Martha Stewart Swears By This Knife Trick To Banish Any Garlic Smells From Her Hands

Chopping garlic blows. First you have to peel each clove, line them up just right, and then chop away. There are little tricks and tips to help make peeling garlic a breeze, but it's still an annoyance despite being one of the basic elements of cooking. Perhaps the worst part of chopping garlic is that your hands then reek of this popular allium. Washing the smell off with water will actually make it worse. 

It's like you've doused yourself in garlic cologne. Luckily for you, Martha Stewart is here to save the day. Yes, this 80 year-old baddie with a criminal record has a great tip for you (not to mention her thoughts on prison food.) Her advice: When you're done chopping garlic, run your knife under water and then rub your finger tips against the flat part of your blade (this is assuming you use steel knives as this tip won't work with ceramic knives).

This is all due to the properties of steel, the aromatic compounds in garlic are sulfur-based which actually end up binding to the metals in stainless steel, meaning all you have to do is rub your hand against it and the distinct smell should be gone. We don't always follow what Martha says (like how she enjoys a late night pickled herring ... I think I'm good), this trick works extremely well.

The tried and true stainless steel method is easy, but there are other tips for ridding yourself of that allium smell in case the knife trick doesn't cut it (pun kind of intended.) Other tricks include lightly coating your hands in olive oil and then washing that off with soap and water. Many Reddit users swear by using a baking soda paste with some water. After applying the paste to your hands, simply wash with soap and water. 

If that doesn't work, folks swear by lemon juice. Wash your hands with water, soap, and lemon juice all at the same time. This should strip the garlic smell right off. You can always try the heavy duty Fast Orange soap which is normally meant for mechanics and folks in heavy industry. Composed of crushed pumice, this stuff will definitely get the job done. You can always try to prevent the garlic smell from getting on your hands in the first place by using nitrile gloves. They're food-safe and allergen-free. While it seems silly to keep something like gloves around for garlic, they're also extremely handy when handling raw hot peppers.