Working on lots of bikes means i have sore hands from washing none stop. Tried gloves but too faffy!! WHats best for washing oily hands/nails?
Barrier cream before the work and then swarfega or a something similar, then moisturiser. That's what i used to do at the bikeshop i worked in anyway.
I use a tub of heavy duty citrus degreaser towels - can't recall the make, but work amazingly well..
EDIT: They were: Armorall 80 Heavy Duty All Purpose Home Garage Wipes
The Fenwicks beaded hand cleaner is really good. I have fairly sensitive skin and it doesn't seem to irritate it despite being very effective on gunk.
get a swarfega dispenser over the sink
If you don't happen to have any swarfega around, mix some coarse kitchen salt with a bit of washing up liquid and rub vigorously. Works a treat.
That's what i used fenwicks! Was trying to remember. We had the 3 pumps, barrier, beaded cleaner (oooer environments) and moitsuriser.
Worth having another go with gloves. Try the thin PU ones. Also get the right size so they are a tight fit. These are good: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Goodyear-Nylon-PU-Safety-Work-Gloves-Garden-Grip-Men-Builder-Gardening-Mechanics-/401568830574 (first google hit, you can buy them for a under a pound a pair if you look around)
Much easier to put on and take off if you do have a very fiddly bit and don't fall apart like the rubbery/plastic ones. Not sweaty either
Johnson's baby oil on a flannel. Believe
I find E45 wash will practicaly get any thing off my hands, very kind to the skin.
Deb Stoko is the best I’ve used. It gets the ground in dirt off that swarfega and the like leave behind.
O’Keeffes hand cream if you get sore hands.
If its got beads or grit in it, make sure its not plastic.
Plain green swarfega works well, as does sugar and washing up liquid.
Baby oil (or just veg oil) can dissolve a lot of the engrained black gunk from fingerprints as well.
I've used loads. Soap and a brush is best. The brush is the key. Even better, I got a hand scourer thing from Euro Car Parts with finger holes in it which is superb, not particularly long life tho.
The principle behind the beads and sugar and magic whatnot is just that it physically agitates the dirt. A nail brush works as well or better since it gets under the nails, and is cheap, easily available and reusable. I'm not usually a traditionalist and I do go for modern new fangled stuff frequently, but this isn't one of those times.
Oo! i've got a good one for this! Do you drink coffee? Filter coffee or made in a Moka pot or something? Keep the old granules, which if you're me are always lying around anyway because I can never be arsed to clean the pot until I make the next coffee, and use those mixed in with your soap. It feel likes you're making a total mess and getting dirtier hands but it cleans them up really well.
Clean, green and free! 😀
This thing:
Never had clean hands after working on the car before, but this fully cleaned them up when used with normal bar soap.
Or just wear gloves because constant occupational exposure to oil (or chemicals of any kind) is toxic.
I rub some cheap cooking oil into my hands and then add a bit of washing up liquid. Then wash it all off. Much more gentle on my skin and lifts the dirty oil off my hands.
WD40
wd40 +1
I've found Baby wipes pretty good for cleaning hands straight after getting them covered in oil and crap, also good for wiping the bike down...
Yep they're very cheap, and of course terrible for the environment...
Might have to try the coffee granules trick above.
Washing up liquid and washing powder mixed together with water works well.
Nice chemical reaction means it warms cold hands nicely.
This gear used to be excellent (so probably still is excellent)
http://www.internationalpaintsuppliers.com/safety-/gojo-paint-and-stain-hand-cleaner-600ml/
Sugar and washing up liquid FTW
Standard Dirty; Swarfega or if not available then Washing Up Liquid with Salt or Sugar
Nuclear option? This...
Washing up liquid and washing powder mixed together with water works well.
Nice chemical reaction means it warms cold hands nicely.
As JAG says. Washing up liquid and sugar will shift most stuff. If really bad then mix some washing powder into it. The real Nuclear options though are petrol, brake cleaner or thinners. Not recommended under any circumstances; unless you have farmers hands, unshiftable dirt/paint/grease/crap, and a posh function to visit in the evening!
Gloves. Fiddly or not, you'll be thankfull in the long run.
Funny. Someone asks "What's best" and gets a load of workarounds and (ahem) hacks (sorry, that's what the kidz call em these days).
When the actual answer [url= https://www.amazon.co.uk/Swarfega-Orange-450ml-Pump/dp/B01N5G3K2K ]is[/url]:
sore? Man up! 😆
I can't believe I only found out about them last year - they work incredibly well on all manner of grease, oil, paint, silicone, etc. and don't knacker your skin. They're like baby wipes on steroids.
Funny. Someone asks “What’s best” and gets a load of workarounds and (ahem) hacks
Because we've done most of these and found a better way. A brush isn't a workaround, it's miles better than green Swarfega - for my skin, at least.
green Swarfega..
...which is why I posted orange.
Did you know, if you try to mix green and orange Swarfega it separates and goes a horrible brown colour? Looks grim, still cleans ok though 😆
Use barrier cream before dirty jobs, with a good barrier cream you barely even need a heavy duty cleanser afterwards.
At the end of the day I used Lansinoh pure lanolin cream to restore the natural oils on my hands.
+ another for wd40 then wash with fairy liquid
Or just make bread/pizza afterwards. Works wonders
Fast Orange
Washing up liquid with sugar
Washing your hair in the shower
which is why I posted orange
Which I've also tried....
Orange swafiga for me, often needs a couple wash/rinses to get rid of the Muc Off C3 Ceramic Wet paste on both bike drivetrains, then a final wash/rinse with normal soap.
Was going to say the same as nickjb - try some really thin PU palm gloves. I think the Screwfix ones are Site KF120 and they’re £1.39 a pair.
Way easier to put on and take off than latex/nitrile disposables and not sweaty so I put them straight on when I start fiddling with bikes. More than enough feel for all but the most delicate of jobs, and they last ages.
this
https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/bikes/road-bikes/rema-tip-top-hand-cleaner-top-clean-review/
use a little and a bit of water and your clean, amazing stuff (I also carry a little amount when I'm riding as its the only stuff that gets latex off effectively
Nitrile gloves in the right size, a good nail brush and either orange Swarfega (don't worry, the gritty bits are some sort of nut husk or something, not loadsa microplastic) or I found Ecover heavy duty hand cleaner worked really well but I haven't been able to get any more of it.
I agree with barrier cream.
+1 Orange swarfega + a brush. As above the grit is from corn husk. I put gloves on if I'm doing extended oily work but for general tinkering tend to go commando.
sugar and washing up liquid every time. Cheap and effective.
Find some gloves you get along with. I don't like normal thin Nitrile or PVC but Black Mamba work for me.
I've still got oil in the top of my legs from greasy jeans as a 16 year old 39 years ago.
Failing that, washing up liquid, Vim or Ajax and a floor brush will get you clean (and remove the top layer of your skin)
Sawdust based cleaners every day of the week. Lidl used to do a good one but this looks the same:
https://newerafuels.co.uk/hand-cleaner/
Another vote for gloves.
If it's really ingrained then washing powder, colour stuff is better as it has more bits but it will burn your skin so don't hang about.
But you're better with gloves.
I've tried a latex, heavy duty lated and nitrile in single and double pairs. They *always* rip.
+1 for sugar and fairy liquid
Long before people got all precious & wore gloves for everything I worked on cars,lorries & JCB's & mostly used Swarfega & sugar, or at a push I'd use washing up liquid & washing powder...You'll soon find out if you've got any cuts with the last combo