of stainless steel utensils already? I use my stainless steel serving spoon and rub my hands on it under cold running water. The smell is instantly gone.

By blueheeler1998 from Lakeville, OH

Remove Garlic and Onion Odors from Hands

How do you remove garlic smell from your hands after cooking?

Misbah

RE: Remove Garlic and Onion Odors from Hands

Hi, just soap and wash your hands while rubbing over stainless steel ( the water tap or soup spoons for example ) and voila!, smell gone (07/21/2006)

By Nicoletta

RE: Remove Garlic and Onion Odors from Hands

Rubbing on stainless steel removes fish smells too. (07/22/2006)

By feemayl

RE: Remove Garlic and Onion Odors from Hands

I just prepared to cook dinner for my boyfriend for the first time tomorrow night, so I chopped the onions and garlic tonight. Of course I didn't want to smell like onions and garlic when he comes over, so I tried your trick and to my shock and surprise, it worked! Thank you so much! (08/02/2006)

By Jamie

RE: Remove Garlic and Onion Odors from Hands

None of it worked for me (11/29/2006)

By Fred

RE: Remove Garlic and Onion Odors from Hands

Thank you ladies, the smell was driving me crazy. I use onion every day and can never escape the odor. Thank you! (01/05/2007)

By cookie

RE: Remove Garlic and Onion Odors from Hands

It Worked! Thanks for the tip (01/29/2007)

By Michele and Jeff in UK

RE: Remove Garlic and Onion Odors from Hands

Sweet! It worked! I'd already tried everything else. (02/03/2007)

By Joy

RE: Remove Garlic and Onion Odors from Hands

Hey! I finally figured it out! Yesterday at work I had to spread a bunch of onions out on pans and my hands still reeked this morning. I tried washing my hands with just soap and water about 7 times, I tried lemon juice, I tried the stainless steel thing, but none of those got RID of the smell. The lemon juice helped the most but my hands still smelled nasty. Then I tried the salt and there was only barely a hint of the smell. Then I remembered this product I have. It's an herbal serenity aromatherapy "show of hands" instant manicure. It's made with special oils and SALTS from the Dead Sea. It completely got rid of every trace of the smell! My hands actually smell really good now! (06/26/2007)

RE: Remove Garlic and Onion Odors from Hands

Stainless steel works! (10/04/2007)

By Brandi

RE: Remove Garlic and Onion Odors from Hands

Cut up some garlic today and tried the stainless steel approach. It worked! Simply amazing, thanks for the tip! (01/09/2008)

By Katie M

RE: Remove Garlic and Onion Odors from Hands

I was cooking in school the other day and I had to mince garlic and after my hands smelled bad. My mom said to use the steel bar. I did and it did not work. So I looked on here and saw toothpaste and I'm like it's worth a shot. I used it and it worked! =) (05/02/2008)

By none ya

RE: Remove Garlic and Onion Odors from Hands

Amazing! I experimented with both toothpaste and my stainless steel spoon on each hand. The stainless steel spoon worked best. It left a natural smell compared to the toothpaste it left a mint smell with a hint of garlic aroma. (09/02/2008)

By jenofa

RE: Remove Garlic and Onion Odors from Hands

The stainless steel worked! Thanks. I am blown away. (09/06/2008)

By Art

IT'S GONE!

This morning I've been making soup, it involved chopping up onions. Later on in the day when we were trampolining, I noticed that my hands absolutely STANK of onion. By that time I'd washed my hands about 3 times since I'd handled the onion, and it had been about two hours. I got home as quickly as I could and tried the ol' stainless steal soap bar thingy, which seriously didn't work. I tried baking soda, which really felt horrible when I breathed some in, then I tried loads of soap, hand sanitiser and some more stuff. The smell was coming and going by now. After loadsa complaining I went and had a bath and tried scrubbing my hands, but the smell remained there, like a stinky memory ;)

Then I tried rubbing salt and lemon juice into my hands, which really killed because my hands are covered in cuts! Then I was about to give up and spend the rest of my life smelling like a kebab when I raided the cupboards only to find some "revaitalising hand saviour" which was a freebee from boots (drug store in the UK). Well, I love this stuff anyway 'cos it makes my hands feel lovely and soft, and whadaya know? The smell has finally gone.. Now my hands are luuurvely and smooth and onion free :) (09/15/2008)

By Hulataloola

RE: Remove Garlic and Onion Odors from Hands

I'm truly truly amazed I'm going to spread the news that this is the first home remedy I've tried that really worked! (09/26/2008)

By Amazed

Remove Garlic and Onion Odors from Hands

I have used salt to remove onion and garlic odors from my hands over the years, but you can also use stainless steel! You can purchase a stainless steel bar for less than $10 at specialty shops or search online. I just usually rub my hands over the divider in my stainless steel sink or the faucet itself. Works well, and you don't have the stinging sensation you might get from salt, if you have scrapes or cuts on your hands/fingers.

Source: First saw the stainless steel bar on Martha Stewart's show.

By LinMarie from Fort Smith, AR