By rubbing your fingers on a spoon you can solve a common kitchen problem

In the kitchens of restaurants and hotels it is not uncommon to find a steel bar of soap (aka metal soap): this metal soap bar is empty, smooth and light. And it's not so unusual to find these bars in regular homes these days. This is because these metal soap bars solve a particular, annoying problem. And if you don't have one of these bars, using a spoon can work too.

So, what problem does using metal as soap solve? Well, it helps to remove strong odors from our hands (like when we chop up garlic, for example).

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Why does the smell of garlic, for example, stay on our skin for so long? Well, garlic is rich in chemicals that contain sulphur, and these are the chemicals that give garlic its distinct taste and smell. One of these is allicin, responsible for making our hands smelly. Steel, on the other hand, is an alloy in which chromium is present. Chromium protects the iron from rust. And chromium also reacts with the allicin in garlic, making it transfer to the steel from our skin.

A little science, therefore, helps us understand how such a simple remedy is also so effective: we simply rub the parts of our hands that have come into contact with the garlic on the steel. And these metal soap bars are easy to store and won't rust. But even if you don't have one, open up the cutlery drawer, take out a metal spoon, and rub it on your fingers.

Obviously, other steel objects will also work, but a spoon is safest to use and is easier to handle than other metal utensils.

This is a really useful tip, don't you think?