Gardeners Hand Scrub

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

fresh olive branch and bath salt

The beginning of the gardening season means not only lots of work, fresh produce and time spent in the outdoors, but also rough hands. Digging in the dirt without gloves, working with machinery, and using various tools can leave hands grimy, dirty, scratched, cracked and rough. This homemade, oil-based salt scrub will clean hands, cut through grease and promote healing. It was formulated by combining recipes and suggestions from several different sources.

Mix the ingredients thoroughly and store in a glass jar with a lid. A wide mouth canning jar works well, because it’s easy to reach into the jar and pull out a dab of scrub.

1 cup Olive Oil
½ cup Epsom salts
½ cup Rock Salt
½ cup Sea Salt
10 drops each Eucalyptus oil and Tea Tree oil

The Eucalyptus and Tea Tree oil add a bit of medicinal quality to the scrub. They provide antibacterial and anti-fungal qualities while soothing and healing rough or injured garden hands. This scrub is also good on feet and knees.

To use, wet your hands and scoop out about 1 teaspoon of the scrub. Gently rub all over hands then keep scrubbing while rinsing under warm water. Work in between fingers (or toes) and around nails get out dirt and grease. A little more may be needed on rough heels. When finished pull thick clean cotton socks or gloves over hands and/or feet. The warmth created will help the oils penetrate the skin leaving it smooth and rejuvenated.

If you take care of your hands, they take care of you, working hard in the garden!

Creative Commons License photo credit: i.ehow.uk



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