How can I neatly eat messy food without "common" utensils?

Question

^{This is an attempt at a canonical Q&A for the question above, as suggested in this comment:
This should replace the Mango, BBQ Ribs, Chips, Apple and Orange eating questions.}

I am trying to eat a food that is juicy / sticky / has sauce on it / is greasy.

How can I do this without getting it all over myself?

I have already tried eating more carefully only using my fingertips but I still get too much on my face, hands, and fingers. I have also tried using napkins but that didn't work because I ended up with bits of paper stuck to the food.

Are there any methods that work for most / all foods that I could possibly want to know about?

Answer 1

The best way to avoid sticky fingers while dining is to use this ubiquitous and easy to use tool:

Answer 2

Try chopsticks.

If you don't use these much you might not know how good they are - they can pick up just about anything messy that is the size of a carrot or smaller:

Bit Rebels

You can also use chopsticks also to reach extra far, say, into a skinny jar to pick something up - so learn to hold them at the base not tip!

Answer 3

If you like to eat using your hands and not by using any utensils or accessories like spoons and gloves, and if you are only bothered about getting your hands 'sticky' while doing it, I suggest you to evenly apply some natural coconut oil to your hands before touching any sticky food. This will prevent your hands getting sticky while handling any food. It is obvious that you will be ingesting a bit of coconut oil along with your food and be glad you are doing it, as it is very good for your health and it also does a damn good job in keeping your skin moisturised.

Answer 4

This might sound weird but whenever my friends and I have a bbq, we keep a small bucket of ice at hand, since we are usually picking up the chicken/ribs/wings/whatever you're eating with our hands from the container our hands tend to get sticky, whenever we fill like giving ourselves a "cleaning" we grab an ice cube and rub it against our fingers then just throw it on the yard.

This might not avoid getting your fingers sticky, but it can help reduce the sensation in your hands. Works for me and my group of friends, hopefully you find it helpful as well.

Answer 5

Use a holder

Put something else in between your hands and the food. This could be what the food comes in like a sandwich bag, a wrapper, or some aluminium foil. Avoid something like cling wrap as it sticks to the food.

Image, Tim 2014

Answer 6

Wear gloves while you are eating. When you are done, dispose of the gloves appropriately.

If you don't have gloves, but do have some liquid white glue and are willing to wait a little while, you can cover your fingertips in glue, allow it to dry, eat, and then peel off the glue. Using glue does require that it be of a non-toxic type, dries fairly quickly, and will come off easily (cyanoacrylate or super glue is not a good choice).

Answer 7

Raise the plate instead of the food

This is what I do when I want to eat something while sitting at my desk and using the pc, and I don't want to get my hands dirty:

Put the food on a plate. Instead of raising the food to your mouth, you always raise the plate and eat the chips, fruit slices or whatever food out of the plate directly with your mouth.

While you may not want to do this in public, at home this will works fine and your hands will never get dirty again.

Answer 8

For crisps (= chips US), I roll the sides of the packet down and use a peg to get the crisp(s). The big rubber pegs work best but any will do:

For thin crisps, used a soft touch with the peg otherwise the crisps will break

Answer 9

Tongs. Just gotta find the perfect sized tong depending on the food.

Answer 10

Covering up.
There are napkins which you place over your clothing, covering you from your neck down, if draped well covering all under the way of your food, from your plate to your mouth.
One such I have seen was a big square of cotton or linen, made into a traditional napkin, with a button hole made in one corner. The napkin would be spread on the front of the person and a shirt button would come through the button hole just below the neck. The fabric being quite sturdy would stay where it was spread. Alternate attachment methods are clasps on a chain going round the neck, or clipping the napkins to the front of the clothing.
Starch in your fabric napkin will help in it staying in place, as it will make the fabric more stiff.

Not having clothing in the way.
If you can chose where and when you eat, very juicy fruits are best eaten ready to get into the shower, while the water is already running to get to temperature.
Alternatively, eat when you are already in the bath, although a bath with a shower is advised as you may want to rinse off when coming out of the water.

I personally do not feel it as good a solution for hot food, like meats which drip sauce, certainly not while they are still hot. But a shower just after eating will clean your body all over.

This does not keep you clean, it will clean you up after getting dirty.

As a last option:
Refrain from eating foods that would get you into trouble. This is what notable people do in public. Some going to the extend not eating anything in public.

Answer 11

When eating you should concentrate on food, this makes the saliva run and mix with the food to make it more digestible. So try to get 5 minutes off to eat, rather the work and eat at the same time. This way your work space will be neat/clean, and your digestive system will be in perfect order. A motherly advice!