Hand cleaner

37chief

Well-known Member
Location
California
My wife got me 10 5 lb boxes of Boraxo three years ago. I thought had enough Boraxo to last me the rest of my life. It's now gone. I kept it in a can on the shelf. I would usually use mort than I needed. Then the grand kids spilled their share. A few months back I bought a Boraxo dispenser, that seamed to cut down on the waste. Yesterday I ordered 10 more boxes of Boraxo.I also use liquid hand soap which works good also. I stopped using gasoline a long time ago. Any of you have a favorite hand cleaner? Stan
 
I use GoJo. However, I leave it in my unheated garage year-round and learned that winter freezing/thawing turns the paste into a liquid in the spring. I pitch the liquid and buy a new supply each spring.
 
A long, long time ago, there was a hand cleaner that I preferred called DL. It dissolved the grease from my hands, and washed off with water. Some time later, the company was bought by Permatex (I think) and was still a good hand cleaner. Sometime in the last 10 years, they changed the formula, and it just doesn't work like it used to. So, I switched to Fast Orange. I use the stuff with pumice at home, and without pumice at the garage (no running water at the shop). Works good.
Go-Jo works ok, but I never did like the smell of it. Smelled like toilet bowl cleaner to me. Yuck!
Then , the Boraxo also worked good. I just haven't used it in the last few years.
 
Boraxo...Bought a six pack on Fleabay about two months ago. Have used one can already, Wet your hands, a little shake, and scruby scrub a little. Love it.
 
I like Kresto, it is not waterless, but uses pulverized walnut shell for grit, and really works well with a little water and a good rinse. I get it thru Airgas, the welding supply store.
 
Dawn and well water. Wash your hands with the Dawn with no water and then use water to rinse it off.
Richard in NW SC
 
As a teen (195o's) I used Boraxo mixed with Comet. 2 to 1
Now all I use in an Orange clean with pumice.
 
GoJo or similar from Napa'through a 'dsispencer'.Lately been useing a bar soap from a local soap maker. "GreaseMonkey" bar soap,uses coffee grounds as a 'scrubber'.WORKS! Made by the 'Dirty Water Soap Company',Delta Colorado.Google em.
 
I use a stuff called Fast Orange and it is pretty much the only hand soap I ever use.
 
Squeeze a tomato in your hands. The acid in the tomato works very well in dissolving any grease or stains.
If you don't like that idea, then wet your hands, and pick up a handful of sand, and use that to scrub your hands clean. Works very well also.
 
I use WD-40 first, then polish off with FastOrange. Seems like the WD-40 helps the arthritis in my hands and wrists, but it's probably just my imagination.
 
I use only Boraxo and I've used it all my life. Tried the orange stuff and Lava, but they don't get all the crud off my hands. Have to use Boraxo to finish the job. There are some hardware stores that carry the boxes.
 
I use powder dishwasher soap - Cascade. The thing that's a little strange is that you pour some granules in your hand and start rubbing with a little water - as soon as it hits any temp of water it generates a lot of its own heat. There's a chemical reaction there of some kind. It is very coarse so the pumice is there, degreases awesome, and rinses off easy.
 
Solopol or kresto either one works great but you need water. Beats the heck out of fast orange one drop of water on your hands and fast orange is done. I guess it has its place and its not at my sink.
 
Dawn is good, Ajax is better, and Boraxo is about the best. Lava also does a great job.
 

Always used gas , fuel , varasol, but now I only use Dawn dish soap . In fact it great for degreasing equipment .

Larry --ont.
 
Had a GoJo dispenser that my brother had years ago. I bought a container of Goop at Walmart and it fit the dispenser. Works well as I don't have water in the shop.
 
At one time WD40 was in fact used to help arthritis but it was not FDA approved to that fell by the way side but yes it does in fact help that but then so does bee stings but that is another story
 
Nobody mentioned "Joe's Hand Cleaner". I like it because it cuts oil and grease without the smell of kerosene or whatever GoJo smells like. Easy on the hands and skin too. Smells kinda sweet, maybe like bananas. It's usually for sale in some independent parts stores but I have seen it at O'Reilly's.

You can use it by itself with towels to clean up or rinse with water after rubbing it in like hand cream.

