A couple of nights ago, while at a chatroom, OCR asked me what kind of hand cleaner I'm using right now. Well, that's an interesting question. Over the years, I've had my hands in every kind of stuff one could imagine, have used many types/brands of hand cleaners. Have been an equipment mechanic for many years now. And I have had mechanics hands. You know, when you clean up, go out with wife to a resturant, and you look at your hands and see this imbedded grime in the lines and fingerprints of your hands. No amount of scrubbing seems to release it. It's only after about the third day on vacation swimming in the ocean that your hands begin to clean up a bit, just for you to do it all over again upon return to work. I've used the orange cream cleaners, the pumice stuff (not fond of washing hands with sand), the old original GoJo that leaves your hands smelling like you cleaned them with kerosene, this brand, that brand, some ok, some not so. With all that said, in the last couple of years, I've stumbled across this stuff, GoJo Power Gold. It amazes me how well it works, yet doesn't leave your skin feeling like you just cleaned hands in the varsol tank. It does have a grit to it, but nothing like pumice, much milder than pumice. Doesn't leave a funky "after cleaning" residue on your hands. And the best part...clean hands. Don't even have to use a fingernail scrubber. Just thought I'd pass this on and ask what everyone else uses out there. Before, grime on hands after working on Bobcat skid After, no scrubber used Don't ask me why they call it Power Gold...it's green. :tong Heck, I don't care, I just know it works.
i love the gojo towels. have 2 containers in the truck at all times.
dawn dish soap
can of brake cleaner come on, everyone has used it at least once :tong but usually Dawn, that's all I have at my farm besides the brake cleaner and well a bucket of that "Industrial Purple Cleaner".....but that will eat you skin off, does a great job on grime also
Howard supply company lanolin hand cleaner. Very good. Maybe a little too greasy.
yup go jo wipes = good
Fast orange with a light pumice blend But lets face it im a paper pusher
I am surprised that nobody mentioned Boraxo.I have used it for years,nothing that I have tried yet will touch it.No after smell and you don't have to wash up with regular soap afterwards to get rid of the odor.I find that I have to look for a store that stocks it lately but it sure does the job for me.I am talking about the powdered variety,they may have other stuff marketed but the powder is what I use.Ron G
We used to have that in a place i worked, it was good but there dispencer sucked, It was always getting clogged... I also tryed that purple waterless stuff from castrol. When you rubbed it on your hands it balled up and would stick to the hairs on the back of your hands.... that stuff sucked too... I think thats why it didnt last on the market for only about a year.
I use Goop from harbor freight works great and it's cheap, also wd40 works good in a bind. Walcrap{walmart} has it in the laundry isle use it for many things. Great for killing bugs.
I'll have to see if I can find power gold around here.I have kept a scrub brush in the shower for years to get that grime out of the deep grooves and cracks When I am suppose to go somewhere nice its been that scrub brush and bleach for an hr or so,Not good. You young pups will see what Atco and I are talking about when your hands get some mileage on them
Fastenal .... http://www.fastenal.com/web/home.ex but there are probably cheaper places to buy it...
We use GoJo here too. I've found that mixing the green and white together works the best! The green is better at breaking down the grease but the white gives it some needed grit.
For a final wash,once you get the thick stuff off, and economical, I found that using Lava bar soap and Fels Naptha bar soap together works like magic. I lather up with lava then lather up with the fels naptha at the same time for some reason it works great used together.
cleaner ok...ill let this one out. but dont tell anyuone i use it.. go in your wifes bag of bath goodies and use AVON SKIN-SO-SOFT BATH OIL...this stuff is the best hand cleaner in the world. removes grease,grim,oil and latex base paint...asphalt emulsion...tar,pine sap etc,etc. you name it it takes it off! oh and it leaves your hands oh soooo soft and fluidly smooth ...
For heavy soiled hands I use wd40, no matter how black and dirty ones hands are it will lift out all traces of the grime and a wash with soap 'n' water finishes the task.Having that said I now use gloves not latex but vinyl disposable ones,they take a little getting use to and depending on the task may require more than one pair but when you have to answer the phone or fill out a time/task sheet it is a simple operation of removing and discarding the soiled gloves resulting in clean hands for the supplementing task......and in the event of a torn glove use WD40.
if this is a joke, it is gonna get a lot of guys in big trouble. lol
yup, i don't dare mess with my GF's bag of bath goodies..... if it works i'd man up and just go buy it myself, rather than get an woopin.
