Sunscreen / Desitin removal - the easiest way yet

Leonard_Jansen

I am embarassed that I haven't thought of this before - talk about missing the obvious. Regardless, it works better at removing sunscreen/Desitin than the shaving gel trick I posted elsewhere - much better. It's inexpensive, non-toxic, biodegradable, smells good, works in one application, is easy to rinse off and is thorough. Just use "Goop" - the same stuff you use to clean your hands after you repair your car/lawn mower/tractor:

http://goophandcleaner.com/

I get the 5 Oz orange scented stuff at Dollar Tree for $1.00 which will do about 3 "treatments." I think that Harbor Freight sells the large containers for about $5.00.

To use: Get your body just very slightly wet. Apply a generous amount of Goop and rub in for a few seconds. Shower and use soap - it speeds up washing off the Goop/sunscreen mixture. It also works pretty well if you have a gallon of water in your car and a towel and want to remove it immediately post-swim. In that case, don't use soap unless you have a lot of water. Just wash as much off as you can and then manually remove the rest with the towel.

-LBJ

Leonard_Jansen

P.S. Be careful when you use this in the shower - it does seem to make the floor slippery.

caburke

Good idea. Someone once told me that using cooking oil and paper towels was the easiest way to remove zinc and lanolin. I swam Key West in 2011 and after 4 hours in the water had no issues with sun burn. However, after about 10 minutes on the beach coated with cooking oil, I fried like a lobster. So yes, cooking oil does remove zinc, just don’t use it in the sun.

IronMike

I am just so glad @Leonard_Jansen didn't include an instructional video. :-O

JBirrrd

Perhaps his post may have gotten more likes if he had...

kejoyce

I'm likely using desitin for the first time this weekend, is the goop still the easiest/most efficient way to remove it? What else do people use? I doubt the technology has changed much in 9 years but 🤷🏻‍♀️

abbygirlrose

I don't use desitin but I use a different thick cream and have found baby oil on a wash cloth to work very well and then baby wipes to get the oil off

kejoyce

I have a one year old and thus a large supply of baby wipes... I think I can make that part work lol

Openh2o

Try SolRx 50!
Clean and work great!
My opinion!

LakeBagger

I use desitin on my face daily-- (history of skin cancer already). I bought myself a large supply of small, microfiber towels. After my swim, I squirt some baby oil on the towel and wipe my face off with it. I use a dry part of the towel to wipe off the excess oil and off I go.

I wash the towels with laundry detergent and since they are dedicated desitin towels, it doesn't matter to me that they retain a little of the baby oil smell. I have a larger desitin towel I use for swims that I put desitin on my arms/legs/back for. For a bigger project like that, I enjoy getting it off with baby oil and a towel in the shower, similar to the OP. Seems to go a lot more quickly than it did when I tried with paper towels, not to mention less waste.

kejoyce

@Openh2o I use P20 spf50 on top of an SPF 50 lotion for shorter swims, but I am very pale and will burn through all that after a few hours.

@LakeBagger thanks for the microfiber towel tip, I'll see if I can pick some up tomorrow. I mostly need to get enough off at the swim site to not destroy my car on the way back to shower 😂

LakeBagger

@kejoyce I actually have a dedicated long sleeved t-shirt and sweat pants to protect the car/boat/other gear until i have the energy to remove it all. That seems to work fairly well so far. Enjoy your swim!!