Cleaning hands

[mortation]

I need some tips here. My hands are trashed :P Aside from the fact the constant (pointless) washing is making them very dry, cracked, and painful I can't seem to get them clean again.

I cant seem to get everything off and mechanic hands are not going to go well computer service calls :P

Thanks!

[Gravity Tester]

Short of Tme & Pumus (orange Cleaner/Pumus) your kind of a marked Man. This stuff is supost to work great seen several HVAC guys use it but I dont know where they get it from

http://www.liquidgloves.net/index.html

Pat

[chiphead]

I'm in the same boat. I'm in the IT biz and after some weekends my hands sure don't look pretty. I use any of the major pumice cleaners from home depot or wally world and a scrub brush but some of the stuff in the cracks just has to work it's way out.

As far as the cracked and painful hands, I watched the skin on my knuckles crack and bleed as I bent my fingers. Just saw a dermatologist yesterday and he recommended Cetaphil hand cream. He gave me a couple of sample tubes yesterday and I started using it last night and it seems to work very well. It's available over the counter.

[distraction628]

Clean hands

Old trick the Japanese taught us at Nissan ...was to clean them with WD-40 first then a good orange oil hand cleaner. Then get yourself some over size Latex gloves( exam type) Coat your hands with Petroleum Jelly put the gloves on overnight. Then when you get up in the morning take off glove and wash with a good mild hand soap. Hands will be soft and should be as claen as they will get....It works for me...hope that helps....
Kevin

[tkent02]

Prevention works well too....

Try those blue nitrile gloves and some of those mechanics gloves.
I have a hard time keeping them on but if I have to go to work tomorrow I try harder.
You can do most tiny things with the nitrile gloves on and the leather/cloth mech's glove protect while working on most bigger things.

Goop and a good finger brush works wonders too.

Also Palmolive dish soap and corn meal works very well.

[jm_foote]

Try those blue nitrile gloves and some of those mechanics gloves.
I have a hard time keeping them on but if I have to go to work tomorrow I try harder.
You can do most tiny things with the nitrile gloves on and the leather/cloth mech's glove protect while working on most bigger things.

Goop and a good finger brush works wonders too.

Also Palmolive dish soap and corn meal works very well.

I like the nitrile gloves as well. I handle hazardous stuff at work, so I normally "borrow" a few pairs before any tune up.

They stay on perfectly fine with me. Just get the right size.

[Billyboy]

Fast orange with grit.

[bonanzadave]

When you get the painful dry cracks try this...




Works for me

http://www.bagbalm.com/

[Zooks]

Rub in some good quality sorbolene before you go to bed. When you get up in the morning, scrub it off and a lot of the dirt will come out of the cracks. The sorbolene gets under it during the night. You have the added advantage of the sorbolene softening the cracks and callouses at the same time.

This thread is sounding very 'girly' . I hope the 'women folk' don't hear all us 'tough guys' talking about this stuff. - LMAO

[SqDancerLynn1]

I vote for the Bag Balm use it at night... caution wear gloves it will stain the sheets The wife would probably appreciate the smoother hands

[MissFabulous]

Bag Balm is great stuff. I'd say to wear cotton or other breathable gloves with it on though, not latex or nitrile because they'll make your hands sweat. Do it at least a couple nights a week, and follow up with a soft brush and soapy water in the morning, followed by a decent unscented hand cream like Lubriderm. After working on stuff, make sure you use an oil based cleaner (like Goop) with a soft brush to remove grime. Also I've heard this stuff is good, and Road_Clam told me about something I know I've used before but I can't remember what it was nor can I find the email... Clam, you out there???

[max]

Palmalive dish soap and a toothbrush is all I ever used, never took me more than 15 minutes and my hands were as soft as the two ladies say they will be on the commercials. Pretty important, as I'm a waiter by trade so I need to look my best. As for spending a night with my hands all covered in goo, well they pretty much do that anyways to themselves...

[brenno]

Palmalive dish soap and a toothbrush is all I ever used, never took me more than 15 minutes and my hands were as soft as the two ladies say they will be on the commercials. Pretty important, as I'm a waiter by trade so I need to look my best. As for spending a night with my hands all covered in goo, well they pretty much do that anyways to themselves...

Works for me too Max

Brenno

[beergood]

Have you tried grabbing a hot header pipe? I did it this weekend (on accident, I lost my balance and just reached out to grab something. Doh!). It will remove even the most stubborn stains from hands and fingers.

Bag balm is a great product. I've also used mineral spirits and a medium bristle brush. GoJo. Fast Orange. It really depends on how much abuse my hands have put up with that day. I treat my hands more like tools than appendages, and they have definitely been through some suffering over the years.

I've been an IT guy for about 10 years, and I long ago gave up on keeping my hands completely clean. I figure I'm exceptional at my job, and my clients are just pretty damn happy to have a working machine when I leave, they don't get too picky about the hands. I've reached a point a while back where if I'm painting something, and having a hard time getting a good angle on a small part, I'll just hold it and spray my hand rather than stop in the middle of a project.

Then again, this is Detroit, and a lot of us have dirty hands from working in the garage.

And now some totally unrelated cleansing anecdotes, because I love typing:

I remember when I first moved in with a girlfriend. I went from having a bar of soap and one shampoo to having a cleansing product on every flat surface in the shower.

I remember the first time I showered at my current lady's apt. I wear glasses, which means that I am fairly blind in the shower. She is one of those lotion soap sponge thing ladies (side note: guys, don't ever use a chic's poofy sponge thing if you have any body hair at all. I used one as a joke once, and I got a stern talking to as she was throwing it out). Anyway, it took me over five minutes of holding every tube and bottle about 3 inches from my face trying to find an appropriate cleanser amongst the various lotions and emollients. I eventually just gave up and got out half clean.

If I had my way I would shower with a lava bar and dry myself with shop towels.

Good luck with your quest.

[themess]

First, wear brown jersey gloves when handling very dirty parts. They cost less than a dollar per pair, and can be bought for $5 in bundles of ten pair. Latex or nitrile rubber gloves (buy in boxes of 100 for about $10) worn under the cotton gloves help even more. If you must re-use the jersey gloves after they are saturated with oil, soak them in kerosene and let them dry a couple of times. Stick them in a washing machine only if you want your SO to kill you. the grease can get in the washer and coat everything put in it for the next ten loads or so.

Another trick is to pick up greasy pieces only with pliers or a shop rag. Or keep one hand in a glove for handling dirty stuff and use the ungloved hand for clean items.

Cut fingernails reasonably short before starting the job.

To clean greasy hands, start with a waterless hand cleaner. Lava bar soap doesn't work nearly as well, and it's much harsher. Goop is the classic waterless hand cleaner. My current one is Fast Orange by Permatex. These cleaners are emulsions of regular detergents and various hydrocarbons. The hydrocarbons dissolve the grease, and everything is mixed into the emulsion. Use a fingernail brush everywhere. Yeah, it will hurt the cuticles, but suck it up. Make a fist when scrubbing knuckles to get grease out of the folds. Wipe off on a dry rag, or paper towels. Repeat to get the areas missed the first time. Then use regular liquid dish detergent, again with vigorous use of a fingernail brush.

Then use a decent hand lotion.