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
>