Max, The only stupid question is the un-asked one. I use Goop waterless hand cleaner, or Permatex hand cleaner. Wipe off with a paper towel or old t-shirt.Then wash with any dish or hand soap to get rid of the smell. Also works on greasy laundry spots. Doug in CT

Max Wellhouse wrote: > Yes, I've never seen this question on the list before, but maybe no > one was brave enough to ask such a simple question. Of course, I'm > talking about getting grease and grunge out from under the > fingernails, cuticles, and skin folds. Before everyone laughs me > off the list, I'll bet others are wondering the very same thing. To > satisfy Jim, I am referring specifically to Vanagon grease that we > all know and love so well. to eliminate a lot of obvious answers, > here's what I have experimented with over the last 40 years and > nothing really seems to do the trick except a really prolonged > scrubbing with Fast Orange repeatedly, followed by a long hot shower > and scratching my soap bar vigorously with my fingernails so they > fill up with the white stuff, and then eventually, the fingernail > brush from an auto parts store eventually gets the rest of it out. > > Okay, here's what I've tried and why I don't think these items and > procedures are the Holy Grail. > 1. Blue Nitrile Exam Gloves. I'm not allergic to latex or vinyl, > but those gloves don't hold up even as well as the Nitrile. Yes, I > use them for CV Joint repacking and a couple of other really nasty > jobs, but for everyday mechanical repairs, they don't hold up and > repeated use gets expensive. I know some auto stores sell Heavy Duty > ones, but still after 30 minutes or so, your hands get really clammy > and wet and that makes putting on the next pair difficult. I DO use > these gloves extensively when working with Epoxy and other nasty > resins though and they do fine for that, but that work doesn't > require all the abrasion of the auto work.. > > 2. Kerrodex barrier cream- Your spozed to rub this stuff into your > fingernails and exposed skin before you begin and after the mech > work, rinse with water and all of the dirt goes bye bye. Spozed to > work for fiberglass resins too and it doesn't It smells like soap in > a tube and hasn't performed anywhere near the way I'd like it to, > especially for the cost of it. > > 3. Fast Orange/Go-Jo/Pumice cleaners/Lava/ you name it- EVENTUALLY, > they get the stuff off, but the dirtier you get, the time to clean up > gets exponentially longer and once you rinse with water, the > effectiveness of the repeated applications diminishes a great > deal. EEven the "natural" versions of this stuff dry out the skin badly. > > Enough of my ranting here. I never hear anyone else complain about > this necessary job, so I'd be really indebted to the list to cough up > your favorite potions for keeping naked hands clean or at least > minimizing the clean up time afterward. > > TIA > > DM&FS >