How To Get Rid Of Stains On Fingers Caused By Doing Kitchen Chores

Mrs. Mani  asks:
I am a homemaker and do all the cooking at home myself. Whenever I peel onions, carrots, beetroots or certain other vegetables, my fingers get stained. Is there a way to get rid of this?

Response:
Working in a hot kitchen to prepare variety of mouth-watering dishes is not only a grueling job but it also has its share of  irritants such as hardened palms and stained fingers. Especially your fingers get stained when you handle certain veggies and ingredients like turmeric. 

Now you cannot obviously wear gloves while cooking. And it isn’t particularly a good idea to immediately scrub  off the stains vigorously by using a harsh soap. 

Your skin will only get irritated by this.  A better way is to make use of certain other kitchen ingredients to fade them. 

Lemon juice, for instance a great stain remover. Take a lemon slice and gently rub it on the fingers to remove minor stains. 

Or if your palms have been stained while cutting a beetroot,  you can use a potato slice  and gently rub the white portion over the stained area to fade it. 

For really stubborn stains, you can use a mixture of lemon juice and table salt. After that you can  can wash your hands with a mild soap or a handwash. 

Sometimes a mild shampoo also does the job better. If after washing, your hands feel unduly dry do use a moisturizer. 

Another terrific way of getting rid of grime sticking to your palms and fingers is to take some sugar and olive oil into your cupped palms and rub both your palms together. 

While sugar will gently exfoliate your skin, olive oil will moisturize your skin. Cormeal, baking soda and vinegar are also some other ingredients that can be used for stain removal. You can read about it in the post Remove stains from nails and fingers with these simple aids from your kitchen.