Homemade Mechanic’s Tough Hand Cleaner Recipe

This mechanic's tough hand cleaner recipe makes a hand cleaner that can help the greasiest mechanic at a fraction of the cost of the store bought cleaner!

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Cleaning, Homemade Cleaners, Organizing Ideas, Recipes

This mechanic’s tough hand cleaner recipe makes a hand cleaner that can help the greasiest mechanic at a fraction of the cost of the store bought cleaner!

Mechanic’s Tough Hand Cleaner Recipe

1/4 cup Fels Naptha*, grated
2 Tbsp. fine sand or pumice
1 cup water
2 cup plastic container (16 oz. cottage cheese container works great)

Place soap and water in a saucepan. Place over low heat; stir until soap is melted. After mixture cools, add mason’s sand or pumice. Store in a cottage cheese container or margarine tub. Dip fingers into soap mixture and lather hands. Rinse well.

*Any grated bar of soap will work but Fels Naptha removes the stains better.

Tip: Buy 1 gallon of bubble bath and use instead of liquid hand soap. It is much cheaper and smells better than regular hand soap.

This recipe is from our cookbook. For more easy recipes like this, check it out here!
[dining]

Homemade recipe

Comments

33 responses to “Homemade Mechanic’s Tough Hand Cleaner Recipe”

June 16, 2010

Lynda

You made me cry when I read about sending my kids to their room to cleasn it when their father and I dont clean up after themselves. Its true, how many times Ive made my son angry with me for doing this!

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March 6, 2011

rose

just curious .. where can u find the pumice or fine sand to do this? ..

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March 7, 2011

Tawra Kellam

Some hardware stores have it. You could also use sugar or salt. Just put it on after you do the soap so it doesn’t dissolve first.

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1. April 3, 2021
  
  Jodi
  
  Thank you for the tip on the salt or sugar! We live where there is no sand available, mechanics hand cleaner is outrageous. They will also not ship it since we are in an air stage only community. So this recipe is very helpful.
  
  Reply
March 7, 2011

rose

oh ok .. thanks tawra :D

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March 12, 2011

Nana

I am excited about the bubble bath idea. It will smell nice too. I do buy cheap dish soap for my kitchen hand soap dispenser, but I do like a nice smell hand cleaner for the bath room.
THANKS

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April 6, 2012

Heather :) :) :)

Thath’s a great recipe. I wonder if it would work with sugar, too? I have more access to sugar than sand :) :)

Fels Naptha is fabulous. I’ve used that in my homemade laundry powder recipes, too :) Love and hugs from the ocean shores of California, Heather :) :)

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1. April 6, 2012
  
  Jill
  
  Try it with the sugar Heather I don’t think it would hurt. The thing with the sand is it is a little more abrasive where with the sugar you would have a less harsh scrub. You can find sand in the craft section of places like wal mart, a garden center and often if you just look around your yard you might find some sand there. When I started writng this I started chuckling because you signed your post “ocean shores” you could grab a handful if you go to the beach one day. I know what you mean though I like to use just what I have on hand and not have to make a trip somewhere to get what I need so I’m just teasing. : )
  
  Reply
2. April 20, 2022
  
  Lin
  
  Would ground dried egg shells work? No cost for those.
  
  Reply
  1. April 21, 2022
    
    Jill
    
    I am not sure Lin if they would. You could try it and see
    
    Reply
April 7, 2012

Jeanne

Do you think washing soda or borax would work?

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May 15, 2012

Mary Jane

I save all my bar soap “scraps’–the ones that get two
small and mooshy to handle and I soak them with water in a closed tub to make my own “soft soap” to keep in the kitchen in a used pump bottle from the same.

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May 15, 2012

Mary Jane

I mean “too” not “two’ oops!!

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May 27, 2012

Marcia

I would think washing soda might be a bit tough on your skin. I’d check the box to see what that says about skin exposure. Borax might work…I seem to remember a powdered hand cleaner at school called Boraxo or some such thing and I think that had borax in it.

