Hand Cleaners that get the job done?

A topic I have rarely seen asked in the workshop is what hand cleaner do you use. We all know that when we're done working on our razors, be it in the workshop or kitchen grinding, sanding, scales, steel, Micarta, G10... you name it, our hands usually don't look very pretty. There's plenty of products on the market to clean and scrub that filth off. Just wondering what everyone's cleaner of choice is.
I personally use Fast Orange Pumice Hand Cleaner from Permatex and still my all time favorite and best hand cleaner Lava pumice hand soap.

Solvol. When I was a kid, I used to get covered in a sump oil and creosote concoction we used to mix up to stop the white ants eating our fence posts, and a bar of solvol always got me clean again. I hear nowadays you can even get it in a liquid soap and with a citrusy aroma!! Sounds a bit metro to me...

James.

Lava and Gojo. I've not found something either cannot remove, yet.

+ 1 on the Lava, I've used it in the past, but I got my hand on a 3 liters can of Super Plum that will last a while :) It works great and keep the hands moisurized.

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Originally Posted by Jimbo

Solvol. When I was a kid, I used to get covered in a sump oil and creosote concoction we used to mix up to stop the white ants eating our fence posts, and a bar of solvol always got me clean again. I hear nowadays you can even get it in a liquid soap and with a citrusy aroma!! Sounds a bit metro to me...

James.

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Solvol is pretty much the same as Lava. It's also a pumice based hand soap. It's made by the same company that makes the famous WD-40 all purpose lubricant. But I agree, those bars do a wonderful job.

I must admit, nothing will take the the grime off your fingers like a box of mcdonalds french fries ....

I use Bon Ami to clean my hands after working on cars. Now I don't know if grease and oil is different than what you get on your hands.

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Originally Posted by Crzylizard

Lava and Gojo. I've not found something either cannot remove, yet.

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same here!!

Grease and oil,Simple green,general crud, lava,tannic acid stains from building fences and decks with redwood,hulling black walnuts,lemon juice.
touching a razor bought off the bay,all of the above:))

Fast Orange, lava, and for those deep stains, the time it takes to shed and replace that skin. Some days I take the lava to the shower after work and the stall looks like a Dexter scene if we bled black.

Fast Orange with pumice is also great if your wife leaves a pan out and the cooking oil polymerizes. It took out some stuff that just shrugged off acetone.

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Originally Posted by roughkype

Fast Orange, lava, and for those deep stains, the time it takes to shed and replace that skin. Some days I take the lava to the shower after work and the stall looks like a Dexter scene if we bled black.

Fast Orange with pumice is also great if your wife leaves a pan out and the cooking oil polymerizes. It took out some stuff that just shrugged off acetone.

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Explaine about the cooking oil please,I love panfried steak,cook outside on a gas burner using a cast iron pan,well I left the pan out for a couple days,When I went to clean all the blackend grease out it stained the hell out of my hands.
Nothing would remove it.

I use mostly Gojo or Lava now. Diesel feul works great too. It usually cleans what the Gojo and Lava doesn't.

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Originally Posted by Jimbo

Solvol. When I was a kid, I used to get covered in a sump oil and creosote concoction we used to mix up to stop the white ants eating our fence posts, and a bar of solvol always got me clean again. I hear nowadays you can even get it in a liquid soap and with a citrusy aroma!! Sounds a bit metro to me...

James.

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Did you ever get your mouth washed out with it for swearing?....YUK
Never swore in front of my parents again after that

I am with Max on the Fast Orange. I prefer the sensitive skin formula as I hit it a dozen or more times a day being an auto tech. It does not dry skin out as the regular formula. The lava in the shower is first off to get the hands and arms, knees in the summertime with short pants! Gojo seems a bit diesel based for me, but melts the crud away IIRC. I am also a Simple Green nut for cleaning anything. I get it by the gallon and dilute 3:1 with water. Greased lightning also is a fine product for some things(3:1 also), but will stain others!

I use Snap Buy Snap Hand Cleaner from Canada at Well.ca - Free Shipping because it works, and it's what my dad used a long time ago. I love the way the lanolin and glycerin leave my hands well moisturized, I find most others either don't work well for me or dry out my hands after several uses.

LAVA is the soap of choice.

Some WD40 on a rag first then detergent & Scotchbrite pads.

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Originally Posted by onimaru55

Some WD40 on a rag first then detergent & Scotchbrite pads.

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On your hands? Oz, You ARE IRONMAN! ;)

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Originally Posted by sharptonn

Oz, You ARE IRONMAN! ;)

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Nahh not really . I use a conditioner after or my fingers scratch my keyboard.

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Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Explaine about the cooking oil please,I love panfried steak,cook outside on a gas burner using a cast iron pan,well I left the pan out for a couple days,When I went to clean all the blackend grease out it stained the hell out of my hands.
Nothing would remove it.

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Hmm, sounds like a mystery. Maybe a passing squid inked in your pan. Check the yard for tracks, they're quite distinctive.

Canola oil, if left in the pan for a few days, sets into a finish to rival enamel. But not to rival fast orange with pumice and a scotch pad.

