Garlic and onions are both versatile ingredients often used in cooking, making the finished dish smell more fragrant and flavorful. However, chopping garlic or onions has a significant drawback: your hands can leave a stinky smell afterward. How can you quickly eliminate this odor?

How can you quickly eliminate stinky hands after chopping garlic or onions?

To help you quickly eliminate odor from your hands after chopping garlic, we tested three methods.

Dishwashing liquid?

When my hands were smelly after chopping garlic, I first tested various common detergents (such as regular hand soap or mild dishwashing liquid). However, after washing, there was no significant effect; the odor remained, so dishwashing liquid was eliminated first.

White vinegar?

After getting my hands covered in garlic odor, I tried the next remedy: white vinegar, which is often considered a odor-eliminating agent. Many people have mentioned that it helps eliminate fishy odors. However, even after washing my hands briefly with vinegar, the garlic smell still lingered, so I abandoned the white vinegar altogether.

Stainless steel knives?

I finally tested using regular stainless steel kitchen knives to eliminate garlic odor from my hands, and the results were fantastic! Simply run the knife under the tap and rinse your fingers with the running water to quickly eliminate the odor! Besides knives, other stainless steel items can also be used this way.

The reason running water over a stainless steel knife helps eliminate garlic odor is because the sulfide in garlic combines with the iron ions in the knife, breaking down the odor.

In addition to garlic, running water over a stainless steel knife can also eliminate the odor of onions, leeks, or ginger. While specially designed stainless steel soaps have long been available, using the knife directly is a convenient, cost-free option.