My hands looked like sandpaper by February. Between the cold air and washing them a dozen times a day, the skin on my knuckles cracked and every wash stung. I kept washing anyway, and I kept making it worse.

The problem wasn’t the washing. It was everything around it.

Wash smarter, not less

1. Use lukewarm water, not hot. Hot water strips the oils your skin is already low on.
2. Switch to a moisturizing or cream-based soap. Standard soap is drying enough on healthy hands.
3. Pat dry, don’t rub. Rubbing a rough towel over cracked skin just shreds it more.
4. Put lotion on while your hands are still slightly damp. It traps the water in instead of evaporating away.

The part people skip

• Moisturize every single time. Not once in the morning. After every wash, or the cracks never get a chance to heal.
• At night, use a thick cream or ointment and wear cotton gloves to bed. It feels ridiculous but it works better than anything else.
• If the cracks are deep or bleeding, that’s beyond dry skin. See a doctor, because it can turn into an infection.

Within a couple of weeks my hands stopped cracking and the stinging went away. It turns out handwashing and soft skin aren’t actually enemies, you just have to stop washing with fire.