Sta-Lube hand cleaner works pretty good, too.

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Originally Posted by Maximilian

I personally use Fast Orange Pumice Hand Cleaner from Permatex and still my all time favorite and best hand cleaner Lava pumice hand soap.

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Hehehe almost the same for me, my "Brother from another Mother"

Lava, yep same here

but I use the other Orange :p Gojo Natural Orange

http://www.gojo.com/united-states/brands/gojo/product.aspx?sdid={A18C480E-CFC5-4570-8AE3-F5A02CF12560}

Fast Orange is my handwash of choice.

In a pinch, Dawn dish-soap does a good job of cutting the grease and oils. It just doesn't have the grittiness of the industrial soaps.

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Originally Posted by HNSB

In a pinch, Dawn dish-soap does a good job of cutting the grease and oils.

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This is the only dish-soap I use for my dishes. I also it it to clean my razors when I'm done grinding or buffing. Takes all that crud off.

Now the worst part with all that hand washing is my wife always giving me a hard time because I have a tendency to always grab the nearest kitchen towel. Basically destroying them with all the smutch it leaves behind. She's not happy and always points out I should use my own hand towels and leave the kitchen towels untouched. :rofl2:

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Originally Posted by Maximilian

Now the worst part with all that hand washing is my wife always giving me a hard time because I have a tendency to always grab the nearest kitchen towel. Basically destroying them with all the smutch it leaves behind. She's not happy and always points out I should use my own hand towels and leave the kitchen towels untouched. :rofl2:

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At least you have not been banished to the Utility sink in the Laundry room, She moved all my stuff to that sink and even hung up a Dark colored towel for me to use :p

Conversation went like this..

Standing in the Kitchen, me: "Honey were is my Lava, and Hand cleaner"

Standing behind me arms crossed, her: "Back in the Laundry room Dear, right next to YOUR sink"

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Originally Posted by gssixgun

At least you have not been banished to the Utility sink in the Laundry room, She moved all my stuff to that sink and even hung up a Dark colored towel for me to use :p

Conversation went like this..

Standing in the Kitchen, me: "Honey were is my Lava, and Hand cleaner"

Standing behind me arms crossed, her: "Back in the Laundry room Dear, right next to YOUR sink"

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...and this, gentle readers, is how you score a sink to call your own.

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Originally Posted by roughkype

...and this, gentle readers, is how you score a sink to call your own.

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Just one of many tricks I have learned after 35 yrs of wedded bliss.
Hey Hon, you work today so I will do the laundry,really darlin? yep, I know all about that stuff.separate the darks and the whites and the polyesters,yada yada.
Done deal,all folded ready to roll,she is a happy camper until she says sweethart, you know that $200 cashmere sweater you bought me for Xmas?, yes dear,YOU DRIED IT ON HIGH IN THE DRYER A$$HOLE,the freakin thing will not even fit a barbie doll anymore ( only allowed to wash my shop rags now:(
Oh sweetness, let me help you do the thanksgiving dinner dishes,thank you my sweet baboo says she,Crash,you know dips$$t, that waterford glass you just dropped in the sink cannot be replaced (all i get to do anymore are the dawgs bowls:( such is life:)

I cut concrete for a living and we work with hydraulics some times. Combined with the rest of the dirt and concrete slurry ( not to mention mess from cow farms we work on a lot ) Even with gloves my hands and arms get pretty nasty. I use GoJo Cherry cleaner.
It works great and I like the smell more than citrus. Especially at lunch time. PB&J with Citrus sent on your hands Uhh.

I usually use this: Kitchen Soap | Wolsey Soap Shop

For really tough jobs I'll grab one of the assorted hand cleaners I've accumulated over the years, but most of the time the Kitchen Soap does the trick. Full disclosure: the soap is made and sold by a friend, but it is very good.

Sadly she doesn't make any shaving soaps yet, but I'm working on that. :)

Tossable gloves....
They are inexpensive and almost everywhere now.
Most mechanics near here wear the blue ones.... Ask
what they use when you see them. You want ones
that do not melt with a little oil or grease.

There's something about those disposable latex or other gloves I dislike. You don't get as good as a feel with the razor or scales when sanding or working on them. It's different for mechanics. They are usually tightening or loosening stuff with a wrench or moving parts in or out. With restoration you are actually working on one piece and the precise feedback is very important. With gloves you lose that feedback. YMMV off course. Same with condoms ;)

Yup can't wear the gloves unless it is real messy and only for a short time. Fast Orange Pumic and or WD40 and a papertowel. Then Lava bar soap & Simple Green in a spray bottle and a fingernail brush gets them clean.

Don't like condos either, got to have a garage and yard...

Sometimes on the farm the only thing that would get the hands clean was a green tomato. Cut it in half and scrub away...

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Originally Posted by Maximilian

This is the only dish-soap I use for my dishes. I also it it to clean my razors when I'm done grinding or buffing. Takes all that crud off.

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We all know the real reason you use Dawn is so that Leigh doesn't complain about your dish pan hands when she comes home from work! :roflmao