How To Get Garlic Smell Off Your Hands

Adding fresh garlic to a recipe like Garlic Knots or Roasted Garlic Duchess Potatoes is sure to kick the entire taste up a few notches. Fresh garlic often has a more robust flavor than jarred garlic, but with that flavor comes the strong scent of garlic all over your kitchen – and your hands.

While garlic may taste delicious when included in meals, it’s not a scent you want lingering on your body. So what is it about fresh garlic that leaves hands smelling so ripe? The culprit is allicin.

“The volatile organic sulfur compound allicin is produced by garlic as a defense mechanism when the tissue is damaged, such as cutting or crushing,” registered dietitian Chelsea Edwards tells Southern Living. “It's garlic's defense mechanism against herbivores (and) gets released when the garlic is ruptured or damaged and deters animals from eating the garlic as it works in the chemical reaction to create the pungent smell.”

Whether guests are coming over or you just want to rid yourself of the stench for sanity’s sake, Edwards says the best solution for removing the garlic smell from hands is as simple as stainless steel.

The Best Way To Remove Garlic Smell From Hands

“Surprisingly, stainless steel is the best way to remove the garlic smell from your hands,” she says, adding that a stainless steel odor bar is the best option. “The sulfur is attracted to the metals in stainless steel. The sulfur compounds bind to the stainless steel, removing them from your hands. You'll want to wash your hands after doing this.”

7 Ways To Remove Garlic Smell With Household Items

If you’re in the thick of preparing a meal and a stainless steel odor bar isn’t available, there are other ways to remove the garlic smell from your hands using household products you likely have in your pantry.

When utilizing any of these methods, it’s important to make sure all areas of the hands – particularly surfaces where scents can get trapped like along nail bends and underneath fingernails – are thoroughly scrubbed. Follow each method by washing hands normally with warm water and soap.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Take a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar into cupped hands and rub it around. Wash hands using soap and warm water.

Baking Soda

Baking soda mixed with salt (using a 2:1 ratio) can also help remove the garlic smell from hands. “Make a paste with it using a bit of water and massage the paste into your hands,” advises Edwards.

Citrus Fruit

“The acid in lemon or lime juice neutralizes the enzyme that causes garlic's odor,” Edwards explains.

Coffee

No fruit? No problem. “You can rub coffee grounds on your hands to neutralize the odor of garlic as well,” Edwards says, adding that you should use a bit of water to moisten the grounds while rubbing. 

Mouthwash

Use a capful of mouthwash to cleanse hands, being sure to rub thoroughly in a sink before rinsing with soap and water

Tomatoes

Cut open a tomato and rub the cut side on your hands, using the juice to help neutralize the scent. If you don’t have fresh tomatoes, bottled or canned tomato juice would work well, too.

Toothpaste

Like mouthwash, rub a dollop of toothpaste all over your hands to neutralize the scent before washing with soap and water.