between the cold weather, and having to let a dishwasher go and subsequently closing dish a few nights after closing the line, my hands are fucked. i would appreciate any tips for relieving cracked hands
this was right after washing my hands, so it doesn’t look as bad. obviously wearing gloves all the time. been using aquaphor before going to bed. any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated
by crabclawmcgraw
32 Comments
random-guy-here
Hire another dishwasher.
TechnicalAd8103
Bro, get some dishwashing gloves.
Your hands will thank you.
danappropriate
O’Keeffe’s Working Hands + cotton gloves left on overnight
FarFigNewton007
O’Keeffe’s Working Hands
tastepdad
Jack Black has a great hand cream (yeah, the goofy actor) but if not good ol’ Vaseline is what a dermatologist recommended to me. I used to do a lot of tile work, and grout is very corrosive and drying, my hands would actually bleed.
Vaseline in gloves overnight will help a lot
Edit: Different Jack Black, it’s not the actor
GetBentHo
Paraffin hand dips
IwouldpickJeanluc
Bag Balm get it and slather your hands after shift and before bed.
CoolFriendlyDad
Basically don’t ever let irritated skin dry out or stay uncovered. Clean your rough, irritated skin and hit it with moisturizer, plenty of good recs in the thread. Wear and replace bandages under gloves if you have to. But just fyi letting cuts/scrapes “breathe” is bullshit soccer mom first aid.
surethingsatan
Second rec for bag balm. If it’s good enough for a cow’s tits it’s good enough for my mitts.
BlueNinjaTiger
okeeeffe’s! my skin does the same shit during the winter if I don’t take extra care.
ORINnorman
Nivea hand cream after work and again before bed has worked well for me.
ChichisdeGata
Moisturize regularly, that is all
Practical-Light-2791
welcome to dish lol
unicornsatemybaby
Just in case it hasn’t been said enough in this thread, get yourself some O’Keefe’s Working Hands.
yeroldfatdad
Aquaphor works for me. Non-greasy. You can get it in small tubes to carry in your pocket.
LongDogDong
If the O’Keefes doesn’t do it – which it probably will – try Eucerin. Use the pasty stuff in the tub, not in a tube, not in a pump bottle, use the pasty stuff in the tub with the red screw off lid.
themaryjanes
Aquaphor
dentttt
Petroleum jelly and latex gloves at night when you go to bed. Sounds weird but works.
fatkidking
Palmers cocoa butter cleared up my hands in a day or 2
hobonichi_anonymous
Booda butter.
chocolatecroissant9
Gloves! The hot water and soap will fuck you up. Also hand lotion
amosslet
If you’re stripping the natural oils from your skin, you need to replace them with something hydrating. To be honest, any rendered animal fat you have in the kitchen (schmaltz, tallow, duck fat, etc), with gloves over it will help, since animal fat will actually penetrate the skin better than a lot of non-animal-based lotions.
I also like lanolin-based lotion like Bag Balm (also an animal fat). If you go to a pharmacy, you can sometimes find pure lanolin, sold as nipple cream for nursing mothers, and that stuff will lubricate like nobody’s business. I see recommendations for O’Keeffe’s working hands and sleeping with cotton gloves on. That will also definitely do the trick, but if you don’t want to buy anything, animal fat will also work.
If you do want to buy things, I recommend purchasing touchscreen-compatible cotton gloves, so you can still use your phone or other touchscreens in bed. We have some and they’re super useful, since you don’t want to take the gloves off once you’re lotioned and gloved.
CaeruleumBleu
Aquafor traps in moisture BUT you have to have moisture for it to trap! Get a good healing lotion, like cerave, slather that on. Let it dry enough that you can open the aquafor, put that on. Then try to not touch anything at all for a few hours.
krebstar4ever
Zinc diaper rash cream/ointment!
pootislordftw
Full length nitrile-coated “chemical resistant” gloves that go almost all the way to your shoulders. Showa 772 atlas I want to say? Though I bought similar, almost rebranded ones, that were blue from honeywell on amazon. The bonus is you can put those boys in HOT water and you’re damn near immune, and they still give you great grip on things (plus moderate protection from sharps/steel wool strands). Otherwise I had hands like yours, and all the lotions/skin care I tried over a few months couldn’t fix it
Over time the gloves develop tiny pinhole leaks near the fingertips which aren’t that big of an issue, they just make the inside of the gloves kinda wet (I always wore vinyl gloves on the inside just so my hands aren’t stuck touching dishwater) but it doesn’t really fill up or anything, just wicks some moisture a few inches up the palm. The pinhole leaks will come from abrasion from using steel wool or scrub pads on dishes, so know that the gloves won’t last you forever but it was about a month between changes if I was only doing dish at work.
