NAILS

[ZIEVAR]

No not snails. Has anyone any advice, hints, or tips about how to keep your nails clean, or to clean after gardening. I have tried various gloves and none seem to be able to to keep the soil out. My hands are sore with so much scrubbing after the event.

Claw a bar of soap before you start, so there's a chuck of soap under each nail.

Do the gardening. Nail brush and claw the dose again. Job's a good-un.

I've heard getting soap or handcream under your nails before you start makes it harder for the dirt to bed in and easier to clean it out.

no tips on gloves, but my builder fil used body lotion to wash hands after a day on a building site. works a treat without too much scrubbing and raw skin.

for finger nails a simple dough (play dough or blue tack) is very effective.

Washing up gloves instead of gardening gloves

Make pastry or bread, my mother used to always say she did it after a messy job. I don't think she did...

I find a bath and hairwash removes the last of it from mine though, shampoo seems to get it out. I have some gloves that are rubbery with a fabric type back that help but I often forget to use them, brought up in a household where gardening gloves were not heard of, we used to just shove our hands in the dirt.

Until I met someone who had part of a finger amputated after gardening bare handed.

I find that doing a load of washing-up cleans them a treat. Not much of a tip for those with dishwashers though!

I wear a pair of disposable vinyl gloves underneath a pair of leather gardening gloves if I'm handing soil and dirty things. I've read of scraping your nails with soap beforehand to stop dirt under the nails- but never needed to try this.

I wear a pair of disposable vinyl gloves underneath a pair of leather gardening gloves if I'm handing soil and dirty things

I've just started doing this too and it works well. The scrubbing was driving me mad.

Thank you all so much for your advice. I shall try them all.

SUCCESS!....HAND CREAM, VINYL GLOVES, GARDEN GLOVES AND A SPOTLESS RESULT.....MY HANDS LOOK AS IF I HAVE HAD A MANICURE.😄

Wow! This works!

I do the soap claw thing and put elastic bands around the wrists of my gardening gloves.

I do this too. They make your hands sweaty in there, but keep your nails pretty clean.