How to Get Garlic Smell Off Your Hands, According to an Expert

I’m just going to say this up front: I love garlic. There may be a few key ingredients in my rotation, but no matter what sort of dish I’m making, garlic usually has a leading role. My love for the tiny but mighty allium likely holds its place of origin in my initial forays into the culinary world: learning to cook with my Italian grandmother who, to this day, pops at least one head of garlic (if not five) in every single thing she makes. 

There is one problem with garlic though: it likes to hang onto fingertips. Despite my love for the stuff, I find it so frustrating to have a garlicky smell lingering on my hands hours after cleaning up my kitchen. So, when I wound up chatting with Chef Eric Hammond, and Executive Chef at Coco Pazzo in Chicago, I was pleasantly surprised to find an easy and effective solution. Thankfully, I can keep up my garlic-laden cooking without smelly hands. 

The Trick for Losing That Garlic Smell

The key, according to Hammond, lies in another common kitchen ingredient: Baking soda. “Garlic releases sulfur compounds called allicin (responsible for garlic’s pungent smell and health benefits) when cut or crushed,” he explains. The reason why baking soda works, he goes on, “is because it’s alkaline, which helps break down those smelly sulfur molecules, leaving your hands odor-free.”

“The oil of the garlic is very potent and rich in sulfur, it bonds with the proteins in your skin,” he further explains. So, instead of just sitting on the surface of your skin, the oil actually penetrates the top layer, making for an extremely stubborn scent. This means you really have to work the baking soda into the skin for it to be effective. 

There are two ways he suggests using baking soda: 1) mix it into hand soap, or 2) create a paste with baking soda and water to scrub across the surface of your hands. If mixing the powder into soap, simply “wash your hands thoroughly, focusing on areas like your fingertips and under your nails, then rinse.” This option is likely a little gentler on the skin. But, if you are stuck with a truly strong odor, making a paste and really working into the skin and nails might be the better alternative. 

In general, Hammond says, you can avoid garlicky fingertips by using a food processor for chopped garlic or, “if you're needing slices of garlic, like for pasta aglio e olio, wearing disposable food service gloves can make cleanup a breeze.” But, if you do find yourself with that undesirable scent lingering, baking soda is 100 percent the way to go.