Working Hands: A Cautionary Portrait

So, what I’m saying is… Palmolive probably isn’t going to be calling me to be a hand-model any time soon. Unless I’m the grizzly “before” picture.

For a slight indication as to why my skin is the color and texture of plastic, read this post, and then look at this picture…

That was, what, twenty-six years ago maybe? And I still operate in the same way. Things work better if you get your hands dirty, but sometimes the consequence of that is that the caustic cement in mortar will burn all your hand-skin off.

Ah, the price of DIY.

Do as I say and not as I do… wear gloves people.

16 Responses

  1. Ahhh… I’m the same way. Some things you just need to feel with your bare hands; although, I do try to wear gloves most of the time, being on a farm and all. I have found a good cream though that works on rough hands, even my hubby’s whose hands are really rough, cause he rarely wears gloves. Anyway, it’s called Heel Rescue, and I get it at Walmart. It’s for feet, but says it works great on knees and elbows too, so in my mind, that’s a body lotion.

  2. You remind me so much of myself, with your lack of PPE. A little while back you wrote a post about how you’re going to start wearing safety glasses because you came thisclose to losing an eye, and I wanted you to know that I thought of that during my last project that involved a chop saw, and wore safety glasses. True story.

    Oh, and my hands look the same as yours. http://hiphousegirl.wordpress.com/2009/10/20/good-advice/

  3. Wait a sec. Hands aren’t supposed to look like that? In my first house, I refinished the wood floor by myself. Got it all sanded down. Applied the stain to all 750SF. Then decided it was too dark. So I thought, what lightens things? Bleach! And I grabbed a sponge and the gallon of bleach and no gloves. Let’s just say that 1- bleach doesn’t lighten stain and 2- bleach on raw skin is just asking for trouble. Painful, bleeding, open wounds trouble.

  4. Ladies, we should start a support group for hands. “Women whose hands are cracking off.” I just tried to make an acronym out of that and look what it spells, ironically : WWHACO

    Whacko.

    Point taken, universe.

  5. It’s such a relief that I’m not the only girl with messed up hands. We just finished weeks of masonry work and my hands feel like 50 grit sandpaper. I use shea butter foot cream from bath and body to make my hands a little more presentable for my office job.

  6. Oh my god. Ladies, seriously? I wear gloves not because I’m getting ready for a tea party but because they make me feel bionic. I can pick up anything and pull as hard as I want to and fall onto piles of nails without having to stop for any time wasting first aid. And not to sound like a product placement (because I’m not), but Carhatt’s Women’s Utility glove is awesome. It has gel palms and a stretchy top so that the dexterity is so good I forget I’m wearing them until my fingers don’t register on my iPhone. And also, repeat after me, NITRILE gloves. They’re disposable so you can just ditch them after you work on something foul (or permanently disfiguring), but they give you tree frog grip. And I’ve successfully washing machine-d mine several times.

    Of course, I still have man hands, just in the over-muscled dangerously short fingernails variety.

  7. This brings back fond memories of the zombie manicure I got while refinishing our upstairs floors. I must say, Bath & Body Works ‘Look Ma New Hands’ works wonders for dry yucky hands! I use it every night before bed.

  8. Wow, thanks ladies! I read this last night & today went to Target for the Gold Bond – it is awesome! My hands feel so much better after just one application.

  9. This is why I love the internet, especially DIY & gardening blogs. It is so nice to know that hands that look like this DO exist on someone besides just me. Thank you ladies! And I’ve gotten to the point where I consider it sort of a badge of honor – when they look like that, it means I’ve worked hard.

  10. Hi. I am wondering if you might be interested in doing a website link swap? I notice your blog: articles2sale.com and my blog are based around the same subject. I’d love to switch links or possibly guest author a write-up for you. Here is my personal e-mail: contact7@articles2sale.com. Please contact me if you’re even remotely interested. Thanks for your time.

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