# Stainless Steel "Soap"? Huh?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stainless-steel-soap-huh/165013>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 29, 2003, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stainless-steel-soap-huh/165013 "2003-03-29T13:06:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\
**Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stainless-steel-soap-huh/165013/21 "2003-03-30T21:28:08Z")

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I always assumed that getting rid of garlic or other smells on your hands by rubbing stainless steel on them works by causing your hands to smell like the metal instead of like the garlic – whenever I handle metal objects, they impart a distinct metallic smell to my hands that sends me running to a sink. I’d never thought of DELIBERATELY rubbing metal on my hands to remove other smells, but when I read Cecil’s column on the subject, I figured that’s what caused it to work.

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**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stainless-steel-soap-huh/165013/22 "2003-03-31T00:06:40Z")

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Works great for garlic/onion/fish odors (as do coffee grounds, for whatever that’s worth).

Now, who’ll be man/woman enough to take one of these stainless steel “soaps” to the shower and tell us how it works on sweat?

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**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stainless-steel-soap-huh/165013/23 "2003-03-31T05:22:52Z")

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Okay, I waited 5 hours after throwing down the gauntlet. I can now report that after a half-hour workout, the “soap” does cause an appreciable decrease in sweat odor. However, the product requires cold, running water, which may decrease its appeal/utility as a grooming aid.

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