Garden hands — How to get your hands clean (really clean!) after gardening

I love hands. I always notice them and appreciate them — from sweet, smooth infant hands to old, wrinkled hands that show how much they’ve worked over the years. I strive for brightly clean hands with smartly trimmed nails and soft skin. But I’m a gardener — and cook and crafter and homemaker and DIY project maker. Embedded dirt, dull fingernails, calluses, and cracked skin are par for the daily course. So it seems a losing battle. Especially since I cannot bring myself to wear gardening (or work) gloves.

Oh, I promise myself that I’ll wear gloves. I buy new garden gloves and leave them where they can’t be ignored. I even put them on. For about three minutes. Once I’m digging in the dirt, though, off they come. I can’t quite pull weeds or plant as well with gloves on. To be honest, I also love the feel of garden soil.

Tattered hands aside, barehanded digging has its perks. Beyond feeling lovely, scientists think that microbes in soil may stimulate serotonin production, making it an antidepressant of sorts. (Most gardeners can attest to that!) Researchers are studying dirt’s ability to improve cognitive function and symptoms of anxiety, OCD, bipolar disorder, and fibromyalgia, too. We also know that getting your hands dirty in the garden may help improve your gut microbiome, improving your immune system and cutting your risk of illness and allergies. A recent study found that direct exposure of hands to natural soil and plant-based gardening materials increased the diversity of microbes in the body, even after washing up.

So, unless I’m working in the roses or with other potentially painful plants, I’m barehanded in the garden. I have experimented, though, with ways to get garden hands sparkling clean. I’ve tried everything over the years (including bleach, which I strongly do not recommend, as it can be quite drying). Here are some ways to get garden hands clean that work well for me:

My favorite way to clean garden hands

You’ll need:

• A nail brush

• Soap

• Baking soda

• Lemon juice (hydrogen peroxide can be substituted for the lemon juice)

• Hand lotion

Directions:

1. Wash your hands well with soap and warm water. Use a nail brush – not just on your nails but all over your hands.

2. Rinse your hands.

3. Shake some baking soda into your wet hands and rub them together, loosening the dirt in all those little crevices.

4. Pour on some lemon juice or hydrogen peroxide. Rub your hands together for about a minute.

5. Rinse with warm water.

6. Dry well.

7. Apply your favorite hand lotion, (my favorites are the Lovefresh lavender hand cream, and La Biosthetique citromicine cream).

Other ways for removing stubborn stains on garden hands:

• Pumice stone. With a gentle touch, rub it on callused areas, then rinse.

• Sugar or salt scrub. Gently scrub your hands and fingernails, then rinse.

Preventative Measures

There are a few things you can do to help minimize the mess you might make of your hands gardening without gloves:

• Dig your fingernails in soap before heading out. This will line them and prevent them from filing up with soil.

• Rub your cuticles and nails with cream or oil to give them a protective layer before gardening.

• Keep your nails on the short side. Shorter nails are less likely to become ragged, and they’re easier to clean.

Working outside in all weathers, pricks from thorns, stings from nettles, and grubbing about in gritty soil plays havoc with your hands, not to mention nails. And scrubbing off that ingrained dirt is tough on your skin, too.

Wearing gloves is undoubtedly the best way to keep your hands clean (apply hand cream before you put them on, for a simultaneous skin-conditioning treatment. But I would recommend having regular manicures if you are an avid gardener like myself. This not only keeps your hands maintained but your cuticles and nails as well, preventing them from having problematic concerns arise.