I don't know if this will work or not, but several days ago there was a thread on using vinegar as a soak for cracked and dry feet, so I'm thinking why not for the hands? use a search as "vinegar " and hopefully you can read all the results.

I have alway's used Mary Kay Extra Emollient cream on my feet and hands when they get dry.
I use only cotton socks and gloves. I would never use med gloves! They do not breath and may be part of your problem.

I use the liquid bandage on my hand cracks. It burns going on but protects. If I put a couple of layers on, it will last all day. Then I use one of the Aveeno creams--the extra moisturizing (dark blue top) works extremely well. There is also a product called \Quilters Glove that works very well.

These are all good recommendations. But there is another factor to consider. Your fingers and nails are dry and brittle because of the dry climate, but also because you don't have enough hydration inside your body!! Drink at least 4 glasses of pure water every day - and up to 6 or 8 if possible. In a week you will notice the difference in your fingers and nails!

As others have suggested, drinking more liquids should help. Also using a humidifier to add more moisture to your sewing room should make a difference. I haven't tried this on my hands but using a paraffin dip after creaming your hands well will make the dryness feel better.

I had to use Vanicream when I had a stem cell transplant. I was not able to use anything that had perfume in it. It kind of feels like you're putting Crisco on, but it works
Here's the web site: www.psico.com or 1-800-325-8232.
Hope that helps.

Whatever product you use, hydrate your hands before applying it. Wash them with mild soap, gently pat with a towel but not to the point of totally dry. Then apply the product, it will lock in the moisture

Wow, there are lots of products out there!

I used to have cracks at the corners of my nails, too, but now I use pure glycerin from Walmart. Dr. Oz said that glycerin should be the first ingredient in skin lotion. This is least expensive product I've ever used...nice! It is 6 oz. for $2.99 and lasts a long time. I put one drop in my palm and add an equal amount of water. It is enough to put on my hands and face each night before I go to bed. No need to wear gloves. It is not greasy. It is in the pharmacy section. You may need to ask for help finding it. I guarantee you will like it. I had no cracks this past winter, and I usually wore three or four bandaids at one time. You do not need to reapply during the day as it really goes into the skin and does not wash off. I highly recommend this. I used this all winter and only used 1/3 of the bottle.

Thanks for the reminder! It does work! I just drank my first glass of water, with 7 more before I go to bed

First, make certain that you do not have psoriasis as it can behave exactly as you describe, and you may need prescription medication. I also get dry hands from the fabric and cough from the fabric dust. To help, I purchased a True Hepa air filter from Home Depot. Have had an enormous improvement. I slather on moisturizer called "Identity, Organic Hand & Body Massage Lotion". It has helped. Good luck and check out the psoriaisis, my DH has it on his hands.

WOW! Did not imagine such a rapid and huge response. I will start with drinking more water. Notice theat on weekends when not at work where I'm constanctly drinking, my hands are worse. So that's part one. Part two. Will try the glycerin. Inexpensive and don't have to worry about reactions. Will bookmark this section to check on other products after I get this under control. Thanks again everyone.

I use "Aloe Vera" lotions, etc. from The Body Shop. Very little smell, and their products work great! I have been a fan of theirs for years! (am not associated with them)
I also use coconut oil, especially at night.
Hope you find relief soon! :)

The best thing to use is 100% Shea butter. You can go online and find small companies selling it. Actually, most of those companies are black women owned, they import the shea nut, it's a HUGE, bigger than a basketball, nut from Africa and then they divide it into small containers and sell it that way. You can get either refined or not, refined will just be a little whiter. It's what my girlfriends and I use for our heels, it does an amazing job. My sister is a nurse and her hands were cracked really bad from all the washing, I sent her this, found someone selling it at a craft show, she has spent big bucks on other creams and this cured her, now she's a convert for life. It must be 100% though.

My hand are always dry in the winter and I use Neutrogena hand cream . It is fragrance-free and works for me.

I too use Eucerin creme. There is a lotion, but it is not the same. The generic from Walmart works wonders. Had sebhorrea on my face in HS. Prescribed Eucerin. Cleared up! Best for sunburn and dry itchy skin. Four years later met my new husbands aunt that worked for a dermotologist. She said they always prescribe Eucerin for these conditions. I still after 30 years use it to clean off makeup and then a thin layer after washing. Best moisturizer around. I never have the dry itchy red face anymore. Always use it on my hands before sewing. Does not mess up fabric as it is a creme and you rub into into your hands. No odor, no greasiness. After washing my hands, and after using cleaners, I use the Eucerin and my hands are soft again. Helped my grandson with his excema too. I put it on before bed in winter and then a pair of socks. Softer feet in the morning! My husband too has bouts of excema and will only use Eucerin. He doesn't need anything else as it controls the redness and dry itchies.

It sounds like you have a form of eczema called chronic hand dermatitis.
I order "Aveeno Advanced Care Cream" from drugstore.com - it must say Advanced Care or it doesn't have the necessary ceramides. It isn't available
in my local pharmacies - they only carry the regular Aveeno moisturizing lotion.Using this in the AM and the PM with gloves I heal fairly well and can abandon the bandaids.
It may not be the sewing that is irritating your hands. I had to change to
Green Mountain Soap for my shampoo before I really healed. You might need
to see a good dermatologist for advice. I assume you use gloves for dish
washing, etc.
Good luck - Judy

Did you know that you can close the cracks in your finger tips with crazy glue. Stops the pain instantly and protects the crack while..... it heals. My horse vet told me about this years ago and I have done it since. You need to be careful with the glue so you don't glue your fingers together - lol.....ask me how I know.

