remember the Palmolive dishwashing liquid commercial?
the one that says "mild on your hands while you do the dishes". With Madge the manicurist.
this is it in case anyone has forgotten.
Now hear my version:
I've been using Palmolive for over 30 years, not because of the advertisement, just because it does a good job on the dishes and stays sudsy. Believing all that time that the dermatitis, cracked and painful skin, and weak breaking fingernails were my ownfault heritage. Just like my mother's dry skin.
Recently, less than a month ago, I noticed Palmolive was a bit more expensive than usual and a rival dishwashing liquid was on special for only $3.50 for 900ml. Palmolive is down to 750ml a bottle.
In the less-than-a-month that I've been using Morning Fresh (lemon"flavour") dishwashing liquid, the dermatitis has almost completely cleared up, there is no cracked, painful skin at the corners of my nails and the nails themselves are beginning to grow.
I'm never buying Palmolive again.
Now hear my version:
I've been using Palmolive for over 30 years, not because of the advertisement, just because it does a good job on the dishes and stays sudsy. Believing all that time that the dermatitis, cracked and painful skin, and weak breaking fingernails were my own
Recently, less than a month ago, I noticed Palmolive was a bit more expensive than usual and a rival dishwashing liquid was on special for only $3.50 for 900ml. Palmolive is down to 750ml a bottle.
In the less-than-a-month that I've been using Morning Fresh (lemon"flavour") dishwashing liquid, the dermatitis has almost completely cleared up, there is no cracked, painful skin at the corners of my nails and the nails themselves are beginning to grow.
I'm never buying Palmolive again.
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Make your own soap or buy some from a soaper that makes soap from scratch. This solved my skin problem almost totally. Only after excessive dish washing (like Christmas time) are my fingers a bit damaged.
ReplyDeleteUglemor; I don't have the space and $$ to buy ingredients to make my own soap. I'm happy enough to have discovered a dish detergent that doesn't ruin my hands.
DeleteOf course I'm happy that you found out that the change of dish detergent does help :) I have for a long time wondered that we could be led to believe, that a detergent able to remove all fat from plates and pots would not do the same to our skin.
DeleteWell, I make soap from "kitchen ingredients" Olive oil, lard, lye (NaOH -- Drain cleaner - pure), sunflower and and canola oil. I use no fancy colours or smells. The only thing you'd have to buy would be a good weigth (if you do not already have one). It's not the rocket science some soapers would have us believe it is, but a housemaking skill, our ancestors all mastered. This lady says a lot of what I have to say about soaping, except for one thing. Just do it -- it's not more difficult than baking a cake, but a bit more caution is needed as lye can be dangerous. I'm sorry that I do not live near you, then I'd eihter give you some of my soap, or teach you how to make your own. But I live in Denmark :(
Wow - you waited this long to change dish washing liquids? You are certainly brand loyal. I've never used Palmolive so I can't comment on that particular brand and currently I use all natural cleaning products (in the USA the brand is Mrs. Meyers) plus I use rubber gloves when washing dishes.
ReplyDeleteGrace; not loyal exactly, just too lazy to try something different when the current one is always cheap enough and does a great job. Habit rather than loyalty. I can't wear rubber gloves, most are too big and I can't feel what I'm doing when scrubbing into the corners of things, plus there's a mild latex reaction, mostly itching.
DeleteWe use Morning Fresh. And I wear gloves. I am so glad that you have found a solution to your hand woes.
ReplyDeleteElephant's Child; I found rubber gloves make my hands itch and I can't really feel what I'm doing with them on. I'm glad I switched to Morning Fresh.
DeleteDo you think Madge has been lying all this time?
ReplyDeletefishducky; not at all. I think Palmolive is probably fine for those who don't have dry, sensitive skin. and dishwashers.
DeleteWhat a bummer. Madge lead us all astray. So glad you were able to solve the mystery. It usually is something simple isn't it?
ReplyDeleteArkansas Patti; I'm not blaming Madge, the product is probably okay for millions of women, just not me. it does a great job of cleaning though.
DeleteI love it when a mystery is solved. :)
ReplyDeleteI bring my own hand soap to work because the cheap one the cleaners supply absolutely ruins my hands. :/ Luckily the staff toilet requires a key so I am not supplying soap to the great unwashed in general.
I buy the Aldi antibacterial foaming soap and I've put it into a very fancy container I got from Bath and Body Works in the USA back in 2013. It is cobalt blue, absolutely gorgeous, and says the flavour is sparkling snow. Which nobody knows is actually passionfruit and guava from Aldi. :)
I don't know what sparkling snow smells like but I don't think the original soap smelled anything like what sparkling snow would smell like.
In the week before Christmas I ran out of my soap and while I had the refill bottle there, I just didn't have a spare moment to refill it, so I ended up using the terrible soap and both my middle finger knuckles are all cracked, red and sore. Never again! If my soap is not there, I will go without soap entirely.
