Cleaning Gardener’s Hands

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What to do when your Hands Look Dirty Like This
I am an avid gardener, both vegetable and flower beds. One consequence of this avocation is that my hands dry out easily, they are in dirt a lot and with the constant washing it tends to dry them out more. Over the years I have tried a variety of things to alleviate this dryness and rid myself of the ground in dirt that seems to be constant on my hands. Some of these remedies work better than others but I bet they include things already i n your home.

• A little liquid soap. I will coat my hands with a little liquid soap, like Castile Soap, but a non-allergic liquid dish soap would work well too. When I started doing this I noticed that it not only made my hands easier to clean because the dirt was on top of the soap, it helped to cut down on the contact dermatitis.
• Olive oil and honey. I like to use this after I come in from gardening after rinsing the castile soap and dirt off my hands I will continue to wash them with a mixture of 50% olive oil 50% honey. The oil helps to emolliate and cleanse at the same time, while the honey helps to clean, act as an antibacterial and  humectant, thus sealing in the moisture.
• An olive oil sea salt scrub, I just mix a little olive oil and sea salt on my hands and work it in, rinse off when you feel you have removed the dirt. Alternatively you can use oatmeal or brown sugar to scrub with.

I tend to open my cupboard and see what is readily available to scrub my hands with. It is not too important to me what I use as long as it is something I would eat it is safe for my skin.
Remember DON’T PUT ANYTHING ON YOUR BODY YOU WOULD NOT PUT IN YOUR BODY!


How do you like to get your hands clean after working in the garden?

this post is linked up with Seasonal Celebrations at Natural Mothers Network, Homestead Blog Hop

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