Neutrogena hand cream - used by Norwegian fisherman. Miracle in a tube, available at any drugstore.

Burts Bees makes a hand cream - It feels so good on dry hands and it doesn't take much. Don't remember the cost, and it will last for quite awhile.

I have seen lotions in LQS but haven't asked about them. If you have a LQS near you, maybe you could check there.

I feel your pain! I use Penetone protective cream 311. It contains lanolin, skin conditioners and skin protectants. The company address is Penetone Corporation 700 Gotham Parkway, Carlstadt, NJ 07072. I buy it at a nearby ag store - it doesn't seem to be widely available. Well worth tracking down. Also, taking vit.E and fish oil daily helps me greatly. Hope you find relief soon. God bless.

I have the same problem with my fingers cracking open and bleeding.
I got a bottle of good quality ZINK capsules from the health store and my fingers haven't cracked open for a couple of weeks now.

I have always used Neutrogena & they have an unscented & Sally Hansen cuticle cream- Apricot extract. I worked a in florist for 30 years & you talk about fingers cracking. My doctor told me to use super glue & pull the splits together & they will heal & the glue falls off a few days later. It really works good. Just don't glue your fingers together.

I second the St Ives . inexpensive and works really well.

When I lived in the mountains of NC, the cold was hard on my friend's hands. She even resorted to using Super Glue to glue the cracks together until she started taking extra zinc supplements. Her hands healed right up. Maybe consider doing this. Good luck.

Try a light coating of vaseline on your hands at night, put on a pair of lightweight gloves (or socks). After a couple of treatments you will have smooth hands. This works for feet, too. Also, the cost is minimal for vaseline.

Jam, I do have hand dermatitis. When I worked at elem school librarian...dust dust dust...I had to go to derm to get medicine...even put me on anitbiotics, too. Took a week off from work! He said w/my hobby and career...no way to cure but only manage. Told me to use hand CREAMS not lotions and worked for awhile.

Looked up Psoriasis and may have it. Itchy patches on legs started a month ago. Have to travel out of state in June so will go back to the doc when I retun and show him my hands AND legs. Making a consiioius (sp) effert today to drink more water and using more cream.

And yes knew about the super glue! I have a tube at home and at work. Helps the split but not the cause. I know when the skin splits cuze it hurts. Bummer.

Mom's wound nurse gave her "Once a Day Moisturizing Body Cream" by Coloplast that does wonders on her extreemly dry skin on her legs. I've started to use it too. First ingredient is glycerine!

Thanks againg to everyone who has responded. Didn't realize there were so many of us out there!

Hi Julie! I lived in NM for years! I have the same problem and have had since I was a kid. At times, it seems to clear up on it's own, but only for a short time. I don't touch water unless I am bathing or washing my hands. All other times, I wear gloves. I have been visiting a dermatologist for years for other issues and she suggested an allergy test for chemicals. Come to find out the only one that I am allergic to is a specific formaldehyde....lo and behold, it is the formaldehyde that is on fabric when it gets shipped. I now wash all my fabric twice in hot water, and dry before I use it at all.

I do still suffer from dry cracked hands (the whole bandaid thing and all) but not as often and mainly when I am handling fabric that hasn't been washed yet....like in the LQS or when I am getting it ready to launder.

Good luck!
Where in NM are you at?

No matter what cream or lotion you use you have to make sure that you drink enough water.
Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.

Are you sure you are not allergic to the dye in fabric? Most fabric has formaldehyde in it which causes lots of problems.

http://www.sweenstore.com/sweencream.html

Try the link above and check it out. I use this for all sorts of sore skin and it works wonders. Was recommended by a nurse years ago and I keep it on hand all the time. It only takes a little dab and lasts a long time, non greasy, and has a clean odor... Used in hospitals for bed sores, etc. Good luck on finding something that works. We want you to be able to sew.

I don't like to have lotion on my hands when I'm sewing, afraid it might stain. I do use Curel Rich Defense, safe for sensitive skin all the rest of the time. It is fragrance free. It used to come in blue bottle, they have new bottle now. It helps!

Such WONDERFUL suggestions !!

I blamed fabric for my dry hands last winter, but it was the blue Dawn dishwashing liquid! It takes grease away really well, including out of your skin! Got pink Dawn with moisturizers and things improved gradually over a month.

use baking soda instead of soap to gently wash hands then use regular olive oil that you buy for cooking. It sounds greasy. It is a little at first but it soaks in quick.

It almost sounds like you are allergic to something in the hand cream. I love Neutrogena cream. The kind in a tube. It is really thick. I hate how it feels so I only use it at night. The other thing that I find works really well is A & D diaper rash ointment. Very greasy. Put it on at night with cotton gloves. Or see a dermatologist.

Just noticed there has been over 2200 views to this topic. I just home some of these suggestion are help other people whethere they are quilter/sewers or not. Thank you to EVERYONE who posted a suggestion or two. All of us who are DRY appeciate your help.

OK, here's another one.
Pure sweet almond oil. Should be used in the evening before going to bed and if neccesary in the morning as well. If I want to sew soon after applying it, I was my hands with a mild soap (just for a moment).
The oil is (over here) available at health (nature) stores.

I was going to recommend this. Aquaphor is the correct spelling. When my DH got a tattoo, the guy there recommended it for healing the tattoo. DH never got a scab or anything with that stuff. It's thick like Vaseline, but with other stuff in it, and no scent, comes in a jar. Works like a charm!!

Hydrocortizone helps heal. I use it for skin allergies. usually works over night.