Have you ever prepared a meal that required lots of garlic and found that after all of that chopping your hands reek of garlic for the rest of the night? If so, you may have turned to all sorts of “life hacks” to get rid of that smell. One of the most persistent of these has to do with stainless steel. Rub your hands on a bit of stainless steel, it goes, and you will be odor free in no time. But is there a reason that this might work?
Scientists say that theoretically it could, and it all has to do with the stainless part of stainless steel. Stainless steel is an alloy typically made with a mixture of iron, nickel, and at least 10% chromium. The chromium is the part of the substance that gives stainless steel its name. As the chromium interacts with the oxygen in the air, it forms a barrier of chromium oxide on the surface of the metal which prevents the iron in the steel from reacting with its environment and forming rust or other types of corrosion. Garlic contains a number of different compounds that cause its unique smell, but most of these come from an oily, sulfurous compound called allicin that is only formed once the skin of the garlic is ruptured. Scientists think that the allicin in garlic can be absorbed by the chromium oxide as part of a chemical reaction. A simple rinse under water removes the layer of chromium oxide, and the garlic odor it absorbed, from the stainless steel, and another layer of chromium oxide quickly forms to take its place.