Snoskred; I don't have a problem with most hand washing soaps apart from not liking the scent of several. It's only the dishwashing liquid I needed to change.
DeleteRemember well that Advertising though we don't see it anymore on the TV, but then again nothing of great interest on the TV.
ReplyDeleteWe use various different products. Seems I'm allergic to gloves :) husband and dishwasher my saviour.
Margaret-whiteangel; I have a problem with gloves too and very rarely wear them because of the resulting itching.
DeleteWe used to always use Palmolive but I know we don't now. But wow, who would have thought that it could have affected you so much. Truly amazing.
ReplyDeleteAndrew; I didn't know all that time until I used the different product and my hands improved so much.
DeleteI buy the cheap $2.00 Earth Choice, 1 litre. It jumped up in price last year from $1.99 to $2.00!! I've been using the same brand for years now.
ReplyDeleteIt does the job I need it to do, and causes no irritation to my hands.
Yes...I remember that old Palmolive ad.
Lee; I haven't tried that one but may in the future.
DeleteThe only time i've used Palmolive is if that's what is in the home where i'm working -- we use Dawn and my hands look okay considering the amount of chemicals they are exposed to at work.
ReplyDeletemessymimi; good to know that Dawn is another product I may be able to try one day. I'm not sure we get it here in Australia though.
DeleteWell, darn! You mean Madge LIED to us???
ReplyDeleteI've used Palmolive a time or two, but most of the time I stick with Dawn. Dumb reason? I love that Dawn is used to clean the oil off of the poor animals after oil spills coat them in that nasty gooey black stuff. (Um, not that our dishes are covered in nasty gooey black stuff... :) )
Happy New Year! (Almost!)
Susan; no, no. She didn't lie. Palmolive is perfectly fine for zillions of women who hand wash their dishes. Just not me and maybe a few others. I just didn't realise it all these years, thinking I had dry cracked hands because my mother had the same.
DeleteI really dislike seeing poor animals being covered in oils and having to get washed. I think shipping companies need to be more careful. Then there's those people, let's call them idiots, who use the ocean as a dumping ground for their waste, toxic or oils or whatever.
I remember Madge! Maybe you have an allergy to palm oil or olive oil? I'm guessing that's where the name of Palmolive comes from, no research here on their ingredients.
ReplyDeleteLike Susan above, I use DAWN, and don't have a problem. Plus it washes baby animals after an oil spill, according to their advertising wizards with the baby duck commercial. Anyhoo... when I go to casinos, and wash my hands several times, I get dry, cracked skin on my hands from the soap. I guess my point is that oily baby animals shouldn't be washed at the casino!
Val; yes, Palmolive was originally a mix of palm oils and olive oils, I'm not sure what's in the product now. Take a tube of hand cream to the casino with you to use right after hand washing, it might help.
DeleteI would never have thought of that. My mom always washed the dishes before they went in the dishwasher, she was convinced the dishwasher only sanitized dishes now I realize why she wore golves, great that your issue is clearing up, plus you save a little money.
ReplyDeletejoeh; I will never understand people who wash dishes thoroughly then put them in the dishwasher. it doesn't sterilise any better than proper hand washing in hot water. I always rinse food remains off the dishes before hand washing them, then drying right away and putting everything back in the cupboard. I wash in water as hot as my hands can take and no one ever got sick from my kitchen, so that's good enough for me. Gloves make my hands itch.
DeleteWow! Glad you solved a mystery you didn't know you had.
ReplyDeleteKathy G; all this time I thought my skin problem was inherited.
DeleteThat was a lucky breakthrough; I'm glad you found the source of the problem even if you weren't actually trying! I do remember those ads. That seems like a long time ago. Probably because it was. lol
ReplyDeletejenny_o; it was a lifetime ago, or it seems that long. I'm glad I found the source too.
DeleteMadge would not be surprised that your hands are doing better.
ReplyDeleteFor heavens sake. My hands are dry and splitting in the corners of the nails and my nails are horrible. I use Dawn and yes it is great at handling grease however...could it be....it is damaging my skin. I'd better look at what else is on the market. And no, I have no desire to make my own soap. Sounds way to much like cooking to me. Thanks for giving me something to think about.
ReplyDeleteLOL we had a different Madge in Canada! I use a Greenworks liquid, environmentally safe and cheap through a chain store. Good foam and no effect on my ultra-sensitive hands. Glad you found out about this after all that suffering!
ReplyDeleteXO
WWW
Just curious, did you get brown lines on your cuticles or splinter hemorages in your nails from Palmolive too? I gave been freaking out thinking I had an infection. Switched to Dawn and after one day my hands seem normal and soft again. I read that the active ingredient in most antibacterial soaps is Triclosan and it causes eczema.
ReplyDelete