Help me get rid of metal-smelling hands?
Asked by
deni (
23141
)
August 29th, 2012
Funny situation. I said to my boyfriend a few weeks ago after probably accidentally sniffing his hands too close that they smelled like Spaghetti Metal. Now, I realize the smell is mostly metal-y but for some reason there is a little tomato-y smell tossed in there too. Anyhow, I think the metal is the real culprit. Kinda smells like iron or something. It is not good at all, it’s pretty gross. He can wash his hands with soap and hot water and the smell will be back in 10–15 minutes.
I myself was free of spaghetti metal hands until 2 days ago when I woke up in my own bed with my hands near my face and BAM! SPAGHETTI METAL!!! I shrieked. Why?!?! How? Now, my hands don’t smell like spaghetti metal currently but they did the past 2 days in a row. Can anyone shed light on this? I have googled it and it isn’t unheard of, but I’m not handling any metal, or change, or taking iron supplements (in fact both of us are anemic) or anything I can think of that would make our hands discharge this smell. And it’s only the hands.
He thinks his hands smell this way because he works in a kitchen and is constantly handling meat and food and he thinks it got under his nails. I say it isn’t connected to work because I got the same smell and I do not work in a kitchen or handle food for a living. I feel like it’s probably something internal. But that is just a guess.
HELP!!
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8 Answers
Try vanilla mixed with a little water. Also, blow your nose a couple of times. The scent molecules may be stuck in there, and not really in your hands.
Odd. I worked in a kitchen for years and while I came home with a lot of really funky smells on me/my hand I can’t say I’ve ever smelled of metal. I used to always wash my hands with a lemon and or vanilla. That usually got rid of the smell.
I did some googling cause this is a particularly odd question and came up with quite a few people that experience the same thing. Unfortunately a lot of this was written on shit Q&A sites so shit answers. But I did find this and this one persons response in another question
“I had this problem for years…then I switched from instant coffee to drip. There must be some kind of alkaloid in the coffee (Nescafe) but when I stopped drinking instant the smell stopped and never came back”
Think its anything like that?
@uberbatman I had the same experience when I googled it and I saw that response too about the coffee. Both of us do drink coffee, but neither of us drink instant coffee. And if it was coffee in general wouldn’t this be a more common issue, ya know? Maybe I’ll try the lemon and vanilla next time it flares up. It is fuckin weird isn’t it? Luckily it’s a pretty funny thing to us now but it’s still gross and I want it to go away!
Metals do not have an odour, what we recognise as a metallic odour comes from a chemical reaction to contact between metals and skin, handling raw, red meat produces this same odour, commonly attributed to the content of iron in blood, any minor cuts or dry cuticles that causes blood to come into contact with skin can have the same result.
“Oct-1-en-3-one is the odorant that is responsible for the typical metallic smell of metals and blood coming into contact with skin. Oct-1-en-3-one has a strong metallic mushroom-like odor”* Perhaps you like a lot of mushrooms in your spaghetti?
This sounds like a reasonable and satisfactory explanation to your boyfriends hand odour. If i can form any theory as to what may have been the cause of your own problem, i will include that later.
* quoting wikipedia
Have him dig around in the garden for a bit, see if that helps.
Wash you hands with lemon scented soap. If its coming from your body than I would suggest drinking a warm cup of lemon water in the morning and lemon water the rest of the day. It will help clean up your body of toxins that may be the problem. Suggest you don’t go anywhere too far from a toilet. You will pee all day but you will be surprised at how much energy it will give you. Make sure to drink plenty of liquids so you don’t dehydrate.
Also forgot to mention that unhealthy gums or a coated tongue can also effect your sense of smell since it is so close to your nose. If you get a metal taste in your mouth, it can be that you have a gum infection that leaks out into your mouth.
Oh, thyroid problems or sinuses can also be the culprit so see a doctor if the lemon water doesn’t work out.
Smelling hands because I drink instant coffee.
Nooo, I don’t think I smell strange, whew! lol
Blood smells of iron too you know…
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