Protect Your Eyes From Onions - With Goggles

Intro: Protect Your Eyes From Onions - With Goggles

I've heard a million ways to stay safe from onions.

Breathe through your mouth. Hold a match in your teeth. And plenty of others that work just as badly...

The fact is, a pungent yellow cooking onion appears to attack the eyeballs directly, and the easiest way to avoid the pain is simply to wear a pair of goggles.

However, ordinary safety goggles don't cut it - they are ventilated, and that onion gas streams right in. You need a pair of unventilated goggles. Brazing goggles are perfect, and of course they are much better if you do them up in steampunk style.

Surprisingly, with goggles on, I can take a huge hoot of onion vapor right up the nose, with no pain or effect other than "that smells very oniony." It appears onions, or at least cheap yellow onions, directly attack the eyes from the outside.

STEP 1: Why Not Hang Them in Your Kitchen?

With a sign, so nobody wonders why there are goggles hanging beside your counter.

You can also use them to protect your eyes against steam, in case of a pressure-cooker explosion :)

Comments

[DIYSHAM]

This is the funniest snap I have seen. chopping onions with butcher's knife. hilarious.

[edrK]

I mean goggles.

[edrK]

I really, really like this goggles idea, especially if I could find some WW II aviator ones. In leather.

Because my hint, that really works, is to keep your mouth TOTALLY closed. It works on mincing/slicing dozens of onions, like for my husband's tub of potato salad.

The problem is, of course, those people around who know why you''re not talking or laughing at their jokes and I for one can't keep up the stoicism when they start.

So, glad to learn about googles, thanks.

[CatTrampoline]

I just noticed a corner of the Periodic Table behind you. Outstanding kitchen decor!

[CatTrampoline]

Your goggles are more fashionable than mine. I use my green Organic Chemistry Lab goggles for onion chopping. They are super-nerdy, but better than burning eyeballs AND they fit over my regular glasses.

I can get away with chopping half a small cold onion without them, but like you, seem to be extra-sensitive to the fumes.

[four_eyes954]

if you chew gum while cutting onions you dont cry and your eyes dont burn

[dragonsniper]

yeah i heard that works too

[neologik]

wow, you safe my life! jeje
that's a very cool way to prevent crying cooking mens

now i could enjoy the very exquisit smell of frying onions with some garlic
mhhh...
i'm hungry again...

greets

[frozen squid]

In college we used to keep my roommate's swim goggles in the kitchen. They worked great (even if they weren't nearly as cool looking as these). I personally found that chopping onions while wearing contact lenses (both hard and soft kinds) works, too.

[hulma]

just cut them in a bowl of water, it dilutes the acid and prevents the gases from burning your eyes. and you don't have to look steampunk in your kitchen, but hell do it anyway.

[stephenniall]

the easiest way to stay sasfe from onions is to not cut through there defensive mechinism You have to cut them right and they dont burn

[Bennybear]

Considering the fact that it isn't breathing the onion gas, but having your eyes come into contact with the gas, comments like "Just breath through your mouth while cutting..... /end." are useless. Wearing goggles is a good idea as long as they aren't ventilated.

[Scotty Da Q]

The breathing through the mouth inhales most of the gas before it reaches the eyes....works. Thanks for saying my reply is useless.

[Bennybear]

Actually, the gas wouldn't all be picked up by your mouth. And for your complaint about me calling your reply useless, i'm sure the poster of this instructable enjoyed hearing that his instructable was useless.

[techphets]

My eyes were burning a few minutes ago. Now that I'm breathing through my mouth, I'm feeling much better. Maybe it's because when I breath through my nose it causes the onion gas to be pulled towards my eyes, with some of it shooting right into them.......

Whatever the reasoning behind it, breathing through my mouth works.

[Bennybear]

That makes sense. I do not disagree that breathing through your mouth doesn't work at all, all of my comments are conjecture as i do not cut onions regularly. I was merely stating that it's the gas released by the onions that irritates your eyes, so breathing in isn't a surefire method, based on diffusion whereas covering your eyes with goggles would surely help.

[techphets]

Ok. I was just responding to your comment 'comments like "Just breath through your mouth while cutting..... /end." are useless. '

[Bryan Smith]

If you close your nostrils with a clothes pin or some sort of clip, you would not be affected by the onion. I read about this years ago, tried it, and it works.

[funwithfire325]

I thought your Instructable was unique, I like it good job!

[funwithfire325]

awsome cleaver wish i had one... a- a mini one!