All Washed Up

I’m not sure where or when I learned to cover my mouth when I cough or to wash my hands before I eat, yet I am sure it was from my parents.  I mean, I grew up on a farm and came in for dinner dirty so we always “washed up” before we sat down to the dinner table.  So maybe then? There were also the house rules, such as shut the lights off when you leave a room, don’t leave the refrigerator door open (are you providing air conditioning for the whole neighborhood?), don’t eat with your mouth open, shut the door behind you, you can’t have a bb gun because you’ll shoot your eyes out, brush your teeth, eat an apple, blow your nose if you were sniffling…etc.   You know, house rules.

Farm where I grew up

Which brings me to the two most important ‘rules’ of the house ~ covering your mouth when you cough and washing your hands.  How ironic that now this has become a serious protocol for how to stop a world-wide virus from spreading.  We learned this as kids! The simple advice of covering your mouth when you cough and washing your hands with soap and water is now considered the #1 rule by WHO and the CDC of how to prevent the spread of COVID-19.  They must have consulted my parents.  Or my grandparents… So, soap and water are simply more thorough than anything else? That’s all I have to do?  Cool. I’ve been doing that my entire life.

My brothers ‘washing up’ after coming in from work. I think it was taken in 1980. Used without permission. I’ll deal with them.

According to the CDC, “simple soap and water removes dirt and debris.  Soap kills germs, binds them, and helps physically remove them, with the water, off your skin and down the drain”.  My grandparents could have told you that 100 years ago.  And just for the record, there is no proof, whatsoever, that ‘antibacterial’ soaps are any better than regular soap in defending the spread of virus or in cleaning your hands.  In other words, there is no benefit.  Remember that.

Which brings me to Harvest + Harmony.  It’s soap.  Really, really great soap.  Soap made the old-fashioned way with lye and oils and cold-pressed processing.  Nothing cleans your hands like soap and water and even though we learned this as kids, we need to be reminded of it consistently to promote hand hygiene and to keep diseases at bay. To beat the virus today and ensure better health outcomes beyond the pandemic, handwashing with soap must be a priority now and in the future.  Harvest + Harmony provides products to help you easily and effectively put your best hands forward.

I hope you love my products.  I hope you try these luscious soaps and realize that the every day very simple and monotonous thing, such as washing your hands, can actually be something great.  Something cool.  Something you can feel good about because you are doing your job of stopping the spread of any virus, while at the same time telling your hands how much you love them.

Yes, you may shoot your eye out with a BB gun, and you may not always shut the lights off when you leave a room, but I do hope you are ‘all washed up’ with our luscious soaps the next time you sit down for dinner.  It will make a difference for both of us.

P.S.  hand sanitizer is fine in a pinch.  Please make sure it is AT LEAST 60% ethanol alcohol and that it doesn’t come from Mexico.  The FDA has banned all hand sanitizers from Mexico as they have tested positive for methanol, or wood alcohol, which can be toxic when absorbed through the skin or ingested. FYI, no hand sanitizers are “FDA Approved”.  Don’t let them fool you.  None are.