Clean Your Hands with Dirt!

We've all gotten those greasy, grimy hands. No matter how much water and soap you put onto them, and how long you scrub, the grease just doesn't leave. Fortunately, nature has provided a solution, and it's everywhere!

Like Gojo, but free and everywhere.

Step 1: What you'll need:

1. Greasy hands

2. Water. Faucets, hoses, rivers, and other flowing bodies are convenient, but not necessary. 

3. Dirt. The best kind has small yet gritty particles. Dirt with more organic material wont work as well as more sandy dirt. You may have to dig deeper.

Comments

[Plo Koon]

nice

[rickharris]

Butter or olive oil and sugar, makes your hands nice and soft too.

[flio191]

but olive oil is expensive!

[fortgeorge]

You can get cheap live oil at places like Wal-Mart, $5 for like a quart I think. It's not good enough for eating(well it is food obviously, but we don't like the taste, you may like it though) but we used it for this and other stuff. This is in the U.S.

[rickharris]

I appreciate dirt and water are relatively cheap - BUT, in the UK at any rate, so is Olive oil for the tea spoon full you might use anyway.

[PS118]

Great tip! Sometimes I use this (well, I use sand, but same basic idea) instead of the Gojo stuff even if I have some sitting there.

My reason? The soaps work great for greases and oils, but not for sticky stuff. Like if I get into varnish or silicone caulk or something... good luck washing that off! No, I stuff my hands in the sand instead.

That way the stickum sticks to the grains of sand. Then I rub my hands together and the stuff usually comes off with the sand. Even in cases where it doesn't all come off with rubbing, at least you're not going around sticking to everything until the it can wear off.

[flamesami]

I've heard that saps and resins become less sticky with oil, so rubbing oil into a glob of resin stuck on your hands gets it off

[Zach4997]

That kind of looks like that hurts, dang.

[kapitonovihih]

Can be used instead of dirt ash. Very good wash.

[utkarshsinghal]

actually,here in india,in small villages where people are poor,this is the most popular method for washing hands(since they cant afford soaps).i was searching if this was hygenic and i stumbled upon this article.

[ilpug]

This is a good idea, and good for your skin, but very bad for your drains.

[Truehart]

Great 'ible! I usually spit on my hands and rub them together. Your saliva is a great cleaning agent.

[pingeee]

Somehow I like your Step 5 picture and comment a lot.
One piece of well done Instructables!

[rimar2000]

Very echologic. I have done this once. Thanks for reminder it!