What's the best hand cleaner?

[Big John]

For yonks I'd been using Swarfega to clean my hands after a bike mending session. When I eventually ran out of the green gunge I went to replenish my stocks only to discover the price had ramped up, so I sourced some terrific stuff from Wicks's - it looked like squashed oranges mixed with sand. Cleaned the hands like you wouldn't believe and smelt loverly (the wife's words - not mine!). However, they've stopped doing it and I refuse to pay silly money for Swarfega, which wasn't a patch on Wicks's own brand.

Any suggestions? And please don't suggest fairy liquid - the wife goes bananas when she finds grease and oil all over the bottle

 

[Dave5N]

Screwfix do stuff for decorators. I'll have alook when I go in the kitchen.

 

[Steve Austin]

I use either handsoap and sugar or handsoap and washing powder. both work fine and a whole load cheaper than swarfega.

 

[Fab Foodie]

I use either handsoap and sugar or handsoap and washing powder. both work fine and a whole load cheaper than swarfega.

Agreed. WD40's quite usefull to get the worst-off first, also veg-oil is a good oil solvent, then fairy and water.

The Citrus degreaser stuff is good too.

 

[tyred]

As mentioned, adding sugar to any kind of liquid soap is good. The best handcleaner I've ever came across is called Lava. It's gentle on the hands but suprisingly effective. But any of the more modern "orange" ones with added grit are better than Swarfega and cheaper. A tip for anyone who regualrily works on diesel engines is that washing powder is probably the only thing that will get the smell of diesel of your hands.

 

[hubgearfreak]

Any suggestions? And please don't suggest fairy liquid - the wife goes bananas when she finds grease and oil all over the bottle

go-on - treat yourself to your own bottle
with a little sugar, it's as good as anything else available

 

[redjedi]

Real men, like me, just use a scouring pad with a little washing up liquid, removes the grease and oil easily.

 

[Landslide]

Another vote for soap and sugar here.

 

[John the Monkey]

The Rema hand cleaner is pretty good, ime;

Rema Tip Top Handcleaner.

Added some to an Edinburgh Bike Co-Op order a while back to get free postage, and was pleasantly surprised by it.

Used "The Really Good Stuff" (bought in Morrisons, and does the job nicely).

 

[TheDoctor]

Wussies. What's wrong with Brillo pads?

B+Q own-brand hand cleaner - another orangey one. Got it a few years ago - I hope they still do it...

 

[jayce]

i use deb lemon wipes they come in a big bucket just pull out like baby wipes get my hands clean and smell lushhhhhhhh

 

[numbnuts]

I use marigold rubber gloves to do all the dirty work and then reassemble without gloves, if your hands get dirty after that you haven’t cleaned it properly !!!

 

[dodgy]

Nobody has mentioned it yet, but try using disposable nitrile gloves. You can boxes of 100 for about £5 delivered.

 

[008]

Baby wet wipes works wonders.

 

[Cking]

Baby wet wipes works wonders.

You guys love your baby wipes!!! I have seen them recomended for just about everything on this website.

And please don't suggest fairy liquid - the wife goes bananas when she finds grease and oil all over the bottle

I bet she loves finding the baby wipe box covered in oil

Back to the thread. I use a drop of shampoo and ,maybe some suger. Works fine. The oil on the bottle problem is still there though.

Rgds Cking