I'll have to go with the Boraxo also but if you don't have lots of water it will never work. I have been using the waterless cleaner I get at Napa. It leaves a slimy film on your hands when you are done but at least you don't leave grease prints all over the steering wheel and gear shift for the drive home.
Yup, used WD40, even use starting fluid when I have to take a quick clean to answer phone. In colder weather, I do use nitrile gloves, much like you do. But in the hot summer weather we have, your hands looks like prunes from sweating in them. I've tried many brands of Nitrile gloves, bar none, the best fitting and toughest I've tried are Ansel Edmont "Touch n Tuff". They cost a little more than other brands, but are far more durable. http://www.highperformancesafetyproducts.com/92-500-l.html
yep thems de ones I use............
Aye, use them in the cooler weather. It is nice to simply pull off the greasy glove and have clean hands to answer phone or sign parts delivery tickets.
or even to have a cup of steaming "Joe" while ya figure an issue out.........................
Swarfega Hand cleaner is top quality .. ALWAYS wash with cold water .. Clean wipes work pretty good .. Cannot wear the serial killer gloves ... I wear them when messing with black jack or Hermitite thou.
I'll give the Boraxo a try, but I am dead serious about the Lava and Fels Naptha bar soap used together at the same time, for about $5 it will last a month or 2. You won't believe how good it works until you try it. Of course if my hands are really greasy I will use some gojo or similar to get the thick stuff off first.
What is decent price for the Go Jo Power Gold ? In the small bottle like ATCO has pictured.
I use Worx all natural hand cleaner. Check it out www.worx.ca
you might have to call a shop rag ( ie cintas, aramark) distrubuter to get it since it is in a despencer.
You can buy power gold in different size bottles at most industrial supply stores, not just in the dispenser cartons. I have a dispenser, and a few small bottles kicking around for convenience, and get refills for the dispenser and the bottles at Gregg Distributors.
nice, good to know
This is what we use. best stuff I've ever seen. I can take the wife to dinner right after work and nobody would ever guess what I do for a living. http://www.krestohandcleaner.com/kresto.html and it doesn't dry my hands out the way most hand cleaners do.
Green mafia keeps power gold... #7295 power gold #7200 for the wall mount.
I use Dawn ultra for the most part. If you really want clean hands though, you guys should try Schaeffer's Citrol spray. I'm sure it's healthier than ether or brake-clean too.
3 pages, on washing hands, amazing.
well, mr expo, washing hands and good hygiene in general are important to some members of this forum.
that's nice.
Hey, I don't mind getting my hands into the slimmiest of all slimmy slime stuff, don't bother me a bit. But one thing I just can't stand is getting dirt/grease on the steering wheel of my truck, I want clean hands when I'm heading home as well as when I go out with wife to fine eating establishment.
ATCO i second that i just cant stand a greasey grimey or stickey steering wheel there is no reason for that
For those of us who have to use hand cleaner everyday this is a very important subject. The choice of which chemical cocktail to subject your hands to everyday, sometimes several times a day can have very adverse effects on your health. The health of your skin affects every other part of your body. Heres my story class; I was first employed as a mechanics helper when I was 11 years old. Our neighbor had a shop behind his house and my dad got me a job working for him after school and on the weekends. He has an old parts washer with recycled solvent in it. We used it for parts and to clean our hands. I did this most everyday for several years. I got used to using parts cleaners to clean my hands. When I was about 23 I worked in a heavy equipment shop. I was cleaning my hands one day and they started bleeding between my fingers and on the back of my hand. This was the beginning of a wonderful journey that got my hands to finally end up as pictures in a dermatology text book. The "right" combination of chemicals will chemically burn your skin to the point of loosing it. I will spare many of the details due to time but let me say that trying to mechanic after your skin grows back (think baby skin, no calluses, super thin) was very miserable. Anything sharp would cut my new skin. Thru my ordeal I learned a lot about hand cleaners. My problem was a complicated one but I learned how important good, skin friendly hand cleaner really is. Cheap citrus orange scented hand cleaners are some of the worst offenders when it comes to skin health. According to my dermatologist the citrus products are bad for your skin. The Go-Jo Power Gold that has been mentioned is one of the best on the market that works and is good for your skin. I use Joes hand cleaner made by Kleen products in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. http://www.joeshandcleaner.com/joes_hand_cleaners.html#1 Be careful what you "mix" your hands in. My problem was a chemical that I absorbed in my skin from recycled parts cleaner that was in my system for a long time, but that just aggravated the biggest problem which was a combination of having my hands exposed to brake fluid, anti-freeze, and dish washing soap that chemically burned my skin. My advice is to use a high quality, skin "friendly" hand cleaner (like the ones already mentioned) and wash your hands between the different fluids you are exposed too.
