While many of us enjoy garlic added to our food, we’re not all universally fond of the smell that tends to persistently cling to our fingers afterwards. Perhaps if you’re Buffy the Vampire Slayer, keeping that garlic smell on the fingers is good for business. For the standard population, getting the garlic smell off your fingers is a desirable goal.

There are many suggestions for getting rid of that garlic smell. Some people suggest soaking the hands in lemon juice or vinegar for about five minutes and then washing with warm water and soap. In all cases, if you’ve gotten garlic under your fingernails, you’ll have to use a good nailbrush, or the tines of a fork too or you won’t get the garlic smell off your fingers.

Another suggested method for getting rid of that garlic smell is to rub your hands with table salt, and then again, washing thoroughly with soap and water. This too may work, but salt, and lemon for that matter, will not be a good idea if you have small cuts on your hands. The old expression “rubbing salt into your wounds" applies.

Some people prefer to avoid the issue completely by using gloves when they prepare garlic. This can work well if you’re using rubber or latex gloves. Don’t get the ones with powder on them, as you may get a little latex in your food. Also avoid this method for keeping the garlic smell off your fingers if you are preparing food for anyone with latex allergies.

Probably the most common suggestion for getting the garlic smell off your fingers is to rub your hands against stainless steel after chopping garlic. While there are metal bars that you can purchase for this express purpose, a stainless steel knife, spoon, or sink will do! It's said that the molecules in stainless steel bond with the molecules of garlic left on your hands, effectively removing the garlic smell off your fingers.

Many suggests the stainless steel method works equally well with onions, and some suggest that if you hold a stainless steel spoon in your mouth while chopping onions, your eyes won’t get weepy. Of course the spoon may obscure your vision, and you might get a cut from a knife if you can’t see what you’re chopping.