So, tonight I made a glorious beef in red curry for my family. It was a poem. A spicy, delectable poem.
And now, to prove that no good deed goes unpunished, my fingers have an invisible but extremely real layer of chili oil. I have to remove my contacts before I go to bed, and wow, would I prefer not to experience the effects of chili on eyes.
If I had garlic or onion on my fingers, I would rub them with salt and warm water to get rid of the smell. But what works with oils?
Detergents? Have you tried hot water and soap?
soap
When I was about 12 I managed to get chili oil on my fingers and then rub my eyes. Not fun.
Lots of soap and hot water and vigorous washing should do the trick. Pretend you’re a doctor scrubbing up for surgery, take your time and be thorough.
Someone (here on this board, I think) mentioned that it’s oil-soluble. I cut up some peppers the other day, then poured a tablespoon of olive oil on my hands, rubbed vigorously for a minute, then removed it all with a heavy load of liquid dish soap (not dishwasher detergent). No problems after that, though I never did confirm that there was a problem to begin with.
Try it, then test your fingers on something less sensitive than your eyeballs. If it doesn’t work, I can at least confirm you’ll be no worse off than when you started.
Milk? Lemon juice? Yogurt?
If soap doesn’t work, and you don’t mind wasting a shot or two of vodka, give it a shot. I’ve found alcohol works wonders for some oily substances.
Google “mechanics’ hand degreaser.”
Internal or external application? Both, to be safe?
Best thing I’ve found is Dawn® Direct Foam. Probably any good dish detergent would work as well.
Try yogurt. Hey, it couldn’t hurt.
Yes. To be safe.
The Wikipedia article on capsaicin at one point says “Cold milk is the most effective solution against the burning sensation (due to caseins having a detergent effect on capsaicin) and cold sugar solution (10%) at 20°C/68°F is almost as effective.” Then later it says “Capsaicin could be washed off the skin using soap, shampoo, or other detergents, or rubbed off with oily compounds such as vegetable oil, paraffin oil, petroleum jelly (Vaseline), creams, or polyethylene glycol.”
And the Dope comes through when it counts once again! I first scrubbed my hands with soap and hot water; while the heat level on my fingers was much reduced, it was still noticably there. Then I followed Machine Elf’s advice and rubbed my hands with olive oil followed by dish detergent and hot water. I stuck each finger in my mouth and didn’t detect any burning. I’m sure I made quite the dignified picture in my application of the scientific method. I’ve just removed my contacts and my eyes are painfree.
Thanks for the good advice, all!
Or go to choice C.:
** Use a latex glove.**
And then you can pour some on your fingers to wash them off.
In my experience, the worst pain is in the morning after the lenses have been stewing in the spicy all night.
When I know my hands are spicy, I use the hottest water I can stand, dish soap and careful scrubbing with scotchbrite or equivalent.
My friend had a similar situation this last summer. After washwashwashing of hands, they still burned. She put a towel on the table, leaned over it and popped out the lenses one at a time, careful not to touch her eyelid, and picked each lens up with tweezers and put in the case. Don’t know if she put them back in her eyes the next morning with her contaminated fingers, she probably went around ‘blind’ for a day. (Alton Brown said on his show he once burned his corneas putting in conact lenses after chopping up hot peppers and that’s why he wears glasses to this day.)
According to Alton Brown, a bleach-water solution will neutralize the capsaicin in the oil. You can then use other methods suggested above to remove the oil. I’ve tried it, and it does seem to work – I don’t wear contacts, but I have noticed no burn when touching sensitive areas.