It's not even winter yet and my poor hands are trashed from constant washing - while cooking, after changing a diaper, washing the baby's face, the food smeared floor, etc.
Anyone have a great hand SOAP that I can use to clean my hands without wrecking them?
I'm tired of looking like a mummy at bedtime with my hands all lubed up and in socks or gloves. Besides - it's not very sexy ;)
I'm going to try some homemade exfoliants and more moisturizer. Thanks for reminding me to wear the rubber gloves too!
I've found that anything anti-bacterial dries out my skin badly. I like foam soap in the pump, and the only kind I can find that isn't anti-bacterial or super smelly (i am sensitive to perfumey smells) is
Softsoap Foam Works Hand Soap.
the bad news is that it only comes in a dora or sponge-bob container! so we have them at every sink, not very pretty but it works.
Melaleucas Renew lotion between washes, and their natural moisturizing soap works great for me! I also used to have red cracked hands- esp when working as a CNA! As mentioned- antibacterial soap can destroy your hands! Msg me if you are unable to purchase this!
Our dermatologist always rec's Dove soap. The important thing is to make sure your hands are dried thoroughly after every washing, etc. I know with kids it feels like that's all I do--wash my hands. I get eczema on my hands if I'm not careful. It's SO painful. Just put a good lotion (Aveeno, Curel, Eucerin, etc) by each sink and try to remember to moisturize after you dry them. Aquaphor also works well but it's just too thick & greasy for me!
I don't know about soap, but Neutrogena makes a great hand cream that absorbs well and isn't greasy. I got hooked on it when I had a newborn during the winter. Between the hand-washing, baby washing, and bottle washing, my hands were wrecked!
I have severe eczema, so I had the SAME problem after both of my kids were born- just washing my hands CONSTANTLY caused so much cracking and drying.
I eventually found that if I used a moisturizing soap when I washed my hands, and put a small amount of baby lotion on them afterward (EVERY time I washed my hands)- they started improving. For me, the soap I found was the best was either goat's milk soap (which is really moisturizing), or "Pure and Natural" liquid hand soap (they have a shea butter formula and a rosemary mint formula which are very nice). They've found that antibacterial soaps are no more effective than normal soaps at killing germs- and not using antibacterial soaps actually helps keep the number of superbugs down because the germs aren't building resistance to the antibacterial agents due to overuse.
I would suggest Renew Hand Wash and Lotion. If you want more info, let me know.
I have terrible ezcema on my hands, so I can't use most products, but because of that, and because I have to be so vigilant about my hands, they are soft year-round. It only takes a few seconds to use lotion right after you wash or get wet (almost every time!), but it helps so much. You need a gentle soap as well as a good lotion that absorbs instantly so you don't have the greasy feeling all the time. I use Bath and Body Works foaming hand soap (don't have a clue how that works for me yet I can't use anything from a "regular" store), can only use Dawn dish detergent, only Dove body washes, and Eucerin lotion or CeraVe, which absorbs faster and is a lighter lotion. I'm constantly in water scrubbing floors, clothes, mouths, etc, but I just HAVE to use lotion afterwards. There's no choice! Good luck!
there is new hand cream right now, CARMEX, i am nurse and washing my hands like 1000 times a day, carmex is great, try it.
Would using disposable rubber gloves help keep your hands from needing to be washed so much? There are some things I use disposable for, and other things I use reusable rubber gloves for.
