How do I get the smell of onions off my hands?

wash with toothpaste

Really? Cool. I'll try it. Or are you just trying to make me look foolish? ;) I've got quite dry hands though, wouldn't toothpaste dry them even more?

no really it work with fish smells on your hand too

Apparently you can also rub your hands on stainless steel -- they sell SS bars of soap, but you can actually use anything in your kitchen that's SS (ladle, pot, etc.) (I'd recommend not using a knife or a microplane...)

There was a famous scene in a 1980 movie; ATLANTIC CITY w. Burt Lancaster, in which a young Susan Sarandon (who deals w. raw fish all day) ,washes her entire upper body w. lemon juice when she returns home. It might work for onions. (A wonderful movie, BTW).

@ bpeoples: I'll steer clear of knives, don't you worry. ;)

@gailcalled: I think I may have heard that somewhere before.

Thanks everyone. :)

you can also use a little bit of olive oil, at which point you rinse with cold water.

The olive oil will absorb the onion oils and come strait off due to the varied densities of the liquids.

Ditto on lemon juice with my experience.

Will try the toothpaste next time.

Yeah, I like the movie Atlantic City too. I remember that scene. That and when they go into that boarding house and they're knocking everything down to build the casinos. In those days, Susan Sarandon was a good looking young lady.

The stainless steel bar works every time, and any kitchen store like Williams-Sonoma will sell them for too much money. It works for garlic, onions, fish and other stinky food items. Professional chefs will ask you what your problem is.

Wayhey! My hands no longer smell! :D

After the stainless steel or soap, any lingering smell can be remedied by rubbing vanilla extract into your hands. The alcohol will dissolve the stinky oils, and the vanilla will leave your hands smelling yummy. I used to peel, mince, chop and slice a lot of garlic and onions cooking for a Mandarin restaurant, and the vanilla worked really well (and on a baser note, the ladies really dug the vanilla, far more than any aftershave I've ever been able to find)