5 Hand Creams That Professional House Cleaners Swear By

It’s a sad truth of housekeeping that even if you wear gloves, your hands will still wind up dry after a cleaning marathon. So we scoured Reddit and even called on a few of our favorite housekeeping experts for the inside scoop on the best hand-saving products to use during and after cleaning. From coconut oil to diaper cream, here’s what the pros say to use to keep your hands soft, smooth, and moisturized.

“I’ve looked for a great hand lotion forever and tried tons of different brands and the only one that works miracles for me is Trader Joe’s Ultra Moisturizing Hand Cream. It contains coconut oil, hemp oil, and shea butter, plus it’s free of parabens. It makes your hands feel super soft and keeps them moisturized for hours. And on top of everything else, it’s so affordable.” —Kadi Dulude, owner of Wizard of Homes

Buy it: Trader Joe’s Ultra Moisturizing Hand Cream, $10.44 on Amazon

“When you are constantly working with cleaning products that can be very harsh and strong on your skin, you need a moisturizer that works fast and doesn’t leave your hands oily afterwards. I only need a small amount of L’Occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream to get my skin feeling back to normal and it absorbs immediately into the skin without leaving a film or sticky residue. Also, I love its subtle scent; it’s paraben-free and consists of a combination of shea butter, almond, and coconut oil but absolutely no traces of oil residue.” —Mihalis (Michael) Dimopoulos, founder of Lazy Susans Cleaning Service

Buy it: L’Occitane Shea Hand Cream, $29

Per this popular Reddit thread asking for cleaning tips, user katgib13 swears that Zim’s Crack Creme will never let your dry hands out at the end of a tough cleaning session: “I use Zim’s Crack Creme spray lotion at night and regular lotion in-between jobs. The Zim’s is amazing. No more cracked, bleeding knuckles!”

Buy it: Zim’s Crack Creme, $8.47 on Amazon

“For all those little and painful cuts you get from overly dry hands and cleaning, I usually use my baby’s diaper rash cream. Just cover your hands in the cream and put on a pair of cotton gloves before you fall asleep and the next morning, your hands will look and feel brand new!” —Kadi Dulude, owner of Wizard of Homes

Buy it: Burt’s Bees Baby Diaper Rash Ointment, $5.22 at Amazon

According to several Reddit threads about the best moisturizers for curing “dish hands,” we discovered that coconut oil does not disappoint. “If it gets really bad put coconut oil on your hands before bed and sleep with socks on your hands so it really soaks in,” says a commenter in this thread devoted to dishwashers seeking good lotions for dry hands. And the top-rated recommendation in this Kitchen Confidential thread asking industry insiders for help dealing with dry hands is from user bwave1 who says: “Simple, coconut oil.”

Buy it: ArtNaturals Coconut Oil, $9.95 on Amazon

“While this isn’t a lotion, this product does the trick for a lot of us with dry hands after cleaning: Dawn dishwashing soap, because it’s very gentle on hands. Dish soap in general is PH neutral (not acidic like other cleaners) so it’s great for granite and other stone countertops, pet bowls, obviously the dishes we eat out of—but it’s also very good and soft on hands.” —Michael Silva-Nash, Executive Vice President of Molly Maid of Greater Little Rock and NW Arkansas