I do janitorial work. I wear gloves though, so I'm not really getting dirty? I've done auto assembly work and some bullshit dealing with produce crates being sorted for cleaning that always left my hands black and shit after my shift in the past, though.

I've only ever worked 2 jobs that were not manual labor. I did network IT shit right out of highschool for about 2 years, and I also worked as a relay operator twice. Even as an ISP installer, it was mostly bolting things into things and running cable.

elementary school custodian. i love my schedule and the hours of alone time i get to listen to books and podcasts! a living wage and paid holidays are nice too.

Woodworker. Hands are always dirty after sharpening blades.

Machinist here. But not just any machinist. I work almost exclusively with graphite. I'm sure you can imagine what a mess that makes. We do have a powerful dust collector that runs all day, but it doesn't catch everything. We get covered in the dust every day. The company does have a locker room and showers for us though, so it's not too bad. We still leave nice and clean.

I debug the worst spaghetti code you have seen. Does that count as getting my hands dirty?

No...?

Ok, never mind...

Cleaning CD's, tapes, cameras, computers, cartridges, all the stuff you'd expect from a typical Blockbuster store.

Project Technician working in development of machines

Wash them

switch to my feet

Asbestos remediation. I work on roofs, basements, boiler rooms,fireplaces, lofts, house walls etc removing asbestos in every shape and form + other materials. Using crowbars, sledgehammers, i saw through steel and crush steel with the sledgehammer etc while wearing masks, I also enter oil tanks to clean them. I have done more shitty stuff with another branch of the firm that deals with more shitty stuff + old barn lofts etc on a regular basis too 😆 all of this work involves heavy lifting and carrying heavy stuff around, I have become really strong from it. If you want to get strong and get payed at the same time, I will recommend it. It's tough as hell, and only unique people work with it.

Loading trailers, hands generally stay clean unless my gloves are almost worn out

I fulfill various contracts put out for my industry. They pay very well but involve great risk and can be taxing on the soul. I just keep telling myself these were bad guys, and if I didn't get to them, someone else would've eventually. And I draw the line at women and children.

Used to clean toilets, vacuum, mop and buff floors, clean windows, build bicycles. Loved it all.

I trim trees and operate a wood chipper-shredder. Routinely carrying huge logs and branches hereabouts and there, greasing and fuelling machinery, and brandishing dirty chainsaws.

But I prefer to wear riggers gloves, so my hands actually stay pretty clean.