Dirty Hands

Hi. Sorry for such a girlie post, but perhaps someone can give me some advice.

New to gardening and GYO. Loving it - evenings, weekends, days off. But during the day, during the week I have a very professional job that requires me to be well presented.

I am wearing gloves 90% of the time when I am in the garden, but still I end up with engrained dirt in my fingers.

Soaking, soap, nail brush - none seem to work. Do any of you seasoned gardeners have any tips to restore my hands / fingers to a grime free disposition!!!!

Thank you.

 

One trick is before you start in the garden get a bar of soap and scrape your finger nails on it(filling under your nails with the soap) it's still a nail brush job in the end but it makes it quicker and easier to get them clean

 

I always put lots of cream on my hands before, i don't like it when my hands dry up with the soil/cement etc

 

Good morning @GYO newbie, have you tried some body scrub on your hands? The other thing you could try is swarfega ( it's an industrial hand scrub, you can get it from diy stores & some supermarkets) I've also had Crabtree & Evylyn gardeners hand scrub & cream (some boots stores have it) I've been know to put my hands in a bowl of water & bleach & scrub, but that does really dry your hands & not something I'd do on a regular basis, but good for emergencies when you are in a hurry!

 

I keep my nails short and filed down as they just seem to break anyway with lifting etc. I use a nail brush for any ground in muck on my hands but the only thing that seems to work for me is a soak in the bath. If my hands feel dry and sore I use E45 cream.

 

Olive oil and sugar seems to work for us!

 

I follow the same regime as Palustris.
As a really girlie addition I add lavender essential oil for scent/antibacterial/ healing properties and and lemon juice to the mix to help with age spots!
Happy gardening!

 

Get a black keyboard.

 

Can you still get barrier cream??

How about this,http://www.screwfix.com/p/swarfega-replacement-barrier-cream-700ml/22839

 

I agree oil and sugar or you can buy one of those exfoliating bath sugar scrubs. I also usually wear thin surgical gloves inside gardening gloves.

 

I love getting my bare hands on my garden, but as I have psorasis which affects the palms and wrist, the dirt (and abrasion) can be really bad news for ingrained dirt and infection.
Most of the ones available are too bulky and don't let you feel properly. Most also let in the dirt from the cuff and (me anyway) get an instant hole in the index finger tip.

My sister sends mine regularly as a birthday present from the U.S. They are a snug fit and the palm and finger areas are a tough but very flexible latex and the back of the hand is a breathable stretchy material, the wrist is elasticated. They are excellent and you can even do fiddly jobs with them without feeling all fingers and thumbs. My hands are kept perfectly clean without intefering with gardening. You can also wash them.

I have seen them in this country, but can't remember where offhand. Showa make a rather expensive version of these.

Mine are fairly inexpensive and look something like this:
http://www.atlasfitgloves.com/atlasgardeninggloves.html

I'd recommend them and I'd think you'd be able to find them if you look around a bit.

Hope you find a good solution.
GG

 

Start off your next heavy duty meeting presentation with "I'm very sorry for the state of my hands, I've been toiling down the allotment all weekend" Might make a few power managers look upon you in a new light! Can't be bad, but then, I've only been to one "heavy duty" meeting in my life, thank goodness.

"If you cannot meet a commitment, then commit to a meeting"

Cheers, Tony.

 

I use the fabric gloves with a latex coating on the front . They are very good for gardening in , you can do any job in them . Except maybe very fine pricking out . They seem to have plenty on Ebay for around £0.70 a pair . I use industrial grade ones which last a long time , not sure of the Ebay ones quality , but for £0.70 !
Update: Gloves I use are Showa , they sell them at Screwfix - very good quality , they last ages.
http://www.screwfix.com/p/showa-310-black-310-original-builders-gloves-black/55367

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12-X-PAIR...t=LH_DefaultDomain_3&var=&hash=item2c739ff6f8