Sidebar

A corollary to "you never know what you might find" at a thrift shop or tag sale, is that you also never know what you might touch. For that reason, lots of regulars have taken to wearing surgical gloves while shopping. This is not a bad idea, but I am not willing to give up one of my senses (one of my superpowers is the ability to identify cashmere, or tell the cashmere content of an item from a quick touch). I solve this problem by traveling heavily armed with hand sanitizer.

If you chose to do so too, remember to look at the label of whatever sanitizer you choose. Some on the shelves, as well has some homemade and organic formulations which can be found on the web have less then the 60% alcohol deemed necessary to kill most harmful bacteria and viruses.

These sanitizers can not replace soap and water, but great for using while in the trenches. When I get home, I still roll up my sleeves and scrub to the elbows as if I am about to perform surgery!