People today are living longer than they were a few centuries ago because of improved hygiene. But if you wash your hands and body too often, you run the risk of actually weakening your immune system. Exaggerating is never good.
Artists have to clean greasy hands a lot. And since the pandemic, we wash our hands even more than before.
In addition to being bad for the environment, many products are harmful to our skin as well.
When I have painted or made a collage, it is sufficient to wash my hands with green soap and water. Lately, I am using my stamps and ink pads a lot and as you probably know, stamp ink is difficult to remove with just water and soap.
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The best tip from my father
My father taught me a lot of things to do-it-myself in the house. When I was younger, I could do tiling, carpentry, welding, a little bit of electricity and a lot of other things.
He was marvellous when teaching me this. After showing me once, he let me do it myself while giving instructions. He died a long time ago, but I still miss him. Especially when something in the house is broken I have to think of him.
Dirty hands and coffee
Our coffee drinking during the breaks, while we were busying ourselves in the house, had a reason. It was not only to relax for a while, but it made sure we had coffee grounds.
Once we were finished, we headed for the kitchen and grabbed some used coffee grounds together with detergent. Before putting any water with it we would rub our hands thoroughly. And then rinse with hot water.
Most of the time it would be enough to do that once. It’s a really good method and very environmentally friendly, as you can imagine.
How to clean greasy hands thoroughly?
- Used coffee grounds;
- Dish detergent or liquid green soap. We buy our detergent in the organic shop in glass bottles we bring with us;
- A bit of coffee and detergent on your hands and thoroughly rub them;
- Cold or hot water to rinse it off, depending on how greasy your hands are.
Lots of the usual soaps and detergents have additions that are ruining your skin. On my health website, I wrote an article about soap that is helpful.
Related: Why do you have a Soap Allergy? What are Promising Solutions?
What if your hands are still dirty?
Sometimes your hands are really filthy and just coffee and detergent won’t do enough. In that case, pour some olive oil into the palm of a hand first and gently rub it in. After that, cold water won’t suffice naturally, so you’ll need hot water instead.
Related: Daily Art Journaling in December 2022
Oldfashioned methods
We can’t always be eco-friendly with a hobby. It is unavoidable to occasionally use plastic or chemical substances. But we can at least try our best, don’t you think?
Looking at how people did things 50 years ago, we can replace many environmentally unfriendly methods of today.
Do you have an old-fashioned tip that is helpful? Let me know in the comment box below.