What gets bike grease off hands?

Question

I had to change my back tire on my bike on Sunday. I got a lot of grease from the chain and the rear derailer on my hands and a little on my arm. I've washed my hands multiple times on Sunday, Monday, and today. But there is still some grease on my hands.

My question is, does any body have any ideas to what will remove all of the grease? Thanks.

Answer 1

Pedro's degreaser. Quick, effective and environmentally safe. Not to mention the nice orange smell!

Answer 2

Swarfega.  It's a green, gloopy gel that shifts grease better than anything I know.  The trick is to put it straight onto your greasy or oily hands, rub it in well, then rinse thoroughly.  

Don't use it very often, as it strips the oils from your skin which can make them dry.   If you put some moisturiser on afterwards, this should prevent the dry skin.

Below is a link to Swarfega's site and then a link to an eBay search for it.

Answer 3

Get some Permatex hand cleaner from an auto parts supply store.

It's cheap and effective. About $1.50 for a pound. I believe autozone and kragen have it in stock regularly. I use it and it is great. It even gets the stuff underneath your nails and the stuff in the crevices where your nails meet your flesh.

Follow the directions and you will be okay.

Answer 4

Swarfega

Answer 5

sulfuric acid

Answer 6

bleach

Answer 7

First, what is this recommendation for Goop?  The only Goop products of which I'm aware are sealants/adhesives.  Would seem to compound the problem, methinks.

A citrus-based degreaser works very well without subjecting your skin to harsh chemicals or heavy scrubbing.  Get it anywhere...supermarket, drug store, dollar store, etc.  Inexpensive stuff.  Dampen a paper towel with it and immediately wipe the bulk of the grime off.

Another option would be Lava Heavy Duty Hand Cleaner.  Available in bar and liquid forms.  In use for 100+ years.  Inexpensive and available everywhere.

And, yes, clean up that drivetrain occasionally.

Answer 8

use Goop. its safe and cheap

Answer 9

dish soap is the best.  it gets the grease out of your pots and pans.  i use it all the time when i get bike grease on my legs and hands.

Answer 10

The cheapest way is to rub them with butter which will emulsify the grease or you could use petroleum jelly.

Wtare and soap tend to fix the stain on your hands. There are commercial products such as Swarfega desined for a job like this. Any store selling paint or hardware wll help you.

Answer 11

Boraxo or Lava are both effective, old hand cleaning soaps, good for grease removal...that and a good nail brush should do you up!

You can get it in most grocery stores in the bath soap aisle.

As for bleach and some of the other ideas, don't use a chemical cleaner whose warning label specifically tells you to wash thoroughly if it comes in contact with your skin!!!

Answer 12

dish soap works great. its gets grease and oils off. trust me i've used it for practically everything greasy.

Answer 13

Goop definitely works, but I've also tried WD-40, believe it or not, and it works really well at getting pretty much anything off of your hands.  Good luck!

Answer 14

At this point, a good scrub brush and soap or hand cleaner of some kind is your best bet.   Since you've washed a few times and it's a few days old, you might just have to try to scrub off what you can and let the rest wear off naturally.

Next time, try out all of these votes for dish soap.   I use either dish soap or Dial liquid hand soap with a scrub brush and it will remove almost all kinds of nasty grease from your hands.  The only places that are sometimes hard to clean are the cuticles and under the nails if you've been dealing with greasy solvent (like kerosene or paint thinner that has filthy chain lube dissolved in it).

Take the soap and use a good spoonful of it....rub it into your dry hands really well....no water.   Then, start scrubbing with the brush, adding a little warm water and rinsing as necessary.  Re-scrub until it's gone and rinse well.   Without fail, this gets my hands clean even when I've had some ugly stains on my skin.  

It's simple, and marginally better for the environment than rinsing solvent-based or citrus degreasers down the drain.  And it works.

Answer 15

citrus based degreaser, non-toxic. but if you're getting that much grease on your hands, clean your drivetrain! the build up of dirt & grime will actually increase the wear on your chain and gears! you can get a chain cleaning kit for about $30. 10% the cost of replacing your chain, rings and cassette!

Answer 16

Goop works, however I do the same thing I do when working on my car:  Use disposable nitrile gloves, available in quantity at any auto parts store.

Most mechanics do the same, to avoid the potential of skin problems or even cancer from prolonged exposure to petrochemicals.

Answer 17

gasoline but it smells  but it work i use it all the time so there you go ps don't smoke when you do this hahahahahhahahah

Answer 18

Bloody h**l, you should clean your chain in future. I have had to scrub for half an hour before, but never three days. Anyway, I find that the best thing to use is a simple bar of soap - liquid detergent is next to useless.

Incidentally, that stuff on your chain isn't actually simple grease. It is a combination of mud, oil and general grime and muck. It shouldn't be there in the first place, so I would clean it off while you are thinking about it.

Answer 19

How about W-D40 it is good for just about everything!

Answer 20

Washing up liquid and granulated sugar together - the abrasive effect of the sugar gets the ingrained much out of your skin, and the washing up liquid keeps the muck from going back in.

I have used this for years and it's cheaper than Swarfega too!