When should you wash your hands when you’re in the garage? And how should you be washing them? It’s not as simple as “when you’re done” and “with soap and water.” Don’t worry, we’re here to help.
Working on cars is the quickest way we can think of to get your hands incredibly dirty. There are all the different fluids you could be dealing with, like oil, brake fluid, and anti-freeze. Then there are the thousands of kilometres worth of old road grime, dirt, grease, salt, and who knows what else covering the underside of your car.
If you don’t have rust stains on your hands, then you probably have rustproofing spray all over you. We’re not sure which one is worse.
Most of these chemicals aren’t good for your skin. Brake fluid is corrosive, oils and greases contain carcinogens, and getting rust in a cut on your hand is a great way to end up needing a tetanus shot.
Gloves Keep Hands Cleaner
Of course, if you don’t get these products on your hands in the first place, you don’t have to wash them off. That’s where gloves come in.
Nitrile gloves are great for keeping your hands clean. They keep the oil off your skin and don’t have the allergy issues of latex gloves.
A good pair of nitrile gloves can give you more grip, too. Textured surfaces help you hold on to slick parts and tools, so your knuckles stay safe. Well, safe-ish.
But we know that plenty of you don’t like wearing gloves. After all, they’re hot and make your hands sweaty. Even the thickest ones can tear. And when you’re done, you still need to wash up anyway.
Pumice Stone: The Abrasive and Effective Hand Cleaner
Pumice hand cleaner is one of the most popular choices for getting your hands clean in the garage.
Pumice is a type of rock that is formed when a volcano erupts. That’s cool enough on its own. But when you grind up pumice stone, it becomes a great way to clean your hands.
The pulverized stone is mildly abrasive. When you rub your hands together with pumice soap on them, it exfoliates your skin, scrubbing away the grime, dirt, and grease.
As a bonus, it leaves your skin softer. That’s because it you’re also removing dead skin. The abrasive quality of pumice soap make it more effective than traditional soaps, but there are pumice-free cleaners available, too, if you don’t want or need the extra grit.
Pumice Hand Cleaner
31.69 $
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GOJO - Cherry Gel Pumice Hand Cleaner
29.69 $
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A big tub with a hand pump is the easiest way to apply hand cleaner in the garage. That way you don’t have to fiddle with a slippery and oily container that is guaranteed to fall somewhere you can’t reach it.
Apply the hand cleaner to dry hands. It needs friction to do its job and has enough of its own lubricants and water in it already.
Rub your hands together until you get all of the grease, grime, and oil off. Rinse.
If you’ve spent hours working on a filthy car, there’s a good chance one round of washing isn’t going to be enough. You might have to do the ol’ rinse and repeat to get everything.
If rinse and repeat isn’t enough, it’s time to break out the brush. That’s the only way you’re going to get under your fingernails, too. A good scrub brush will get the worst dirt and grime, leaving you looking and feeling fresh.
When Should I Wash My Hands in the Garage?
If you’re not wearing gloves, you should scrub up at least a few times a day. That’ll make sure you don’t spend hours at the sink at the end of your workday or DIY afternoon.
But there are a few times you should always be sure to wash your hands. Like break time.
If you’re headed to the bathroom from the garage, you should wash your hands before (and after!) you go. As we said, you may be working with hazardous chemicals that you don’t want in sensitive places. Like your eyes.
You should also make a habit of washing your hands before you eat. If oil and grease are bad for your skin, they’re even worse to ingest. Plus, if you keep your sandwich grease-free, it’ll taste a lot better. Trust us.
Of course, you could always put gloves on to eat, but isn’t it easier to put them on to work instead?
Where Should I Wash My Hands?
It’s great if you can have a hand washing station in your garage. But if you’re working in the typical home garage, then you probably won’t.
So what do you do? Well, there’s always the garden hose. But more likely, you’ll be headed inside. Hopefully, you have a utility sink in the basement or laundry room.
But be careful. You don’t want to end up having to scrub down half your house because you’ve left oily fingerprints everywhere. The solution? Hand-cleaning wipes! They’re a great way to get that shop dirt off of your door handles and walls. Or wipe the worst of it off of your hands before you head inside.
Hand-Cleaning Wipes
17.89 $
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After the workday
If you spend your day working on cars, trucks, or other vehicles, then you know how hard it is on your hands. It can leave your skin dry, cracked, and hurting.
There’s a fix, if you want it: hand creams designed just for you, the hard worker who spends their day getting filthy but wants to spend their off time looking and feeling better. Use them as directed and you’ll surely notice a difference.
O'Keeffe's Working Hands
20.29 $
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