Hand Washing Away From Home

Hand washing away from home is a dilemma that I think everyone making the switch to natural products runs into at some point.  Do you skip washing your hands?  Use whatever's in the bathroom, even though you know the ingredients are less than ideal?  Carry your own soap?  Use a healthy hand sanitizer instead?

Honestly, this isn't something I've given a lot of thought to before.  I do carry a natural hand sanitizer, but there are times when I just want to go the more traditional soap and water route.  Usually I'll opt for whatever soap is there and figure it isn't going to have much of an impact since I use clean products for everything else.

Recently though, I noticed the beginning of a rash on one of my hands and I've traced it back to the soap in the public washrooms at my work.  At first it was just a few small red bumps on my hand and thought it was bug bites of some kind, but I've noticed a couple more bumps popping up literally within five minutes of washing my hands there. 

Unfortunately it's not the kind of bathrooms where I'd be able to just leave a bottle of soap, but obviously something needs to change there.  So, I'm wondering...if you're someone who avoids certain ingredients or sticks to more natural products, what do you do about dilemmas like washing your hands when you're out and about and away from home?  I'd love to hear your thoughts!


         

4 comments

  1. I have allergies. I'm lucky that being the only female in my office I have my own bathroom so I bring my own soap and can leave it there. Alternatively I use hand wipes or carry the small bottle of Dr Bronner

    ReplyDelete
  2. Geez! A rash? I guess that's more than enough reason to stop using it! Like sugarpuffish above, I carry a small bottle of Dr. Bronner's with me.

    I actually did a quick post about it a while back when I first started carrying it with me-
    http://turbyandjohn.com/2010/09/06/dr-bronners-has-changed-my-feelings-toward-public-restrooms/

    ReplyDelete
  3. I understand what you mean, I worked in a hospital until recently and my skin is very sensitive. As you can imagine what they had on offer pretty much stripped the skin, my hands were in a terrible mess. I used to take in my own alternative hand soap and left it in my locker... Dr Bronner (he must be popular!) I also carried natural hand sanitiser, but I've found a better one since then - Quash, recommended by Sugarpuffish above. Plus I kept natural wipes and hand cream with me too :) xox

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've been lucky enough to not react before, but I probably should have done this a long time ago anyways. I already feel like I carry an arsenal of natural goodies - sanitizer, lotion, makeup...what's one more product! I'm definitely going to start carrying a small bottle of soap too...maybe even Dr. Bronners like you three :)

    ReplyDelete