It’s a perennial problem: you spend all day digging in the garden and end up with deeply ingrained dirt as well as painfully dry or cracked hands.

So, what's the best way of looking after gardeners’ hands to get them clean without further damaging skin? We've got some great tips for a good clean-up after a day spent digging and weeding, whatever your age...

Top tips for looking after gardeners' hands

• Prepare! Keep your hands in good condition so they can cope with what gardening throws at them by moisturising regularly and using unfragranced products. 

• Moisturise before and after every gardening session - and last thing at night!

• Use an oil-based balm rather than a lighter, water-based cream to really soften and protect dry, cracked skin. Ointments (also known as balms or salves) are more deeply protective and hydrating than creams or lotions, so apply generously to freshly washed hands, especially at night!

• Wear gloves. And even better, apply salve before you put on your gloves!

• Soak hands in a basin of warm water to loosen embedded grime - then moisturise immediately afterwards!

• Scrub your hands with a homemade sugar scrub (sugar, gentle foaming wash and a little bit of oil will do it) before washing.

• Use a skin-kind ph-neutral foaming wash, rather than a high-alkaline household soap which is likely to strip the natural oils from the skin, further damaging its protective barrier.

• Keep water warm - not cold or hot, as either extreme can cause damage to the skin’s top layer and allow natural oils to be washed away, leading to irritation and dehydration.

• Dry with a clean soft paper towel; don’t rub if hands are sore or cracked, and leave skin very slightly damp.

• Moisturise barely-dry hands immediately afterwards with an oil-based balm.