Here are ways to get rid of Garlic Smell from your hands and breath

Modified Nov 15, 2023 17:45 GMT

Garlic can be a tasty food ingredient but its smell lingers on (Image via Pexels/Min An)

Let's be honest, everyone loves to have Garlic flavoring in their dishes but no one likes the garlic smell that lingers on your hands and breath long after you have finished chopping them and eating your favorite dish.

After we are finished cooking, we usually tend to wash our hands with water and soap for the smell to go off, but a lot of times, the smell persists in your nails and fingertips for hours, and it gets discomforting. It also becomes very awkward to have a close conversation with someone when you know that your breath is stinking.

But there are a lot of homemade remedies right in your kitchen that can make the smell disappear. In this article, we will give you the best ways to get the garlic smell off your hands as well as avoid garlic breath so that you can enjoy cooking and eating your favorite dishes without driving others away.

How to get the Garlic Smell off hands

1) Lemon and Salt

Lemons contain citric acid, that can envelop and eliminate the strong smell of garlic from your hands. After you are done chopping the garlic, sprinkle some salt on your hands, and then squeeze some lemon juice on it. This will create a scrub for you to rinse your hand with properly for some time. The acidic content of the mixture will clean out the odor from your hands completely.

2) Coffee

Open a packet of instant coffee and sprinkle it on your palms. Damp them with some water, and make a scrub out of it. Rub this scrub on your palms and fingertips thoroughly, and check if the smell is gone. Proceed by washing it off with clean water. Coffee has a very strong smell that covers the odor of garlic.

3) Tomato

It's highly likely that if you are preparing a dish out of garlic, you will be adding tomatoes. Keep a slice or two separate, and when you are done chopping the veggies, smash the tomato pieces on your hands and run it thoroughly. This is a classic way to draw the garlic odor out of your skin.

4) Hand Sanitizer

Like they way highly effective in killing germs, hand sanitizers can also be used in masking the garlic smell on hands. Take a pea-sized amount of hand sanitizer on your palms, and then rub it properly. The strong smell of spirit will eliminate the odor.

Best way to get rid of Garlic Breathe

1) Brush or swish with Mouthwash after eating

Most of the time, when we eat food containing garlic, the smell continues to linger in our mouth because of the presence of odor-creating bacteria below the gum line. Brushing and swishing with a good minty mouthwash can clean the residues, and freshen up your breath.

2) Drinking Green Tea

Drinking a hot cup of green tea is a good way to reduce the odor in our mouth due to the presence of catechins, which prevents the growth of bacteria in our mouth. Doing this habitually can also prevent the growth of bacteria, which mostly cause bad breath and garlic smell.

3) Chew a Mint Gum

The mind flavor in chewing gum may temporarily mask the garlic smell that lingers on after eating. Additionally, chewing gum helps stimulate our salivary flow which will wash away the residues left behind from the mouth. It is effective in covering up the strong smell, and with time, may eliminate it.

4) Drinking Water

Drinking water is probably the most effective way to wash away the garlic smell, and also prevent bad breath throughout the entire day. A dry mouth with lingering foods is, otherwise, an ideal place for the growth of bad bacteria.

Both garlic smell on hands and garlic breath can be difficult to deal with if they tend to linger on for hours, especially when you have to get out and be a part of a social circle.

It can be distressing especially when you have to meet people, and can leave a bad first impression. Most of these methods are effective in getting rid of the strong smell, and adding up with a good cologne will eliminate the smell.