The Stainless Steel Trick To Eliminate Garlic Odor From Your Hands

Garlic is one of the four food groups. Well, maybe if you are Italian. Per The Spruce Eats, this much-loved ingredient is part of the lily family and is an aromatic that adds some incredible flavor to an array of recipes and dishes. Can you imagine Ina Garten's twist on traditional garlic bread without garlic? And the garlic chipotle shrimp that Aarón Sánchez whipped up on "The Daily Pop" would be average without garlic. Garlic has earned an essential spot in many kitchen pantries.

Of course, per The Guardian, some people feel garlic is overused, and while that may be a truth worth considering, if you are a garlic fan, you won't be exploring that thought for too long. But the smell it can leave on your hands, well, that's something that could give you pause. As enjoyable as the scent is when you first get a whiff, it can be a little overwhelming and linger into the next day. Maybe that's why it was banned at Buckingham Palace, according to Darren McGrady, a personal chef for the royals (via Times of India).

But never fear. Thanks to Martha Stewart, TikTok, and science, there is a stainless steel trick to solve these smelly garlic woes from plaguing your hands and everyone else's noses.

Martha Stewart shared on her TikTok page that if you want to solve the problem of garlic fingers, you simply need a stainless steel knife. Stewart instructs that you simply want to run your water warm. And, once the water is temperature-appropriate, place your hands under it, along with a stainless steel knife. Next, run your fingers across it. With this apparent sleight of hand, you will discover the smell is no more. Stewart is clearly a magician: How does stainless steel and some warm water eliminate the smell of garlic from your fingers? Naturally, science has the answer.

According to Science Focus, this bulbous vegetable is blessed with "sulphur-containing chemicals" that contribute to garlic's smell. While the smell of it in our food is worthy of us salivating over, the same is just not true of our fingers. Science Focus says the chemical that makes our hands smell is called allicin and goes on to explain that stainless steel is a metal that contains chromium, which creates an oxide layer on stainless steel. The experts theorize it is this layer interacting with the garlic that attracts it to the stainless steel knife and away from your fingers. 

So, if you want to avoid stinky hands, reach for that stainless steal knife.