How to wash and clean your hands after cleaning butter mushrooms (+14 photos)?

Mushroom picking is a favorite hobby for many. But along with the peace and tranquility one experiences while engaging in this "quiet hunt," there are some unpleasant moments: after a hike through the forest, the question arises of how to clean the dirt off one's fingers and palms.

Some mushrooms have unique characteristics that distinguish them from other species. This is particularly true of butter mushrooms. They have a specific mucus composition, making it quite difficult to remove them from your skin after picking. This raises the question of how to wash butter mushrooms off your hands at home.

Reasons for hand contamination when collecting butter mushrooms

Before considering how and with what you can wipe dirt off your hands after picking boletus mushrooms, you should understand why they turn brown.

Composition of mushroom mucus

Butter mushrooms contain a large amount of vitamins and are also rich in iron. The mucus that covers the mushroom cap contains a pigment that causes the fingers and palms to turn black.

The reason for the darkening of the skin when handling this type of mushroom is the thin film that covers their caps. When exposed to water, this film causes intense iron oxidation, resulting in a rusty, reddish coating.

Moreover, the mucus has a thick, dense consistency. It easily "eats" into the skin, making it very difficult to wash off, at least with regular soap.

Danger to humans

Mushrooms themselves don't pose a serious threat to human health. However, mushroom pickers must be extremely careful when choosing where to gather them.

The fact is that they are capable of accumulating carcinogens and free radicals, and these substances are extremely dangerous to health.

Methods for cleansing the skin

There are several highly effective methods that can easily remove the red spots on your fingers and palms left behind by treating these mushrooms.

Vinegar

You can wash your hands after cleaning butter mushrooms with vinegar mixed with water in a 1:3 ratio. Dip your palms in the solution and let them sit for 10 minutes. Then, add 3 teaspoons of baking soda to the solution and dip your hands back into the solution.

After 10 to 15 minutes, when the leather is thoroughly soaked, you can begin removing the dirt. Scrub with either a pumice stone or a stiff sponge. Thanks to the softening effect of the lemon-vinegar solution, rust stains from boletus mushrooms are removed much easier and faster.

Citric acid

Citric acid is used to prepare hand baths. To do this, dissolve 10 g of the product in a small amount of warm water. The liquid should be enough to completely submerge your palms.

Place your hands in the prepared bath and wait for about 10 minutes. Gradually, the red stains will begin to fade. If they don't come off completely, you can scrub them off with a pumice stone, a washcloth, or a rough towel. This will make them much easier and faster to remove.

Laundry soap

Khozyamil is another excellent way to quickly remove slime and dirt left behind after processing mushrooms. This product contains alkalis that are absorbed into the skin and corrode the components found in the slime of the mushroom in question.

It's essential to perform a proper hand wash, gathering all the laundry or clothing to be washed. Only through vigorous rubbing can you remove dirt from your skin and restore your hands to absolute cleanliness.

Chemicals

If the pigment has become embedded too deeply into the skin of your hands, and none of the above-mentioned home remedies help remove it, you can resort to using chemicals:

1. Acetone. First, apply it to a piece of cotton wool or a cosmetic pad, then rub it onto the affected areas of the skin. When the cotton wool turns black, replace it with clean cotton wool.
2. Nail polish remover. This is a good alternative if you don't have acetone on hand. The principle for removing rust stains left by butter mushrooms using this product is similar to the one described above.

   

   

   

3. Anti-fuel oil shampoos and soaps. The beauty of these products is that, unlike acetone and nail polish remover, they gently remove residual dirt from the skin without causing any damage. Simply apply gel or shampoo to your hands, lather, and rinse.
4. White. According to numerous women's reviews, this product also helps remove residual slime and dirt from hands after cleaning boletus mushrooms and other mushrooms. It should be applied to the skin in the same way as acetone or nail polish remover.

Cuticle removers, as well as used motor oil, gasoline, and diesel fuel—mentions of using these liquids can be found on numerous online forums offering advice on how to remove fungal stains from hands. The choice of which method to use is entirely up to the homeowner.

Therefore, if you have wounds or scratches on your skin, it's best to use safe folk remedies. While they may be less effective, they won't cause any harm to your hands.

Protective measures

To avoid struggling with slime and dirt stains when working with mushrooms, it's important to think ahead about how to reliably protect your skin from mushroom juice. This can be easily accomplished by following these simple tips:

1. When picking and cleaning mushrooms, wear rubber or latex gloves.

   

2. If gloves are unavailable, treat your skin with vegetable oil before going into the forest or handling boletus mushrooms. Olive oil is the best option.

   

   Of course, the oil won't completely protect the epidermis from spots, but the pigment contained in the boletus juice won't penetrate deeply into the skin. Therefore, even if spots do appear, they will be pale and small.

3. Quite often, particles of mucus or fungal pulp become lodged under the top of the nail plate. To prevent this, rub your nails over a bar of soap several times before "silent hunting."

Frequently Asked Questions

Quite often, novice mushroom pickers ask the following questions:

There are many ways to remove stains from your skin after picking or processing butter mushrooms. However, it's important to remember that while a particular remedy may be effective for some, it may be ineffective for others.

Moreover, most of the above methods are aimed at partial bleaching of the pigment. They won't completely remove the stains, but they will lighten them enough that you can go outside without gloves. And after 2-3 days, the unsightly spots will "disappear" on their own.