One hand will wash the other
September 23, 2020 7:26 PM Subscribe
Serious question: which hand soap is best?
I now estimate my hand washing at work is well into 100+ Washing Club. I work a shift where the hand soap we have at work (dish soap) isn’t cutting it, and the replacement soap I brought in isn’t great either. Do you have a favorite brand of liquid soap that doesn’t dry out your hands with high volume use? P.S. bonus points for lotion recs.
I now estimate my hand washing at work is well into 100+ Washing Club. I work a shift where the hand soap we have at work (dish soap) isn’t cutting it, and the replacement soap I brought in isn’t great either. Do you have a favorite brand of liquid soap that doesn’t dry out your hands with high volume use? P.S. bonus points for lotion recs.
It’s pricey but I love Compagnie de Provence.
posted by matildaben at 8:05 PM on September 23, 2020
posted by matildaben at 8:05 PM on September 23, 2020
Bath and Body Works, get the creamy luxe brand (liquid) hand soap, not the foam-forming kind. The creamy luxe soaps has moisturizers inside, leaving my hands feeling clean and properly moisturized. BBW is a bit on the expensive side, but their quality has been superb for the few years I've used their brand.
posted by thoughtful_analyst at 8:44 PM on September 23, 2020
posted by thoughtful_analyst at 8:44 PM on September 23, 2020
My daughter has eczema and she finds Mrs Meyers Hand soap to be the one hand soap that is gentle enough for her.
posted by metahawk at 9:35 PM on September 23, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by metahawk at 9:35 PM on September 23, 2020 [4 favorites]
Alba Botanical Very Emollient Bath and Shower Gel is the only thing that works for me when I need to wash my hands frequently. Everything else, even gentle soaps, dries my hands out horribly. Alba Botanica’s scents are also pretty subtle and natural compared to a lot of products that are designed to maximize the fragrance for as long as possible.
posted by corey flood at 10:13 PM on September 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by corey flood at 10:13 PM on September 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
I've had eczema most of my life and can't use many soaps with SLS or similar chemicals. Dr Bronner's and Vanicream are my steadies.
posted by Handstand Devil at 4:22 AM on September 24, 2020
posted by Handstand Devil at 4:22 AM on September 24, 2020
Back in the days when people used to touch each other, I got frequent, unsolicited comments about how freakishly soft my hands are. This is true. My hands are very soft.
I do not use fancy hand soap.
In the last, oh, probably 6-7 years I have used two kinds of hand soap almost exclusively: bulk no frills Softsoap brand (got from Costco in a double wide) and Dr Bronners pure castille soap (also bulk size from Costco). I dilute these and use them in a reusable foaming pump. There is nothing special or fancy about it.
Hand soap is not why my hands are soft. Hand soap is why my hands are clean.
What I do religiously every single time I wash my hands is put on a pump of lotion. I use regular old Aveeno (bought in, you guessed it, bulk). Every time. I have a bottle of Aveeno everywhere. One at work so I could lotion up after washing my hands at work. One in my bedroom. One in my living room. One in my home office. You get the idea. I never let my hands sit unlotioned, it is part of my hand washing process.
Aveeno is creamy instead of wet, and absorbs into your skin super fast so you don't slug trail everywhere. It's my #1 recommendation for lotion.
The soap does not matter. Get clean, restore your moisture barrier with lotion.
posted by phunniemee at 5:38 AM on September 24, 2020 [3 favorites]
I do not use fancy hand soap.
In the last, oh, probably 6-7 years I have used two kinds of hand soap almost exclusively: bulk no frills Softsoap brand (got from Costco in a double wide) and Dr Bronners pure castille soap (also bulk size from Costco). I dilute these and use them in a reusable foaming pump. There is nothing special or fancy about it.
Hand soap is not why my hands are soft. Hand soap is why my hands are clean.
What I do religiously every single time I wash my hands is put on a pump of lotion. I use regular old Aveeno (bought in, you guessed it, bulk). Every time. I have a bottle of Aveeno everywhere. One at work so I could lotion up after washing my hands at work. One in my bedroom. One in my living room. One in my home office. You get the idea. I never let my hands sit unlotioned, it is part of my hand washing process.
Aveeno is creamy instead of wet, and absorbs into your skin super fast so you don't slug trail everywhere. It's my #1 recommendation for lotion.
The soap does not matter. Get clean, restore your moisture barrier with lotion.
posted by phunniemee at 5:38 AM on September 24, 2020 [3 favorites]
Echoing the dilute & put in foaming dispenser approach.
posted by deludingmyself at 6:34 AM on September 24, 2020
posted by deludingmyself at 6:34 AM on September 24, 2020
Yeah, undiluted Dr Bronner's in a pump is plug city. If you can find it, and don't mind the deep muddy green colour and powerful smell of shrubbery, liquid savon d'alep (a traditional pure castile from Syria that uses laurel oil as its scent) doesn't dry out my worrying skin. But moisturize after, always.
posted by scruss at 6:43 AM on September 24, 2020
posted by scruss at 6:43 AM on September 24, 2020
There is some great advice above, but if you really want a hand cleaner that absolutely doesn't dry skin, then use Cerave facial cleanser on your hands. You don't even have to use water to wipe them off, you can just towel off the stuff. The downside is that this does not feel in any way like washing your hands - it feels like rubbing goo on your hands. But it will not in any way dry your hands out, and it leaves them cleaner then when you started. I would guess that it doesn't disinfect though.
posted by Dmenet at 8:08 AM on September 24, 2020
posted by Dmenet at 8:08 AM on September 24, 2020
Was also coming in to recommend Dr. Bronners, specifically their unscented liquid baby soap which I find great for eczema and surprisingly moisturizing. A little goes a long way, too.
posted by stellaluna at 8:48 AM on September 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by stellaluna at 8:48 AM on September 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
+1 to bronner's unscented soap (DILUTED) and the o'keefe's hand cream.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 8:58 AM on September 24, 2020
posted by misanthropicsarah at 8:58 AM on September 24, 2020
Pure vegetable glycerin soap FTW. It's the only liquid soap I can use that doesn't turn my hands into raging red scaly cracked and bleeding appendages.
posted by kate4914 at 5:34 PM on September 24, 2020
posted by kate4914 at 5:34 PM on September 24, 2020
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by TheAdamist at 8:02 PM on September 23, 2020