I like to do d and d' with my middle fingers if necessary, but I try to avoid them since its not so different from a rotation to me. I solve as many as I can without rotating or doing d moves (or Dw now)
I VEHEMENTLY oppose the use of stupid w to denote double layer turns. Who thought up that "great" idea? the letter 'w' is the LONGEST thing to say in english, and in fact saying www is slower than saying "world wide web". Who would want to do such a thing to us?
and just to stay on topic, i rarely ever use d/d'. I think I probably should though. But yes, they are not too nice to execute. But when I do, I grab upper layer with my fingers and thumbs and use middle finger to twist d under it.