How To Get Hands Soft Again If You’ve Been Overwashing

It’s a catch-22: you want your hands to be clean and sanitary, but all that scrubbing causes the skin on your knuckles and joints to become cracked and scaly. Over time, without proper care, those lovely hands of yours begin to look more and more reptilian. If overwashing has ravaged your digits, here’s how to get your skin back to its normally soft state.

Find ways to do less damage.

You should always wash up after using the restroom, as well as before cooking or eating to prevent illness caused by germs on your fingers, but unless your occupation requires frequent hand-washing, you shouldn’t be scrubbing up much more often during the day. When you do need to wash up, use a hydrating gel soap that contains moisturizers – bar soaps can be more drying to your digits than liquid formulas. You can also carry hydrating organic beauty products like hand sanitizers in your purse for when you can’t actually wash with soap and water, as organic products don’t contain alcohol, a common ingredient in hand sanitizers that can leave skin parched.

In addition, when you absolutely must wash your mitts, try to use lukewarm water. Hot water can scald your hands and dry them out faster, while cold water can be irritating to already-dry digits. Both can leave hands looking painful and lobster-like.

Use a scrub to slough off dry areas.

Now that you’re not sudsing up too often, you can work to repair the damage your skin has already sustained. Often, the hard and scaly areas are made up of calluses, or dead skin cells. Using a body scrub to slough the dead skin off your hands can reveal fresh cells that are smooth and soft. Use a small amount of body scrub and dampen the hands with warm water. Rub the body scrub in a circular motion, focusing on the areas that are rough and dry, as well as in between your fingers and up the wrists. Rinse your hands with warm water, and dry them off thoroughly.