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1. May 28, 2012
  
  Jill
  
  The washing soda is probably better in this case because this is not a hand cleaner for babies or women who have delicate soft hands. This is a tough hand cleaner for men or women who have worked on a car or something like that and have thick grease on their hands and in their pores. The washing soda’s main job is cutting tough grease and has been used for years for that purpose. It is kind of like the difference of using a feather duster to clean a garage floor or a nice stiff scrub brush. Different hand cleaners have different purposes and this one is for the rough and tough.
  
  Reply
June 7, 2012

Maleena

I’m excited! My kids and I are going to see if we can whip some of this up for my Father-in-Law for Father’s Day. He does a ton of work on cars and is constantly building or doing some type of project. I think he’s really going to love it. :)

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August 31, 2012

Deborann

Use to work at a childcare business. Only soap they used was the bubble bath-dispensed by the pump soap dispensers.
Much Cheaper and hands were just as clean.

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October 16, 2012

Barbara

I’m confused. How do the ingredients in the recipe equal 4 cups of product, enough to fill 2 16 oz cottage cheese containers. And, how does the 1 gal of bubble bath fit into the recipe? Do you disregard the regard the recipe & just use the bubble bath? Help?

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1. October 16, 2012
  
  Jill
  
  Barbara it doesn’t make 4 cups of product we were just suggesting recycling an old cottage cheese container and mentioned a 16 oz. one because it would be plenty big for this purpose. The bubble bath tip was just a second tip or idea for you to use if you didn’t want to make your own but needed something cheaper.
  
  Reply
  1. October 16, 2012
    
    Barbara
    
    Thanks Jill:
    
    Good thing there’s no such thing as a “stupid” question. :)
    
    Reply
    1. October 16, 2012
      
      Jill
      
      That’s what we are here for. Don’t feel bad there are some days I will look at something and for the life of me can’t figure it out and my grandkids will say “Nan this is what it means” how dumb do I feel when it is my 5 year old grandson telling me this. :)
      
      Reply
April 21, 2013

harold

Do you have anymore Natural Hand Cleaner Formula’s? Something that will take off grease and oil but is gentle to the skin. Thanks, Harold Rader.

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1. April 21, 2013
  
  Tawra
  
  Use Dawn and baking soda.
  
  Reply
May 10, 2013

mary

To add to your hand soap tip. The “body wash” products you can get on sale regularly make great bubble bath for a jetted tub. Around here usually the nice bubble bathes are more expensive than the body wash products.

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June 12, 2013

astrid ferreira

I am looking at making a real tough handcleaner to sell to garages to mechanics. Any suggestions?

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1. June 12, 2013
  
  Tawra
  
  I don’t know if you have tried this recipe in this article or not but it is pretty strong with the pumice and this was made for mechanics and those with extra hard to clean hands.
  
  Reply
  1. July 14, 2015
    
    tina
    
    I have made this for my husband but used lava soap instead of the FelNapa soap. He loves it.
    
    Reply
April 25, 2015

marisa

all the sand sunk to the bottom of the pan of the soap and water mixture for the “mechanics hand cleaner recipe” What to do?

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1. April 25, 2015
  
  Jill
  
  I may do that. All you do is just mix it with your hand each time you go to use it.
  
  Reply
May 4, 2015

yasha

I would use Zote instead ” Home Depot has it for a great price .98″ because I like the smell and look of Zote A lot more….

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May 4, 2015

yasha

For those looking for a more mild hand wash …. Try dawn hand renewal with sugar and a few drops of mint ” or what you like” essential oil if you desire……

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May 8, 2015

Susan

My brother owned and ran a garage for 43 years–he “washed” his hands with used coffee grounds and then washed the dinner dishes for my sister in law. Cleaned his hands like magic every time! (Most mechanics use examination gloves, today).

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August 22, 2021

Anna

this is a very good hand cleaner

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