When it comes to doing things around the house, it feels good to get chores and projects done. But one of the things that comes to be an issue is the smells that come with those chores. And one of the toughest smells to get rid of is gas.
But surely there has to be a way to get rid of that gas smell that can stay on your hand for seemingly days at a time, right? There are a few ways to get rid of that pesky gasoline smell off of your hands so that it does not follow you around throughout the rest of your day.
These require just a few household items that can not only get your hands feeling fresh again but get rid of that gasoline smell. After all, the smell involves those fumes that can make you feel light-headed and can be dangerous to inhale.
Most of the following ingredients can be found around your home, meaning that you can get rid of that gasoline smell in short order and go back to living your life without that nasty smell following you around everywhere that you go as if it was an unwanted guest.
1 – Use Vinegar
One way to get rid of that gasoline smell on your hands is to use vinegar. Granted, vinegar has its own sharp, pungent smell that can be unpleasant to breathe in but it will dissipate much faster and will take the gasoline smell with it.
There are chemical properties within white vinegar that actually break up those bonds that are in gasoline. This allows the residue of that gasoline to eventually fade away from your hands. The good thing about this is that you can use any kind of white vinegar to get the job done.
The first step is to pour just enough of the vinegar on your hands that it covers not only your fingers but your palms as well. You need a quality coating to ensure that the vinegar can fully combat the bonds of the gasoline.
Once you have coated your fingers and palms adequately, make certain that you rub the vinegar into your hands for 30 to 45 seconds. This can be done by quickly rubbing your hands together, interlocking your fingers, and massaging them with white vinegar too.
Continue doing this for another 30 to 45 seconds; you can certainly rub for a little bit longer if you’d like to ensure that the gasoline gets broken down.
After vigorously rubbing the white vinegar into your hands, it’s time to wash them off. Rinse the vinegar off under a running faucet and wash them as you normally would with soap and water.
Keep washing until you can no longer smell or feel the white vinegar on your skin and make sure to dry your hands off thoroughly. There will be no more gasoline smell to have to contend with.
2 – Use Vanilla Extract
If the smell of vinegar is something that you don’t quite want to deal with, there are other measures to be taken. Try mixing vanilla extract with some water.
All it takes is a few drops of the vanilla extract. Mix that in with around a half a cup or so of water; you can add more drops to it if you don’t quite smell the vanilla even when mixed into the water.
Next, it’s time to cover your hands. Pour that mixture that you created onto your hands and start to rub your hands together. Keep this going for 30 seconds to a minute to ensure that you get total coverage of your hands.
Keep rubbing your hands together until you don’t smell that gasoline smell any more. When you don’t smell the gasoline any more, it is then time to wash it all off. Coat your hands with soap and then begin to wash them off with warm water.
Since the smell is gone, you don’t have to wash or scrub your hands very hard. This is especially true because the smell of that vanilla extract is usually pretty pleasant so you won’t mind having that smell on your hands. When you’re totally done washing your hands, dry them off with a towel and you’re done.
3 – Use Lemon Juice
Another pleasant way to get that gasoline smell off of your hands is to combine a little bit of lemon juice with some water. To make this concoction, you need to put equal parts lemon juice and water into a cup and mix that solution together with a spoon or any kind of stirring utensil that you prefer.
As with the other mixtures, you will want to pour the lemon juice and water mixture onto your hands, ensuring that you get equal coverage on both your hands and fingers. Do this for around a minute or so to ensure that you have total coverage of your hands.
A minute is usually a pretty good benchmark but you can always continue rubbing until you feel as though your hands have been totally covered. If your hands aren’t covered completely, you run the risk of having that gasoline smell persist and having to start over again.
Keep going with the lemon juice mixture until you do not smell the gasoline any more. When you finally feel comfortable that your hands have lost that gasoline smell, you can begin to rinse your hands off with either soap and water or just the water.
Since the smell of the lemon juice is pretty nice to begin with, you may not have to even use soap, especially if you have no desire to eliminate those smells. This makes the process a little bit easier to handle as well and you just need to rinse and dry your hands at the end.
4 – Use a Mixture of Salt and Detergent
This method of getting rid of that gasoline smell is quite similar to the others. Begin by putting a teaspoon or two of salt into a cup. This is because the salt will help to exfoliate your skin and help to reduce that gasoline smell that has been coating your hands.
Make certain to keep the cup close to you (next to the sink is a good spot) so that it is easily accessible to you when your hands are covered in the dish detergent. That detergent, meanwhile, will go directly onto your hands.
The dish detergent is used because it breaks down those chemical bonds within the gasoline itself. All it takes is a little bit of regular dish detergent, which most people have just laying around the house.
All you need is to make certain that the dish detergent covers your hands thinly from fingers to palm. Using too much can make it a bit more difficult to get off and wind up with you scrubbing your hands for a longer time.
After you have coated your hands thoroughly with the dish detergent, pour a little bit of the table salt over the top of the detergent that is already on your hands. When this mixture has coated your hands, rub your hands together.
You should massage your fingers and palms to ensure that the coverage is total. Doing this for a minute or two will make certain that you get rid of that gasoline smell.
When you feel confident that the gasoline smell has been completely removed, it is time to wash your hands. There is no need to add any more dish detergent to your hands; all you have to do is run them under the water to get rid of both the detergent and the salt.
When you are totally done washing off the mixture from your hands, dry them off with a towel and move on with your day.
Gasoline on your hands can be a huge pain, a smell that sticks with you for far longer than anyone wants to have to smell that smell. Even worse, gasoline has fumes in it that can be dangerous to inhale, making it dangerous as well as annoying.
Fortunately, there are a number of different methods that can be used to get rid of that gasoline smell in short order. Even better, some of those methods can leave your hands smelling fresh and clean. That’s the kind of change we need to get rid of that nasty gasoline smell.
Should that gasoline smell permeate into other areas such as your carpet or the upholstery of your car, it can be a little bit more difficult to get rid of. There are methods to make those things smell good as new again but they will certainly take a good deal more effort than simply washing your hands in one of the ways outlined above.
It is also very important to not let that gasoline fester on your hands. Not only are the fumes dangerous to be inhaling but the gasoline can have negative impacts on your skin as well. No one wants to deal with that smell but don’t let it damage your skin too.
I have a bachelor’s degree in construction engineering. When I’m not constructing or remodeling X-Ray Rooms, Cardiovascular Labs, and Pharmacies…I’m at home with my wife, two daughters and a dog. Outside of family, I love grilling and barbequing on my Big Green Egg and working on projects around the house.
Dakota
Wednesday 5th of May 2021
I heard flour gets the smell to go away a lil bit
Bruce
Monday 28th of December 2020
The quickest way is to spray your hands lightly with wd40. The wash your hands with soap and water. Odor is gone.
Ben
Wednesday 30th of December 2020
Perfect. Thanks for the tip!