How do you clean your nails after gardening?

[StripyCarpets]

we always had decent nail brushes when I was growing up, and now everything I try is rubbish.
I think my nail bed maybe sits closer to my fingers than is standard but I know other people who just can’t find a nail scrubber which actually scrubs effectively under their nails.
I threw away my skanky but brilliant nail scrubber about 20 years ago and I can’t tell you how many I’ve bought to replace it, and I’ve never found a decent one.
bristle and natural ones and all plastic ones are too soft,
the essential little row of bristles along the top of the brush are always angled too high to go under and always too soft.

Help please!

They were the ookers in my family, but I suspect that was only us...

I use a nailbrush and ooker, but I agree that nailbrushes tend not to last long these days.

Making pastry by hand tends to do the job, but you have to question if you'd want to eat the resulting pastry...

I have a large range of gloves that hang up on the washing line in my polytunnel, I rarely do anything without popping the thinnest pair for that job on. And I do pottery so always have clay somewhere about me.

I couldn't stand soap under my nails, eugh.

And yes I do dry clothes in the polytunnel in the winter or pop them on the polytunnel line if it starts raining on a drying day. Works a treat.

The soil still gets in!

🤢

Hand soap and a nail brush. Even though I wear gardening gloves, bits still get under your nails.

Morrisons do great wooden nail brushes, we have one in every bathroom. The best thing is a shower or bath and wash your hair.

@DonewhatIcando wins the thread for me with

I use toothpaste on a toothbrush, the bristles are softer than a nail brush and the whitener in the toothpaste also brightens the underside of my nails
I'm not consistent about glove wearing and hated feel of soap under nails.
Also find my cuticles get dirty .

I use gardening gloves.

Also, half a cut lemon to massage your fingers in works wonders.....

Someone recommended to me a nail brush from Highland Soaps and while looking at that, I found this soap that might be good for putting under your nails before a gardening session: https://www.highlandsoaps.com/products/gardeners-hand-soap-190g
I haven't tried it yet, but thought it might be of interest to others.

I've also noticed that nailbrushes don't work very well these days. Very hot water helps a lot for me.

I scrape hand cream into mine, after giving them a wash, by rubbing some into my palms, then scraping my nail along my palms. That way my hands are clean and the cream sits under my nails softening/dissolving any remaining dirt. What isn’t then gradually washed away over the next few hand washes gets scraped out with the edge of tweezers -but not my eyebrow ones.

Bic biro lid
Washing my hair
And, as my then teenage brother mentioned after we had eaten the pie he had been asked to help make when my mum was dealing with a leaking washing machine, making pastry!

I scrub under my nails by rubbing the ends of my fingers on a silicon washing up "sponge" with a bit of handwash/washing up liquid - unlike nail brushes these don't hurt at all and feel very gentle on what is a pretty delicate and sensitive area.

Scratch the soap! Also works for mucky toddlers

With this nailbrush

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00LZRK4CQ?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1#averageCustomerReviewsAnchor

I agree a lot of nailbrushes nowadays are rubbish, but this is a good one.

Not if you have a cut or scratch...

Awwww fanks 😉

Handcream under the nails before you start, but I’m going to keep the toothpaste tip in mind. Using random things to clean under the nails scratches the underside and means the dirt gets stuck more easily.

I don't wear gardening gloves because I have small hands and gloves never fit properly. I like weeding using my fingers and not having an excess of material which makes me look like I have Cookie Monster hands. I find compost stains my fingers despite scrubbing.

a piece of dough
mix a tablespoon of flour with a few drops of washing up liquid.

I wear disposable medical gloves under gardening gloves

I use one of those straw cleaner brushes. Like a mini bottle brush.