It’s bitter cold at this time of year and if I’m not careful my hands turn into a dry, chapped mess. Actually, I should take better care of them all year long–in the spring, summer and fall it’s the garden dirt that causes the trouble. But there is an easy way to help!
We all have to do dishes sometime, and I always feel like I have a TON of hand dishes. The first thing to do is to make sure you wear gloves. Yes, wearing gloves and keeping your hands dry WILL help. Even better, when the weather is cold and my hands are chapped I just take a moment to put a thick layer of lotion on my hands before putting my gloves on (I picked up these cute and sturdy Playtex brand gloves at the Dollar Tree for, well, a dollar).
While I’m washing the dishes the heat from the water helps my hands to absorb the lotion really well, and my hands wind up nice and soft.
Jenn
I suffer from eczyma, especially this time of year and you are so correct that dish washing can do real damage! I normally use Playtex living brand but also recently picked 2 pairs up at DT (Spic n Span brand?) that appear to be of comparable quality. I need to try the lotion trick!