It can also be used as a pre-spot remover from clothes.
 
i use citris based pumice hand cleaner in the shop. in house i use "extreme orange" car wash in gallon jug from fleet farm, $4 a gallon. my wife sprays it on my greasy jeans before she puts them in the wash machine and they come out clean! takes grease off hands good
 

Pick up a spray bottle of Shout triple formula next time your go by a store. That stuff with a hand brush will take every evidence of grease off of your hands. It only takes a spray or two and then scrub a little and add water. Gone! It's the only thing I use now. Way better than gojo or anything like that and doesn't leave a big mess either. I hardly use the latex gloves to try to prevent greasy hands anymore because this does so good. I picked up this tidbit on a vintage auto forum that I frequent for my '66 mustang.
 

If you happen to go by walmart, they have their own brand sitting next to it and it's about $1.00 or so cheaper. Probably same stuff.
 
I use Ajax dish detergent. But if you want to get your hands and fingernails really clean just wash you dog. TDF
 
Sun dish washing liquid $1 a bottle at the Family Dollar better than any hand cleaner
if you have water available.If no water Carb cleaner and starting fluid will take the grease right off your hands.
 
I use Dawn dish detergent,and warm water,,some of those auto store hand cleaners leave a greasy film on you hands and smell like kerosene..I have a nice sink with hot water midway in the shop located on the way to the office, makes it handy to rinse off on the way to answer the phone, I also have a big'ol cloth bath towel hanging there too that I change out every other day, saves on paper wipes..
 
(quoted from post at 21:40:41 08/04/15) At one time WD40 was in fact used to help arthritis but it was not FDA approved to that fell by the way side but yes it does in fact help that but then so does bee stings but that is another story

How do you use it? Shoot it up? Drink it? Main line? Inject subcutaneously? Or just rub it on the joints?
 
(quoted from post at 19:04:20 08/04/15) I use powder dishwasher soap - Cascade. The thing that's a little strange is that you pour some granules in your hand and start rubbing with a little water - as soon as it hits any temp of water it generates a lot of its own heat. There's a chemical reaction there of some kind. It is very coarse so the pumice is there, degreases awesome, and rinses off easy.

The water brings the corrosive caustic in contact with your skin, and starts breaking your skin down by oxidation. I hope that you don't get your hands dirty very often.
 
I'm with jimg
I remember using DL as a kid, and it worked great - not so much any more.
Seemed like it used to be solvent based. I just assumed whatever made it work was outlawed, or somebody would have kept making it
Now I just use Dawn and a fingernail brush
Pete
 
Oh Boy! I love this question, so I can tell my favorite story,,,

At work we have a constant flow of salesman trying to sell us all types of spray can maintenance items, hand cleaners etc. My head mechanic would listen to the sales pitch and when the subject of hand cleaner came up they would of coarse tell him how theirs would clean better, smell better etc. Afterward he would ask if he could try some? They are always glad to hand him a sample. He opens up the can, sticks his finger in it, closes the can and then sticks his finger in his mouth. After which he would spit it out and say, I wont buy your hand cleaner. The sales person, usually dumbfounded will say, well good gawd, we don't sell it to eat??? Its to clean your hands??? To which he would respond You dont understand,,, I dont wash my hands each time they get dirty here or that would be all I got done and I would get fired. I wash my hands for two reasons, When it's time to go home, or it's time to eat. When I eat, I eat with my hands, and what's on my hands gets on my sandwich,,, I don't like the taste of your handcleaner and I wont buy it,,end of discussion.

It is a lot more humorous to watch than for me to explain,,but he is dead serious.
 
no shop water
I start with whatever degreaser I have on the bench..simple green, the purple stuff. quickly, beat up hands or thin skin places will burn.
Then D&L hand cleaner.
I'll add my voice to it not being what it used to be.
Back in the day, none of its competitors even came close.
Now, it's ok, but noticeably weaker.

Thanks for the tip on the dollar general stuff, I'll give it a try.
 


Fast Orange. If you ever find yourself without a hand cleaner, motor oil and a little sand will clean you right up. That's an old truck driver formula.
 
I use the orange stuff too - with the pumice.

No shop water either. Big jug with a pump - next to a box of paper shop towels, next to a trash bin.

Couldn't live without it. Super fast and easy - though the stuff doesn't like 20 degree weather.

Not cleaning up to go out for dinner kind of cleaning, but works well enough to make it into the house for a
more thorough cleaning in a sink with some dawn.
 

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