Gardeners hands ... Lady gardeners

[Glutton4...]

Nutter!

I almost always wear gloves for gardening, due to the presence of cat/dog faeces in other peoples' gardens. (The non-gardeners chuck it in the borders before mowing the lawn. ) It also saves me touching slugs, which I just can't abide.

Sometimes though, I get hard dry skin on the insides of my thumbs and index fingers. That gets the old pumice stone treatment (or emery board, if handy!) and a good dose of lip-salve to keep the moisture out!

[weekendwellies]

I use Atrixo, I have a problem with bubbling and dry flaky skin on my right hand. Since I started putting Atrixo on at night before bed it has got much better.

[Kirk]

Had/have an small patch of dry skin on my ankle - no idea why, it just appeared. When looking for a cream I came across one in Boots called Derma Care, has Almond oil and Lanolin in it and it is not expensive, and works well.

[Creemteez]

I find exfoliating the dry skin off is the best way to go. Sometimes it feels as if I'm wearing old leather gloves after a heavy gardening session. To clean ingrained dirt and exfoliate my hands I "wash" my hands with a small handful of granulated sugar and a good lug of olive oil. Having given particular attention to knuckles and anywhere the skin is particularly dry or rough, I add a squirt of washing up liquid to the oil and sugar which emulsifies it and enables me to rinse it of easily. After drying them well, I then give them a large dose of "Heel Balm" - yes the stuff for your feet! Behold! Brand new hands!!!

[Wren]

I will try out a few versions you have suggested and see how things turn out and report back. The brown sugar scrub is recommended on beauty forums, if I tie this in with white cotton gloves and lashings of various suggested creams for a overnight treatment I will let you know what comes out best. I have tried lots of barrier cream, thing is once you get to a certain point it's like rain hitting parched ground an nothing goes in.
Something drastic needed first.
This will be a good thread to feed back on what looks good for a hour or so, an what really makes a difference an lasts for a day at the very least. I have a list of all your creams so far to try out. Saves me buying a load of crap in the vague hope it might work. I went to Crufts an purchased a goats milk moisturiser cream from a trade stand. It promised all sorts for gardeners hands and other dry skin conditions but It's no better than aqueous cream , I tried it on my psoriosis on my elbows and knees and it were useless, I get better hydration from Garnier body lotion at �2.49 at the supermarket than this over priced pot o goats cream made in their pottery type workshop ...grrr, what a rip off, lovely organic wholesome looking label and pot, home made type thing, well over priced, made to look like you were getting something special with all that goaty milk goodness and it were a load of ol expensive rubbish....grrrr
I don't mind paying for a good product, but expensive, made by the fireside, over priced rubbish no better than aqueous cream but looks soooo wholesome stuff in a pot with a home made label is starting to get on my nerves. Fed up with their rip offs we seem to be getting from over priced so called exclusive, organic, wholesome , pottery type business s that sell expensive products that are no better than aqueous cream or petroleum jelly.




Wren

[veggiechicken]

I worked with some burly Wool graders once and the first they said to me was - "feel my hands". Their skin was so soft and it was from the lanolin in the sheep fleeces.
Just a thought!!!

[Wren]

I have a friend who hand tans Orkney sheepskins, it's her cottage industry, gorgeous soft hands, stinks like lamb all the time...lol. Lanolin seems like a excellent ingredient though, that's a good start , thank you

[Indigo23]

My Dad was a bricklayer by trade but had the cleanest, softest hands. His remedy was a good scrub with coal tar soap followed by a thorough coating of vaseline petroleum jelly every night.

[veggiechicken]

Many years ago. my car was stolen and recovered and the police dusted it for fingerprints. They asked for my fingerprints to eliminate them.
The police officer said that I would make a good thief as my prints were so indistinct - he said he'd seen clearer prints from a bricklayer!! Hope it wasn't your father, Indigo

[spanish_gardener]

Any cream and add essential fatty acids to your diet (salmon, swordfish, sardines, walnuts, flax seeds oil, etc.).

[mothhawk]

What you wash your hands with makes a difference too. I have to have scrupulously clean hands at work and wear blue nitrile gloves too. I save these (they are one use throw away items at work) and use them for gardening either on their own, or under gardening gloves for sturdier tasks.

(Tip: thin nitrile/latex type gloves are much easier to get on and off if you dust a bit of cornflour on your hands first)

So I don't have to scrub my hands. And I wash them with c@rex moisture plus handwash (triple moisturising) which leaves them feeling soft and supple.

[Wren]

I have ordered a tub of pure lanolin off ebay, it's a big tub for under a tenner.

Point of Interest about what Spanish gardener said about what you eat made me think. I feed my dog a raw diet of raw meat , with cooked veg ( easier to break down the carbs for dogs) an raw meaty bones, offal, a raw egg or two and oily fish and his coat gleams, his fur is soft and he doesn't smell doggy even though I don't bath him often. His diet keeps him at perfect weight and in top condition, he previously suffered from terrible digestive issues on shop bought commercial dog food, his hair was corse, scurfy dandruff , overweight with bloating and allergies . A good example of we are what we eat. He now is in tip top condition an the vet can't believe the transformation... Food for thought indeed .. We are what we eat.

wren

[jayjaybee]

The diet sounds good, might try it myself, but will I start chasing the neighbour's cat?

[veggiechicken]

Absolutely barking ^^^^

[mothhawk]

I have ordered a tub of pure lanolin off ebay, it's a big tub for under a tenner.

Make sure it is pharmaceutical grade lanolin for use in cosmetics and creams, and not machine grade lanolin for greasing machine parts - that will not be as pure and may contain higher levels of pesticides (sheep dip), which will be absorbed into your skin along with the lanolin.