UKH

I get bad eczema flare-ups on my hands so I have to use gloves for washing up.  Ordinary washing-up gloves generally aren't suitable, either because they're flock-lined - which exacerbates my eczema - of because they're made of latex, which I'm allergic to.  I have for a number of years been using a brand of washing up gloves sold by Lakeland which worked well for me, but they seem to have been discontinued (I have contacted Lakeland to ask why but they haven't bothered to reply).

Looking at other alternatives on the market, even ones supposed to be for people with sensitive skin seem to suffer from one or other of the drawbacks above - or else they aren't available in size large, as if only dainty-handed ladies ever suffer from sensitive skin.

I use nitrile gloves when working on the bike/motorbike, or doing other jobs which would get the hands grubby, but they aren't long enough at the wrist for washing up (or washing the car, which was the usual fate of washing up gloves which had started to harden up and thus become not dextrous enough for washing up).

Are there any other UKC users with similar sensitive skin issues who have found a product that does the job for them?

I use something called a “dishwasher” 😀

Joking aside I’ll be interested in any responses, I’ve got large hands and am always struggling to find gloves that fit.

Just found these which may suit ?

https://www.screwfix.com/p/showa-731-biodegradable-chemical-gauntlet-green-...

My wife gets bad eczema and we usually use a dishwasher, otherwise when not possible, I become the dishwasher.

Credit to the OP as my wife has no motivation to fix this inconvenience .

We have the exact same issue when it comes to grass cutting, changing the hoover bag and taking the bins out (I'm pretty sure the last one is all excuses though). 

Edit. Spelt inconvenience as incontinence. Wonderful autocorrect there.

How about these?

Nitrile, available without flock lining

https://www.gloves.co.uk/polyco-nitri-tech-iii-chemical-resistant-gloves.ht...

Not knowledgeable about eczema issues but a couple of suggestion possibilities.

Try a different washing up liquid.

When hand washing up, I use a long handled brush, hardly any  need to get hands wet, just fingers of one hand after levering plate or whatever out of water with brush.

Unfortunately bad eczema means all detergents need to be avoided. They damage the barrier function of the skin, and eczema is a problem with the barrier function of the skin anyway.

Exactly this.

Thanks for the gloves.co.uk link, I may well try a pair of those.  They appear to be pretty sturdy, unlike the surgical/food prep type that I usually use for grubby jobs, and which are sold is "disposable".  I don't want to throw away my washing-up gloves every evening!  (I'm pretty sure I've looked on that web site before, actually, but for some unaccountable reason it never occurred to me to look in the "agricultural gloves" category - I like to think that my hand dishwashing is rather more refined than "agricultural".)

We do have a dishwasher but there are certain items that we use on a daily basis that we prefer to wash by hand.  For example:

• table knives, which seem to develop corrosion spots after a while when dishwashered (and the vintage bone-handled ones shed their handles as the glue starts to fail);
• stemware, which starts to go cloudy after a while no matter what the dishwasher manunfacturer says about their "glass safe" programme;
• wooden and plastic/silicone utensils.

We also don't dishwash pots & pans (that's largely by diktat from SWMBO, though I'm sure she has her reasons for it).

I have the same problem, and I use silk liner gloves under regular washing up gloves. It's a bit of a faff but it works.

Have a look at lab chem‑resistant gauntlet gloves as well. Many of them go nearly to one's elbow, and latex‑free with a cotton liner are available.

They can be pretty sturdy indeed – I am still using a pair I bought a decade ago (not for any lab work, of course!)

You get long cuffed versions of nitrile gloves, the disposable sort so no flocking. Ansell Touchntuff for example come in a long length option.

Hi Martin, in classic online forum style, I will now give you advice you didn't ask for...

I have eczema which almost always flares up on my hands and inside of the elbow these days.

I don't use gloves (I hated the rubber ones) but do use Surcare washing up liquid. It doesn't irritate my eczema but I appreciate everyone's different!

I also predominantly stick to very plain soap. If I remember or if someone else is going, I usually get this unscented Marseille soap from France.

If I use Fairy concentrated or similar, or if I use antibacterial soap or hand gel (a nightmare during COVID as it was everywhere!) then my eczema will flare up.

I'm sure you've tried all this already so I've prob wasted time posting it, but just in case

When I last needed washing up gloves I happened to be in B&Q and grabbed some SITE KF500 chemical resistant nitrile gloves from the PPE section. 

Maybe these will do the trick?

So far they haven't disintegrated like most normal washing up gloves tend to do after a time (probably a ploy to always make sure we have to buy more....)

Now that I've read the rest of the thread properly I see my suggestion is the same as most others haha

I have found success in addressing the route cause of ezcema - dry skin. Giving up alcohol was a game changer if a little boring! Drinking a lot of water too keeps the skin moist. Advice from my GP was very clearly in favour of keeping the skin hydrated so that it doesn't open up to irritants. 

Wear silicone rubber, heat resistant gloves are usually made from that not latex, perhaps https://www.integritycleanroom.co.uk/product/silicone-heat-resistant-gloves...

Go Dave MacLeod on us and go (near to) zero carb diet, this was originally for his debilitating eczema (was it his feet?) and his results were a life changer for him

Rob an international investment bank or obtain lucrative government contracts with undeclared interests (quick.. before  the election), when you are filthy rich employ housekeeping staff to do all the washing up etc and then you don't need to worry about the gloves at all. Now you're that rich buy Lakeland and sack someone in the glove procurement department just because you can, heck go all Elon musk and sack the entire department, that'll teach them!!

Thanks for that suggestion (I'd never have thought of looking in the "agricultural gloves" category!)  Unfortunately the unlined ones don't seem to be available - all suppliers found by Googling list them as out of stock.  It seems that they might have been replaced by a product called Nitri Tech Lite, which is unlined but blue.  I've ordered a couple of pairs to try them out.

In reply to nathan79:

Useful to know, thanks.  But I'm not keen on using disposable, single-use gloves for a task that I do at least daily.  That's a lot of waste which is difficult to recycle - you certainly can't put them in kerbside recycling bins AFAICS.

In reply to LukeDclimber:

I had a look at these in B&Q but they say they are flock-lined which unfortunately is a no-no for me.

In reply to CantClimbTom:

Interesting idea.  I do sometimes use a silicone finger "cot" if a single finger is badly affected.  I wonder how robust those gloves are?

Also try screwfix or toolstation for a range of different styles of gloves for various work.

Are you sure it's the flock lining that is irritating your skin? My GP recommended turning my washing-up gloves inside out after use  and hanging them up to let the inside dry out, this prevents the growth of bacteria and fungus inside the glove which reduces skin irritation and the risk of secondary infections.

Yes, I went even further and stopped washing my hands for several month. Any task where I would normally want to wash my hands such as after going to the toilet, before cooking, household cleaning I would wear disposable nitrile gloves. I changed from shower gel to simple soap and so I was only washing my hands once a day during showering. This gave my skin a chance to restore its natural barriers and I'm no Eczema free. My younger brother who had much worse Eczema than me had similar success with that method, and also advised me to avoid hot showers as they strip more of your skins natural oils off.

on most pans the handles are held on with aluminium rivets. Aluminium is soluble in the very alkaline solution formed when dishwasher tablets dissolve in water. Overtime the rivets dissolve away and if you are unlucky give way when you are draining a large pan of boiling water. Ask me how I know.  Even if your pan handles are nor rivete most stainless steel pans use an Alumnium sandwich in the base to spread heat evenly, this also will dissolve over time and eventyually fall off. I've since splashed out on a very expensive set of Robert Welch pans with copper bases and  spot welded stainless steel handles, that should last forever.