I bought an old lamp which the sender had drained the old paraffin from them sent it with the cap removed. The old really pungent paraffin remaining had soaked into the bubble wrap and newspaper and box and opening it ended up with paraffin all on my hands, whilst it doesn't really bother me too much, my cats and SWMBO are not that taken with the smell, it is a bit on the strong side, I do admit. I've washed my hands about 6 times now with both washing up liquid and bar soap, but the smell is still as strong as ever. Any suggestions. Thanks
Your lucky the lamp wasn't confiscated and destroyed by the postal service. Scrub you hands well with half a lemon then allow a minute or two before washing again with soap. It works for me.
Try giving them a good cleaning with one of the slightly scented alcohol gels used for COVID cleaning protocols. Then for the cats, rub your hands in minced meat , and for the partner, try a bit of essential oil or similar like vetiver or or lavender. It could be you hands are ok and you've got some paraffin on your cloths still... Cheers Tony
For such instances, I'd usually leave my hands UNWASHED. I've gotten so used to these pungent stale fuels to the point that they no longer bother me even while I'm eating. I'm a person who frequently use kerosene and white spirits for washing my hands and dressing my own wounds. The fuel had apparently soaked into your skin and no amount of superficial handwash would remove the smell in short time. It'd only go off after a while.
As silly as it will sound, rub them down with ATF (Automatic transmission fluid) and then a citrus hand cleaner.
Hi @chocki In the past I used to use HG Hagesan Hand Cleansing Gel but although still on their website it hasn’t been available for ages now. In place of this I use a good handful of green washing up liquid with a heaped teaspoon of granulated sugar. It seems to knock the smell on the head as well as removing ingrained carbon/paraffin deposits. Regards, Jeremy
Lmao at some replies. I just had a lamp delivered and it wash shipped completely full of the oldest stinkiest kero ever. A mechanics trick to get oils off is to use any cooking oil , I use olive oil and scrub your hands with it. It mixes and helps get it off your skin. Do that a couple times and then I use citrus or Dawn soap.
In future if the kerosene or as you may call it paraffin bothers you, use surgical gloves that will help.
Another idea: there’s a product made for painters, a barrier cream for the hands called ‘Workman’s Friend’, which is utterly awesome. You rub that in and then if you work with kero or white gas, or any other stinky stuff to clean these old contraptions, the stink washes right off b/c it doesn’t penetrate the barrier. I got mine first at Sherwin Williams store but it’s on Amazon or wherever.
