When cooking with garlic and onion, one of the “consequences” – if you will – is that it makes our fingers and hands smell like garlic and onion, and no amount of soap seems to be able to get rid of that powerful scent. As much as we love these ingredients, we don’t want to go around smelling like onions all day long. There are some super simple ways to get rid of that odor quickly and easily, a little everyday science trick that couldn’t be easier to perform.
Garlic and onions release chemicals when they’re cut and these are transferred to our hands as we handle the food. Simply washing our hands with soap and water can help, but soap and water don’t remove the odor, and water alone can actually make it worse. Cue your sink or faucet, or simply a metal spoon from the kitchen drawer. Stainless steel can help to transfer those odor-producing chemicals off of our skin. All you have to do is rub your hands on a stainless steel surface and underneath cold water to remove the odor from your hands.
Who knew the solution was that simple?! A little kitchen-science to the rescue and our hands are relieved of that pungent odor and we can go back to our sweet-smelling selves. The video below details how to remove pesky odors from our fingers.