I think the powder stuff is Boraxo. I have used WD-40 with pretty good results getting greasy dirt off. Using waterless works much better without water IMHO. Have you tried diesel?

 

I use Orange Blast. It's VERY cheap and works better than any hand cleaner I have ever used.

 

We have that at work - great stuff !! Mean Green is also very good as well as the liquid glove.

For the not so dirty jobs I sometimes wear Mechanix gloves: http://www.mechanix.com/

 

The Boraxo stuff is the best stuff I've found for getting the black out of the crevices. It's rough on your hands, though - I wouldn't want to use it on a daily basis.

 

i use something similar, PR88. it works pretty well. i apply it 3-4 times a shift [from hands up to above elbow], and the 1 liter tub lasts me ±2 months. and on top of that i wear disposable cotton sleves and gloves... if i try hard, i can stay clean all shift, but somedays you can't [had an unexpected diesel shower yesterday (few gallons) wasn't a fun day ]

 

Need to be careful using WD40 as a cleaner, or most solvents. Yes it does a good job cleaning I have also done it. However it contains DMSO, it is sometimes used by arthritis suffers and was very popular in the 80s. The problem is, with dirty hands it will supposedly drive the dirt (badstuff) into the bloodstream.

 

I have customers that use both the 250 and 270 product. Both are roof tile manufactures and the pigment they use to color the cement is next to impossible to get out of cloths, truck seats, floor mats...anything. But I tell you what, I never have dirty hand leaving one of these facilities. It works!!!!


Whisk Hand Cleaner

Tom

 

Varsol and a Scotch-brite or if there realy bad Laquer thinner.

 

Safegrip latex powder-free gloves (blue) will last and can be re-used, and ZEP Cherry Bomb hand cleaner works awesome, and will not dry out your hands. I've seem some ugly cases of eczema from hand cleaners that dry out your hands and not using gloves. It's not worth your health to look manly? and get all greasy!

 

I "Found" some purple gloves at the hospital when my daughter was born. These are the toughest latex gloves I have seen. They don't tear unless you want them to. I guess I'll need to get some more when we have our baby here in a couple of months. The drawback is that they don't have the powder on them and your hands sweat a lot....

 

Dodgezilla, those purple gloves are called nitrile rubber gloves. Those are the ones I have. I "find" them where I work as well.

The wife is grocery shopping as we speak. I asked her to look for boraxo. I have used kerosene, lacquer thinner, sand and oil. Diesel fuel (biodiesel). Comet powder and a greeen scrub pad, pumice stone (it works but basically you are sanding off skin). Whote goop hand cleaner, fast orange with pumice, a scrub brush that would remove paint, and even wd-40.

Gonna go down the list here (very comprehensive-THANK YOU!). I'm gonna see which ones work the best starting with the Boraxo (if the wife can find it at wal-mart).

Just kind of scary when you think about it. All the nasty chemicals used on the hands. Kind of makes you wonder what they are gonna look like in 20 years if they don't fall off first. Kevin

 

Yes, that old powered stuff was Boraxo and it sure worked good. I have been wearing laytex gloves for years now, I worked engineering in medical buildings and wouldn't be without protection. The purple ones are nitrile and are real tough and dense, HIV will not pass through. I have washed my hands with laquer thinner, gasoline and all kind of soaps. There is a company called SafetyKleen that has a really good hand cleaner, it is green liquid and I belive has silaca as an abrasive. It was around $20.00 gallon in 1990. Most of the time I use dish soap and scrub with a scotch brite pad. I think I am taking off my skin with it though.
Years ago when I was a diesel mechanic for the county I would wash the parts and my hands in #350 solvent mixed with diesel fuel. That is what we were TOLD to do by the county. Years later now I have arthiritis and alot of pain in my hands. The solvent was absorbed into my skin and disolved the fat in my hands. OSHA would not allow that now.
In addition, I was also exposed to loud noise from diesel engines running free/ stall with no mufflers when you were in the pit below the engine. 2 stroke/ cycle 8V91 Detroits but the 903 twin turbo cummins were the loudest. +120db. pressure. I love the rattling sound of a diesel engine but this was so loud is would cause pain and you could feel the concussion from the pressure. Can't hear good now either.
So everyone, please use the proper things to clean your hands with.
Jim.

 

You were in a pit with above 120dB and no hearing protection?
Isn't that 2000 times the threshold for sonic induced pain?

I don't think anything oil based is supposed to be too good for your skin. I'll just stick with water based stuff, especially as I'm lathering it into my skin.
(I think most everything citrus is water-based, right?)

 

The only hearing protection I had were those little foam earplugs I brought in but they did not do much good. I think the official # is 130db. being the threshold of pain where you black out when your nervous system shuts down. This was back in 1974, I worked there for 6 years, when I would go home at the end of the shift my ears were ringing loud and I could not hear pretty much till the next day then it starts all over. The shop had 6 pits inside and you could pull in 3 vehicles behind each other. I would be in the pit maybe working on the transmission and one in front of me might be doing a tune-up. It was not just the sound but there was like a harmonic vibration that would resonate in the depths of the pit and it would make you sick to your stomach. The noise can hurt you just from being there, you don't have to hear it with your ears. Back then if I would say anything to the people, they would say "If you don't want to do the work, someone else will", then you would get written up for something. But you should hear the whine from the twin air-research turbos on a 903 cummins fully loaded on the engine dyno, turbo housings glowing orange. That was impressive
I left there in 1981 and I still cannot hear.
I really hated that job now that I think back. Jim.

 

Blue gloves all the way tried the latex doctor gloves too thin