Sorry to say it does work. Three weeks ago I made some garlic & ginger chutney, and probably smashed 100 cloves with the flat of my knife. If the skin didn't come off immediately, then the clove got another smash. Getting garlic juice all over your fingers is part & parcel of cooking.I have been doing that only I start with a lighter smack/push. Doesn't work. Most of the peel stubbornly stays on. So I push. Sticky garlic juice everywhere. Even then some peel stays stuck on garlic.
Your solution, perhaps, is to buy that ready minced garlic from Sainsbury's.