Keeping those fingernails clean !!

[gardenpassion]

For anyone who has trouble getting rid of those tell take signs that you have been gardening... a tip I picked up that really works.

Take a bar of soap and scratch some soap under your nails before you start gardening.... it will keep the dirt at bay and when you come to wash your hands afterwards, the dirt dissolves easily....

Great time-saver.

[Glutton4...]

Yeah, I've heard that. Never remember to try it though!

[Jonthefish]

Yeah i can see the logic in that.

[VirginVegGrower]

Yeah, I've heard that. Never remember to try it though!

You're not alone. I have a hot bath after, shampoo my hair and dig out with a file after. Hey presto, clean nails.

[SarzWix]

I use an old toothbrush to clean mine. Probably not so good for the skin either to keep all those SLSs in contact with it for a long time?

[VirginVegGrower]

Who me? If so I use SLS free everything - vile stuff

[Feral007]

I've been pondering this lately. I have to be able to scrub up well for work. And for some reason I always manage to not wear gloves at some stage on my days off.
Mind you unless I keep a bar of soap in my pocket I'll prob not remember to use it until after I've planted out

I've been putting on lots of hand cream under the nails and hoping that this will help get the dirt out. Don't know if it's the shape of my nails but they seem to hug the dirt.

Does putting oil on and then washing help? Any 'after help' would be good for me.

Not sure about the toothbrush as the skin around my nails is pretty fragile in this super cold weather. I've got quite a few nasty rips around them from hay and so on.

[Hazel at the Hill]

If you run a dot of washing up liquid into DRY hands beforehand, the dirt will easily wash off afterwards. Not sure that helps from the point of view of chemicals-in-prolonged-contact-with-skin, though. Would Ecover be a better option (or is this still as damaging to the skin?)

[Feral007]

It's the fingernails rather than the skin that I have problems with. If I do lots of washing up it usually gets sorted, but then my hands suffer from prolonged exposure to the dishwashing liquid. Let's face it - I'm just falling to pieces!

[Veggiefirsttimer]

A large spoon full of bicarbonate or soda rubbed into hands and nails!

[roitelet]

Lemon juice after the first wash leave it for a few mins then wash and scrub again, works well.

[Bren In Pots]

My Grandad used to say the best thing for cleaning your nails was to knead bread I never knew if he tried it or not.

[SarzWix]

Washing up liquid with a teaspoon of either salt or granulated sugar to make a sort of scrub to begin with, then a tooth-pick or cocktail stick to get the worst of the muck out of my nails under the tap, then scrub nails inside and out with the toothbrush covered in hand-wash stuff. The toothbrush I use is one of the kids 'My First...' type, so is reasonably soft Then I slather my hands with Badger Healing Balm which stops them falling completely to bits

[VirginVegGrower]

To clean and moisturise the hands I always use olive oil and sugar as a scrub. Easy to mix as you need it.

[Olorin2001]

My Grandad used to say the best thing for cleaning your nails was to knead bread I never knew if he tried it or not.

Making pastry works just as well - so I am told - hehehehehe