Hand-Washing Bliss

Teachers, parents and others who work with children, need to wash their hands many, many times every day. In the winter, this can mean brittle, dry skin. Commercial soaps have skin-softening ingredients extracted to sell as moisturizer, so they can be hard on your hands. Hand-sanitizing gels are full of alcohol, so they are even worse. Nevertheless, hand-washing can still be a pleasant experience! With warm-water and good soap, washing your hands before each activity and after every mess can actually be enjoyable.
My favorite soap is handmade by Blue Moon Soap Company. All their soaps are made with ingredients like olive oil, rice bran oil and cocoa butter, all known to soothe and moisturize skin. Scents like Mist, Nutty Pear and Mint Chocolate make you look forward to washing your hands. Knowing all their products are made in small-batches packed with animal-free, food-grade ingredients including herbs from their garden means not worrying about the trade-offs of staying squeaky clean.
Blue Moon's soaps and other products are available at a few stores, through their website, and at craft shows and fairs in various places around Texas.
Also, right now Blue Moon is holding a special promotion for the new year. Think of a soap scent you'd like to try. Then send your suggestion using the link on their home page. If you submit the suggestion they decide to make, you will receive 3 bars of the soap you imagined.

Give your hands a break. Ditch the detergents and alcohols for moisturizing, smells-so-good-you-want-to-taste-them, handmade soaps and hand-washing will become an experience you can happily anticipate.

Also check out tips and tools for teaching students about hand-washing.

Images from Blue Moon Soap.