Clean hands in the garden

Good idea :o)
Can the surgical gloves be recycled after use ?

I use my hands as nature intended with no gloves. Iv'e had Tetanus injections to prevent infections . Also I have to be careful about using gardening or surgical gloves as they can irritate my skin having suffered badly from Eczma when I was young.

I use surgical gloves as well I also wear them under my normal gloves as they help to keep the heat in on cold days,Grenvilla is correct in what he said they do irrate eczma But you can but latex free ones As I use those at work

What a great idea.

Good idea! And for sensitive folks available latex free as Donnah says and also Talc free for allergies!
Although keeping warm is not usually my problem, my hands sweat too much if I wear them for long!

I am much less hygenic in this matter. I rarely wear gloves but when I have to leave the garden I wash my hands in the rain butt whilst passing and dry them off on a dirty old towel kept for the purpose. I can then answere the telephone or wash them properly in the kitchen if it is lunchtime (then only because my wife insists!)

i dont use goves either. unless theres stingys involved.

but i do keep a clean pair by the back door and put them on when i have to change the washing.

I use a hand barrier that I use for mechanics. Its water based and just washes everything off with water and soap. I also put a bar of soap in a mesh bag made from the mesh bag that onions come in. I tie it in a knot at the top and thread a piece of string through then hang it off the outside garden tap. The soap is always there when and where I need it and the mesh of the bag also helps scrub off any ingrained dirt.

i like your soap plan Gilli.

Great tip for keeping nails clean as long as your nails have some length to them...scrape your nails down a bar of soap, thus filling them up with soap.....works for me...but I shall try the gloves especially as several local cats are using the garden as a toilet!!!!

I'm going to surmise her that those of us who do wear gloves have "gotten" something in the past from the soil. ??
I got it working in a florist caring for tropical plants.
The doctor called it "a creeping eruption" caused by a parasite in the soil and gave me an oral drug to take and that made me soooo sick!
I'd rather wear gloves that go through that again, and like Grenville says I keep my Tetanus up to date!
Gloves just seem a good option for me!

Gilli: May I take the opportunity to thank you so much for your tip on using barrier cream under my plastic gloves, a couple of months ago. It's fantastic! I always end up getting soil down even the tightest fitting gloves but my nails and cuticles are perfectly clean now I use barrier cream :-)

Glad to hear it Dawnsaunt. I'm glad it worked for you. :o)

Hi Gilli, it is BRILLIANT! Thanks again. In fact, my nails have never been so good ,I think the barrier cream may be nourishing them too, lol

Apologies for taking so long to responding.......
But I think it worthwhile adding that the gloves I use are latex-free, non-allergenic, powder-free and ambidextrous. They are not strictly surgical gloves since they are non-sterile, but they are very similar.

I use surgical gloves and love it!!

I used to work in social care and used to wearing them and feel very protected against yukkies.

i hate gloves like you but using cement ive got no choice realy.