finger tip~tips?

[Bertram Henze]

I'm going to try the alcohol some. now that I am not detailing cars anymore...

Don't drink and drive

[hokelore]

I remember being told once that tea toughens the skin. Tea contains tannin, and supposedly soaking your fingertips in tea will tan then like leather. I've dipped my fingers in tea, but I couldn't tell if that helped or not, or if it required a longer soaking time.

Another thing I heard to try came from a list for Filipino martial arts, and that is using urine to toughen skin. I haven't tried that, or at least I won't admit to it.

Tim

[greg_tsam]

Those crazy Filipinos.

[Calv]

I used to get really pronounced, hard callouses on my finger tips from playing, so pronounced that they would sometimes catch on the E string! I would actually have to run an emery board over them occasionally to smooth them out. I also used to get a lot of fret wear. I play now just as much as I did then, but I no longer get the pronounced callouses or as much fret wear. I came to realize that I was using too much hand tension, too much pressure on the strings. I started a concerted effort to lighten up and it has paid off. Now my callouses are there, but they are pretty soft, yet playing even for long times doesn't bother me.

This is exactly the position i found myself in.....after a year it is really frustrating that i am still getting them, but i have concentrated on less pressure and it seems to be helping.

Calv.

[Bertram Henze]

I remember being told once that tea toughens the skin. Tea contains tannin, and supposedly soaking your fingertips in tea will tan then like leather. I've dipped my fingers in tea, but I couldn't tell if that helped or not, or if it required a longer soaking time.

I am drinking tea for 30+ years now. Wonder what the inside of my throat must be like....

Another thing I heard to try came from a list for Filipino martial arts, and that is using urine to toughen skin.

Contravenes the proven fact that urine softenes leather (e.g. in boots). It might be different, of course, if you drink tea first

[greg_tsam]

If urine toughen skin wouldn't we all be walking around kinda funny, men?

[Mike Bunting]

Climb-on is great, I use it all the time, both for callus's and general conditioning in my dry climate.

[Bertram Henze]

If urine toughen skin wouldn't we all be walking around kinda funny, men?

Hadn't thought of that - the mere existence of blue pills busts the myth.

[Mandonube]

Dip your tips in rubbing alcohol, once a day, until they are hard. Shortcut to building callouses.

Great tip, greg_tsam! Mine kept peeling until I started doing this. Of course, this is probably because I was not willing to have a break for a day or two and let them heal... But my fingertips look almost normal again Yay!

Jody

[jazzman13]

I overheard a classical mando player saying that if you rub your fingers on your hair/scalp just above your ear for a few seconds, the natural oils in your hair will build up on your fingertips and moisturise the callous - making it tougher and also making it last longer before it flakes off...
It also makes your fingers glide along the strings nicely.

Admittedly, I haven't really tried it that much. Interesting though...

[Bertram Henze]

the natural oils in your hair

here's the energy crisis solution we've been waiting for. Now where do I have my fracking shampoo...

[Dobes2TBK]

Hand quilters would use turpentine instead of the rubbin alcohol. There was an actual product I remember hearing about umpteen years ago for helping build that quilter's callous, but I'll be darned if I can remember what it was.

ok, it *was* the New-Skin.

[sbellina]

I have to scrub my hands thoroughly several time a day for work. Additionally, my fingers start flaking in the fall as the weather turns cooler. My instructor told me about derma gear and it has fixed the callus and flaking issues.

[bmac]

i don't think there is any majic cure for callouses except playing consistantly, but not too much... You of course need good callouses and they will come with effort. but as suggesed above, learning to fret with only enough pressure but not too much will do much to help.... However by the time you are playing well enough to lighten up on the fretting you already have good callouses.

Callouses are God's way of asking you "Do you really want to play mandolin?"

[bmac]

i don't think there is any majic cure for callouses except playing consistantly, but not too much... You of course need good callouses and they will come with effort. but as suggesed above, learning to fret with only enough pressure but not too much will do much to help.... However by the time you are playing well enough to lighten up on the fretting you already have good callouses.

Sore finger tips are God's way of asking you "Do you really want to play mandolin?"

[pimsbigboy]

I work at a stone and tile company moving slabs of rock around all day. It's like sanding your hands all day long. I found this stuff at the local guitar shop and it works like a charm. They make this stuff in my home town not sure how big they are but it works. http://www.dermagear.com

[pglasse]

I'm posted here before that I use and love the climbOn bar for treating, soothing, repairing and conditioning the callouses on my fretting fingers.

Some of you have posted (and told me) that the climbOn Bar works for them too.

I want to pass along to my fellow mandolinists that the manufacturer is having a 30% off sale on everything on their web site until 1/31/16 using Coupon Code: NewYear

The link for the climbOn Bar is here.

The link for the crossFIXE Tube is here.This is a slightly softer formulation, in a compostable tube, with a bit of pain relief in the formula.

From either of these links you can get to the main web site where right now, again, everything is 30% off with the code.

Disclaimer: my wife invented all of these products, so I'm probably biased. That said, I use these products and believe in them. This is food-grade skin-repair, used by the top rock climbers in the world (who need their callouses too) -- safe for you, children, animals, the environment. This started as a home-grown business and now the products are distributed in 37 countries, because they work and people have spread the word.

Thanks for listening.