My work provided the gloves the first time as a communal thing for dishwashers, but people would get them wet and ball them up at the end of the day and they got bad, quickly, so I bought my own. A fan that gets air down throughout the glove (even to the finger tips) goes a long way to keep them clean and free of odor; wedging the rim of the glove cuff in the guard on a small desk fan worked to keep the gloves fully open overnight. Then when you go to bed, they dry thoroughly and you don’t have to have anything on your hands while you sleep or remember to apply lotion before bed, etc.
Hopefully that’s some help, that would be my biggest tip to a dishwasher.
blaster876
Personally Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand cream. This stuff is the absolute best for healing hands, skin, noses, basically anything dried out from the cold or water.
It’s easy to find and goes a long way.
Infamous_Meet_108
That sucks dude. I’m so glad I have oily skin and never suffered from this in 20 years in kitchens. Unfortunately I do suffer from untreatable back acne. So there’s a trade off
irishbikerjay
Ouuuue I got thisssssss homie!
Chef for over 17 years, born with eczema + psoriasis. Buy cotton burn gloves from Amazon. Get a pack for like 20 quid. Totally worth it.
1.If your hands ever get extremely bad. Grab a bowl of bucket and fill with 4L + of luke warm water. Add a **cap full** of bleach. It will kill any bacteria growing on the skin/ just under. DAB dry / airdry. So I repeat only use this step if hands are very bad and nothing seems to be working.
2. I try to avoid steroid cream whenever I can, as no cream is a permanent solution and your body gets use to steroids + can have a reaction without them if you’ve been using them for long. Buuuut > (Dermavate is by far the best out there and only use half the size of a pea on affected area if needed)
3. 2nd layer of cream… Eucerin cream is great stuff. Apply liberaly
4. 3rd layer lf cream ….Cover affected creamed area with petroleum jelly
5. If possible get someone to help you put on the gloves if you can. Leave them on for 4+ hours.
Rinse and repeat excluding step one
If anyone has any questions for me please ask away. I’ll answer everything when I can
Frequent_Pen6108
Bunch of lotion in cotton gloves overnight. I’ve also used nitrile gloves when I had no cotton available.
willlowufgood
Bag balm. Working hands is o.k. but not as good. Bag balm is used for cows, other applications. Look for it. Trade secret.
East-Specialist-4847
O’Keefe’s working hands and cotton gloves on overnight has been suggested. Raw aloe Vera will help as well
gogozrx
I second the O’Keeffe’s/Bag Balm suggestions, but I’ll add: drink more water. get up towards a gallon a day and you’ll notice a difference in your skin.
32 Comments
Hire another dishwasher.
Bro, get some dishwashing gloves.
Your hands will thank you.
O’Keeffe’s Working Hands + cotton gloves left on overnight
O’Keeffe’s Working Hands
Jack Black has a great hand cream (yeah, the goofy actor) but if not good ol’ Vaseline is what a dermatologist recommended to me. I used to do a lot of tile work, and grout is very corrosive and drying, my hands would actually bleed.
Vaseline in gloves overnight will help a lot
Edit: Different Jack Black, it’s not the actor
Paraffin hand dips
Bag Balm get it and slather your hands after shift and before bed.
Basically don’t ever let irritated skin dry out or stay uncovered. Clean your rough, irritated skin and hit it with moisturizer, plenty of good recs in the thread. Wear and replace bandages under gloves if you have to. But just fyi letting cuts/scrapes “breathe” is bullshit soccer mom first aid.
Second rec for bag balm. If it’s good enough for a cow’s tits it’s good enough for my mitts.
okeeeffe’s! my skin does the same shit during the winter if I don’t take extra care.
Nivea hand cream after work and again before bed has worked well for me.
Moisturize regularly, that is all
welcome to dish lol
Just in case it hasn’t been said enough in this thread, get yourself some O’Keefe’s Working Hands.
Aquaphor works for me. Non-greasy. You can get it in small tubes to carry in your pocket.
If the O’Keefes doesn’t do it – which it probably will – try Eucerin. Use the pasty stuff in the tub, not in a tube, not in a pump bottle, use the pasty stuff in the tub with the red screw off lid.
Aquaphor
Petroleum jelly and latex gloves at night when you go to bed. Sounds weird but works.
Palmers cocoa butter cleared up my hands in a day or 2
Booda butter.
