I got this tip from a video on YouTube and I can't believe I hadn't thought of it myself sooner: disposable gloves in the kitchen. I've been religious about using rubber gloves for cleaning and washing dishes but there are many occasions in the kitchen when your hands need to be washed over and over again, which is obviously really hard on your nails.
Keeping a box of throw-away gloves handy in the kitchen drawer is the perfect way to protect your hands and nails while: mixing ground meats for burgers and loaves, cutting up onions, handling raw chicken, peeling and preparing vegetables that stain (like beets!), rinsing veggies, changing the garbage bag, sorting the recycling, and on and on. The box of 100 was really cheap (although I might try a different brand next time - some of the gloves are really small and some are really big, even though they are supposed to 'fit all' and I would assume, be all the same!) I actually wash my hands in the gloves first to make sure they are clean enough to touch food, and am very careful to discard them if they've touched raw meat to avoid cross-contamination if I'm going on to another task.
I realize these may not be the most environmentally friendly solution but it sure is nice not to have to pick out yucky stuff caught underneath my nails!
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