Hand Soap Help

[MidnightBloom]

Is anyone able to help regarding hand soap? I've tried a few different brands and they all continue to make me and dds hands really dry and chapped. Our knuckles bleed sometimes

Liquid hand soap is pretty drying. Perfume-free is a good place to start, something like carex unscented.
Is bar soap an option? Dove is pretty mild,I think there's an unscented version. I've recently discovered Johnson's honey baby soap, better than many much more expensive hand soaps.
While your skin is really sore, E45 emollient wash will help to soothe the skin while it recovers. It comes in a pump bottle, but it's thicker than normal liquid soap.
Once your skin has recovered you could try something like Bayliss and Harding, I have no problems with it once my skin has settled.

Thank you @NotbloodyGivingupYet I've tried carex unscented, Dove and Bayliss and they all make our hands sore. Dd won't use bar soap as she says it just holds germs will definitely try the E45 hopefully that will help. I am willing to buy and try anything recommend. I had a work meeting last week and was self conscious shaking hands with people.

Maybe try an E45 one or Simple maybe

@dementedpixie thanks. Will buy these to try fingers crossed one helps us.

Aveeno hand cream will help. (My daughter feels the same as yours about hand soap!)

In the kitchen, where bar soap is impractical, I do OK with ecover unscented or bio-D unscented.

Simple and most of the supermarket unscented ones crack my hands after a few uses. The absolute worst are any of the foaming ones and lifebuoy. And that pink one they use in John Lewis.

Why don’t you just use an emollient cream after hand washing? If you do it promptly the oils removed by the soap will be compensated.

Appreciate this isn’t great if you’re preparing food but I’ve found if you only apply the cream to the backs of your hands, you don’t end up “sticky”

I came in to say Aveeno x

Was going to say this.

Just use diprobase (or equivalent) instead of soap.

Wash with an emollient.
I use either Cetraben cream or Epaderm, they both come in little pump bottles.

I would also consider whether you need to wash your hands so much, obviously some jobs demand it as do certain health conditions first home care etc but those aside are you both washing your hands far more than normal? You mention liquid soap for hygiene, just wondered because if you wash your hands very frequently (eg as nurses have to or in commercial kitchen prep) people need professional grade products to replace the essential oils in their skin.

Use Aqueous Cream to wash hands. It's recommended as a cleansing agent for people with eczema.

Will try all the great suggestions. I suppose we do wash our hands fairly often but it is when needed after the loo, before cooking etc.

We have never had any problems before, I wonder if soaps have changed formulas recently.

for my son who has suffered years from eczema- this is the best in order
QV wash. (Non soap) finally got his skin sorted
we have had all the lotions / creams / steroids from every chemist. This one works (qv)
Dermol that’s good if itchy / open wounds: can be used to wash
zero derm
centraban.

Check out washing power and what’s towel your drying your hands on. Change powder.

For me the best hand lotion is neutrogena unscented (had all the posh stuff / chemist cream but this one works the best) after every hand wash put this on

“Dermal 500” lotion is a cream that can also be used as a soap. Absolute game changer for us.

@LilacPony dermol also does a hand-wash in a smaller bottle

Will pop into the chemist and ask for the creams, washes etc.

I've used the same washing liquid for years Tesco own non bio. I change the bathroom hand towel and kitchen towels daily.

Sometimes the weather that affects the skin too. Are you moisturising your hands too?

My son is allergic to most hand washes - random as he has no other allergies or skin conditions - he can only tolerate E45 hand wash. Isn't the cheapest!

Faith in nature don't dry out or irritate my skin, my favourite is the lavender (all natural essential oils not artificial perfumes). Lots of normal handwashes bring me out in eczema and dry, cracked knuckles. Simple make works too but I like a nice smell and that is totally plain. Need to regularly use moisturiser too👍

I need to get back into using Moistureiser more often. I've fallen out of the habit of doing my hands before bed at night. I've gave dd a bottle of nivea to use until I see the chemist. It could be the cold weather and we have the log fire on all day everyday. We do use gloves when out and washing up gloves if doing dishes. I have a bath with epsom salts in it once a week. We drink a fair bit of water daily and are good with fruit veg etc.

How much you using? Only needs a tiny bit. And not every time you touch something?

I think some people are over zealous re food. If food is going into a hot oven or microwave to be nuked then washing hands isn't an issue & a rinse will do, If I touch raw meat I wash before touching other stuff.
It's like washing raw meat - pointless if you putting into a hot oven

Sometimes companies do change the formula without telling the consumer. Might be worth trying something new if all else fails. Every couple of years we have to change washing detergent when skin flares start happening.

Also, avoid hand sanitiser as that’s a killer for hands dries them out

but agree this weather does not help hands! Bring on summer!