Gloves! The hot water and soap will fuck you up. Also hand lotion
If you’re stripping the natural oils from your skin, you need to replace them with something hydrating. To be honest, any rendered animal fat you have in the kitchen (schmaltz, tallow, duck fat, etc), with gloves over it will help, since animal fat will actually penetrate the skin better than a lot of non-animal-based lotions.
I also like lanolin-based lotion like Bag Balm (also an animal fat). If you go to a pharmacy, you can sometimes find pure lanolin, sold as nipple cream for nursing mothers, and that stuff will lubricate like nobody’s business. I see recommendations for O’Keeffe’s working hands and sleeping with cotton gloves on. That will also definitely do the trick, but if you don’t want to buy anything, animal fat will also work.
If you do want to buy things, I recommend purchasing touchscreen-compatible cotton gloves, so you can still use your phone or other touchscreens in bed. We have some and they’re super useful, since you don’t want to take the gloves off once you’re lotioned and gloved.
Aquafor traps in moisture BUT you have to have moisture for it to trap! Get a good healing lotion, like cerave, slather that on. Let it dry enough that you can open the aquafor, put that on. Then try to not touch anything at all for a few hours.
Zinc diaper rash cream/ointment!
Full length nitrile-coated “chemical resistant” gloves that go almost all the way to your shoulders. Showa 772 atlas I want to say? Though I bought similar, almost rebranded ones, that were blue from honeywell on amazon. The bonus is you can put those boys in HOT water and you’re damn near immune, and they still give you great grip on things (plus moderate protection from sharps/steel wool strands). Otherwise I had hands like yours, and all the lotions/skin care I tried over a few months couldn’t fix it
Over time the gloves develop tiny pinhole leaks near the fingertips which aren’t that big of an issue, they just make the inside of the gloves kinda wet (I always wore vinyl gloves on the inside just so my hands aren’t stuck touching dishwater) but it doesn’t really fill up or anything, just wicks some moisture a few inches up the palm. The pinhole leaks will come from abrasion from using steel wool or scrub pads on dishes, so know that the gloves won’t last you forever but it was about a month between changes if I was only doing dish at work.
My work provided the gloves the first time as a communal thing for dishwashers, but people would get them wet and ball them up at the end of the day and they got bad, quickly, so I bought my own. A fan that gets air down throughout the glove (even to the finger tips) goes a long way to keep them clean and free of odor; wedging the rim of the glove cuff in the guard on a small desk fan worked to keep the gloves fully open overnight. Then when you go to bed, they dry thoroughly and you don’t have to have anything on your hands while you sleep or remember to apply lotion before bed, etc.
Hopefully that’s some help, that would be my biggest tip to a dishwasher.
Personally Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand cream. This stuff is the absolute best for healing hands, skin, noses, basically anything dried out from the cold or water.
It’s easy to find and goes a long way.
That sucks dude. I’m so glad I have oily skin and never suffered from this in 20 years in kitchens. Unfortunately I do suffer from untreatable back acne. So there’s a trade off
Ouuuue I got thisssssss homie!
Chef for over 17 years, born with eczema + psoriasis. Buy cotton burn gloves from Amazon. Get a pack for like 20 quid. Totally worth it.
1.If your hands ever get extremely bad. Grab a bowl of bucket and fill with 4L + of luke warm water. Add a **cap full** of bleach. It will kill any bacteria growing on the skin/ just under. DAB dry / airdry.
So I repeat only use this step if hands are very bad and nothing seems to be working.
2. I try to avoid steroid cream whenever I can, as no cream is a permanent solution and your body gets use to steroids + can have a reaction without them if you’ve been using them for long. Buuuut > (Dermavate is by far the best out there and only use half the size of a pea on affected area if needed)
3. 2nd layer of cream… Eucerin cream is great stuff. Apply liberaly
4. 3rd layer lf cream ….Cover affected creamed area with petroleum jelly
5. If possible get someone to help you put on the gloves if you can. Leave them on for 4+ hours.
Rinse and repeat excluding step one
If anyone has any questions for me please ask away. I’ll answer everything when I can
Bunch of lotion in cotton gloves overnight. I’ve also used nitrile gloves when I had no cotton available.
Bag balm. Working hands is o.k. but not as good. Bag balm is used for cows, other applications. Look for it. Trade secret.
O’Keefe’s working hands and cotton gloves on overnight has been suggested. Raw aloe Vera will help as well
I second the O’Keeffe’s/Bag Balm suggestions, but I’ll add: drink more water. get up towards a gallon a day and you’ll notice a difference in your skin.