Waterless Hand Cleaner

Busted Knuckle Garage “Waterless” Hand Cleaner

I usually don’t pay much attention to those racks of impulse-buy items that live near the checkout counter.  But I happened to notice this hand cleaner at two different motorcycle shops, so I figured we’d give it a try.

My hands were pretty grimy from working on yet another chain and sprocket installation — the kind of hard-core dirt that wussy hand soap just won’t cut — so I needed something special.

Specialized mechanic’s waterless hand cleaner is the type of product that you’ll never have around unless you specifically hunt it down next time you’re in a parts store.  It’s sort of like the ultimate garage luxury – very nice to have around when you need it, but you don’t miss it much if it’s not available.

The Busted Knuckle Garage seems to be targeting the product at the cruiser motorcycle owner, because I’ve seen it in two different Harley Davidson shops.  The counter display at the second shop was covered in dust, and I realized why when I checked out: the price was $8.99!  That’s a lot of dosh for a 15 oz. (426 g) container of soap!

A quick check to the Busted Knuckle Garage website reveals the true price of $3.95, which is much more like it.  Although I’m not sure how much the shipping and handling charges would be…

The Mechanics Hand Cleaner smells like a cross between Bazooka bubble gum and gasoline, so you probably don’t want to know what’s in it.  It’s also pink.  And it does have a mild abrasive.

But it works great, and it can be used either as a waterless hand cleaner or with water.  It supposedly has “a precisely formulated blend of surfactants, emulsifiers and skin conditioners”.

The directions call for applying about a teaspoon sized dab and rubbing it in until the hand cleaner liquefies.  It can be wiped off without water, but the smell is so dreadful you’ll probably want to do a second wash with some regular hand soap just to wipe out the odor.

I think it works much better than GoJo hand cleaner because the combination of the abrasive and the “lanolin and polyethylene scrubbers” in the Busted Knuckle hand cleaner seem to cut through the really tough layers of dirt without much rubbing.

We’ve since become used to the smell and we keep it around the garage for use as a heavy-duty hand cleaner after the really tough jobs.

The Busted Knuckle Garage also sells Mechanics Hand Salve and Mechanics Muscle Salve.  I’m not sure if these products are really designed for motorcycle mechanics, but they do seem to have a marketing campaign aimed at motorcycle shops.

OwnerComments and Feedback