I scrub well with a nail brush then wash and massage my hair vigorously in the shower. Works well for me. People often ask how I have such clean nails even though I have large garden beds.

Making a batch of pastry cleans the nails brilliantly ;-) .... but hair washing is probably more hygienic. The pre-gardening soap scratching technique works very well too.

We have a nail brush next to the laundry sink in the basement for immediate clean ups and another in the shower for a more thorough going over. One is natural bristle that I use with soap and the other a plastic model that comes pre-packaged with betadine for pre-surgical scrubs. I have them left over from my work days and really love the little plastic scrubber- it is exactly like this one.

I am a confirmed non-glove wearing gardener- I just cannot make gloves work for me. As I am forever digging for weed roots with my fingertips they take a beating. I also swear by O'Keefe's Working Hands hand cream.

Putting soap under my nails wigs me out. I just use Lava soap and a brush.

I use any soap marked "Gardening Soap" or similar. I buy it at specialty shops , garden nurseries, or even at craft fairs. Probably any soap works as well but I like to think there is something extra in the GS. Smells good too. And any nail brush.

a foot scrub can work and clean up dirt really well. I also use a baby toothbrush

Applying hand lotion or cream before you start grubbing around helps, too.

Best thing ever = "Gloves in a Bottle" used before heading out to the garden. It's a lotion that truly enables you to wash the dirtiest hands easily. I garden without gloves of any kind and my soil has the ability to actually stain my untreated hands. Gloves in a Bottle as a preventative really works for me.

Latex gloves like the kind doctors use are great for pulling weeds, you can really get a grip on the stem, even if smooth or muddy. They only last a couple hours before tearing, and some things you can't do at all, like handle anything too rough or sharp. But while they last, they keep your hands clean.

before you put on disposable gloves, you can put lotion or soap under your nails and then coat your hands with cornstarch. That will help keep your hands dry.

Have you done this, sylvia? Don't you find that after an hour or so, your hands will start to sweat inside the gloves? On a hot day, as much as a tablespoon of water or more can collect inside latex gloves.

Trick for reusing intact latex glove is to fill it with water, then insert hand. Maybe ya'll already know this. I picked it up on GWeb. Also, the advice to put vaseline under nailes.

Not a big fan of gloves I like the feel of soil between my fingers but not so much in winter tho :). If I do wear gloves which I don't very often I wear those heavy duty black rubber gloves used by fishermen gutting fish, the medium size is a good fit for my hands.

If I have to get my nails clean in a hurry out comes the bleach, a nail brush, a bowl of warm water, some dish detergent and bleach. The nails and hands come clean in seconds, some hand lotion and I'm good to go.

Annette

I just live with dirty hands.

wantonamara..they just get dirty again tomorrow right?..

yep...but one does wash before cooking. I am not a savage.

haha..it's funny how that after decades of gardening I'm not that bothered by dirt...

On top of that , I build furniture for a living, so I am stained by many things. I scrub up well but it usually takes a down turn in business or a vacation. I tell people, if I am dirty, I am making money or I am happy in the woods.

I put my water hose nozzle on "jet" and blast at my nails. It almost always gets the dirt right out from under my nails. The trick is remembering to do it before heading into the house.

It's just text back on this forum. I don't know if my hands would get sweaty after an hour, because I usually rip a hole in the gloves in less than an hour LOL

And if I'm here is decent gloves, I always seem to take them off for some reason and then lose them or forget to put them back on

I find that if I use lotion before gardening, then scrub up with a nail brush and take a shower, that gets most of the dirt. The rest I get by relotioning my hands with a bit more than usual, including around and under nails, letting it sit a few minutes and then carefully wiping away excess with a paper towel, giving particular care around nails and cuticles. That seems to remove anything missed in the scrubbing, most staining, and remoistens my skin.

I am like sylviatexas in that unless pruning I seem unable to keep gloves on.