The one thing I notice on rereading this thread is the number of us that failed to mention the use of a good barrier cream. As I don't spanner as much as I used to I omitted it from my post. I agree with Cat Wrench that cheep and cheerful cleaners cause more grief than there are worth.The correct use of a barrier cream and gloves will help reduce the incidence of dermatitis.......
I use Joe's hand cleaner at the house in the small bottles and power gold at work since they are buying... Great products...
One thing I forgot to mention about Power Gold, I have a dispenser mounted on the inside of rear door of service truck. Got pretty cold here last winter, well, maybe not as cold as our Canuck friends, but below freezing nevertheless. Had no affect on Power Gold, didn't freeze or change the product.
once is enough as brake clean goes through your skin and into your blood stream.
Yup, and consider this, most aerosol brake cleaners containg 15 - 20% (by weight) perchloroethylene...same chemical used in dry cleaning clothes. Powerful stuff. :yup
+1 more for dawn dish soap. I like the green apple smelly kind.
maybe thats whats wrong with me?
Well I thought that too but then I found out my mother tied my shoes to tight when I was a kid that explained all my problems, but hey at least I didn't become a truck driver? Seriously brake clean is great for general parts cleaning but real bad for your health IF not used properly.
Brake clean is bad JuJu never let it touch your skin. I have been to a dermatologist also for cracking and bleeding hands,and its no fun. I won't go near a parts cleaner tank anymore without good rubber gloves. Also I use Eucerin hand cream before I go to bed, I found it to be the best for dry skin, the jar with the white cream thick as paste. Screw all the other hand lotions they don't work worth a crap for serious dry skin.
Hate to admit I use hand cream but Neutrogena is my choice...
I have a lot of trouble with my hands cracking and dry itchy skin on my hands and arms. Every night I use moisturising hand cream, I try and use natural ones, but I really have'nt found anything to alleviate the problem. I have considered going to a dermatologist, but I really think it is one of those things, that comes with age, years of exposure to all sorts of nasties, over exposure to the sun, which we have plenty of here and in my case, years of working around crushing plants with limestone dust, that would dry anything out. I would love to hear if anyone has found a product that gives them some degree of satisfaction. These days, I wear gloves most of the time. As for hand cleaners, we use Eagle One hand cleaner with eucalyptus and it would have to be one of the best hand cleaners I have used. It leaves your hands clean and dry with a mild eucalyptus smell. It is distributed by Valvoline here. RnR.
In my business (hogs) the dirt is easy to deal with, but the smell is impossible to remove. I have learned the trick is the odour molecules adhere to the oils i your skin. It can last for days. So what i do is pre-oil. Use an oily skin cream before you get dirty, then dishwashing detergent after, and the smell washes right off. In my industry, getting the smell off your hands is serious business.
Here is the best that I have found, I have used GOJO different varieties of ZEP and the work ok, but the Bear Paw hand cleaner is the best, you just need water. The best ever, would recommend highly. http://www.bearpawhandcleaner.com/
Barrier cream. Amazing stuff, hands clean up easy, grime washes right off. I like PR99, just have to remember to put it on my hands before they get dirty.
Keep a bar of Don Maximo soap from Mexico at the sink at home. think it's like Grandmas Lye Soap but really cleans the cracks and fingernails. A bar will last a long time, not melt away like soap you buy here.
I like Zep products pretty good ..When it comes to gettin that "wore in" grease off it I take bleach and a rag and hot water works pretty good.
Eucerin also makes Aquaphor which isn't a white creme but kinda like what Vaseline looks like. My dads used that with good success. You can even use it as chapstick.
huh, Zep must not be that good if ya got to use bleach afterwards...:beatsme
The best solution to dirt in the deep cracks is to do dishes for your wife for at least a half an hour with good hot water.... does wonders for your marriage too.
So how do I get this blood out of my brake clean system? :Banghead
I found that the best way to keep your hands cleans and PROTECT THEM is to us rubber gloves. I learn this from a guy that had a carburetor repair shop. All his employees used them to rebuild carbs. Get the heavy duty kind that want tear eaisly. Just remember when you tear the rubber glove that would have probably been your skin if you didn't have them own. I keep in my shop, and shop and use them for about just anything....
Oh man, carb cleaner is bad mojo, gloves are a necessity. :yup I use nitrile gloves all through the cool weather. Only time I don't use them is in warm weather and summertime, my hands just sweat too much with gloves on then, so it's off with the gloves and use good hand cleaner.
Hav'nt read all the responses,but We use a product called WORX,green powdered ,enviro friendly,Superintendant is kind of Enviro supportive.It's not half bad for sink use,and field our parts person gets Napa orange [grit or no grit].
When I used to wrench on cars, I always had the clean dirty hands look. So one Christmas my out-laws were making homemade vineagar taffy. To make it soft and easy to eat you have to pull it as much as you can as hot as you can handle it. So it starts and everyone is taking thier turn pulling the hot sticky mess and it gets to me and I grab it and start to pull it as everyone else had. Pretty soon this nice looking white ball of taffy has a light brown tinge to it, and my hands were spotless. The taffy pulled every bit of dirt and grease and grim off my hands they were clean as I could ever remember. On another note the taffy tasted horrible, I was the only one who tried it. I think that taffy tasted horrible with out the grease also so it was no big loss to me
Boraxo or "reach?" from ZEP products. Cleans every thing from sap to cv axle joint grease.
I have been rebuilding my boat this year and Baraxo even cleans the resin from my hands.I was pleased to find that out.Much cheaper than acetone.Ron G
Ron, I used to build and repair fiberglass boats for a living. You may not believe me, but Ivory Soap removes resin wonderfully. Acetone cuts it but leaves a funny feel to your skin. Ivory (used before it hardens), takes resin off clean. There was a bar at every sink at the boat manufacturer I worked for.
My goodness,the king...(me)....demands Ivory soap.I get what is on sale however. I just asked her and she says we have none....LOL I have one more batch to make and I am done.I set the deck on the hull today and it looks like everything is going to fit so tomorrow I hope to have it fastened down and if it is not too cold will get the rubber strip in the rubrail.Thanks for the tip. It is a 1969 Glastron Jetflite.Ron G
Try the cheapest brand of dishwashing liquid (Sweetheart works) WITHOUT WATER. then rinse . Soap molecules have a water-soluble end and a fat-soluble end. If you wet your hands first, the fat-soluble end of the soap molecule will be repelled and never engage the fat (grease) molecules on your skin. Put the soap on first, the fat-soluble end engages the grease, then add water , the water pulls off the soap and the grease. VOILA! cheap waterless hand cleaner. World's best-kept secret. Cheap works for me. Experience is NOT the best teacher. It's the most expensive teacher. Somebody ELSE'S experience is the best teacher.
http://inxproducts.com/inxhome/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=110&Itemid=140 "The Scrubber". All natural. Sometimes difficult to find, but definitely works the best so far, and I've tried so many.
Anyone used pr88?
Pro Soap. Beyond amazing. www.prosoap.com . Bit of a PITA to get, you have to buy it direct. But it's worth it. I haven't found anything yet except POR 15 paint that it won't take off. And it does not dry my hands out, which makes the next cleaning that much easier.
yes, expensive and greasy when you first put it on but it drys fast then it is pure magic when you wash your hands and all that grime comes right off, down to the pores in your skin.
Thanks for the suggestions,I think I will go with the Avon so I can clean up on the wifes tab! Seriously though not just any GoJo product will cut it the one packaged in orange jug and white in color I found to be close to ineffective.
I used to use nitrile gloves but gave them up recently. I was spending too much time changing gloves trying to keep my hands and tools clean. I still use them for small jobs but there's just no point when your up to your elbows in moly. I keep a roll of shop towels in the truck box and a plastic sac to put em in.
I have used Zep Cherry Bomb and Cherry Punch and they both have worked well for me. I try to wear nitrile gloves when I can but it seems like my hands always get really sweaty and uncomfortable so I am not a huge fan of them.
i been using worx lately and i like it. have used microbrush and that was good too. a scotchbrite pad and dawn are one of my favorites. any kind of solvents or spray cleaners that are used in a pinch should be rinsed off in a hurry. i use raven nitrile gloves mostly but they can be dangerous when your hands sweat and you are doing heavy work. at that point i toss them and trust my skin. leather gloves are good for some things. cotton gloves for others. any kind of barrier cream is probly better than none. i have used skin creams that seem to imbed the black further into your skin. remember that all of us have skin that may be different than the rest of us. so the best may not be the best for the rest.