Fingernails...how do you care for them?

[Mike G]

I can't seem to make my nails last. I do file them but they always catch something and end up tearing etc.

I don't require classical player style nails but would like to keep just enough to catch the string after I pick with my fingertip. I'm like Laurence Juber that way. He picks with his finger tips as well and has just enough nail to brighten the tone on the way off the string.

How do you care for your nails?

Thanks,

[anothersmith]

I use several coats of a clear polish by Sally Hansen called "Diamond Hard." You can find it at pretty much any major drug store chain. You have to let your nails dry for a few hours before playing, but the polish will keep your nails pretty strong. I also wear rubber gloves whenever I wash dishes, my car, or my dogs. Water will really dry your nails out. Someone told me Chet Atkins wore gloves in the shower, but I'm not taking it that far.

Hope this helps.

[Jim Tozier]

I have used a similar product . . . something called "Teflon Tough," or something like that. It seemed to work pretty well, although I had to like with the ribbing from my students (I teach high school) about my shiny nails!

For the most part, though, I just keep 'em short and try to be careful. I, too, like just a "touch" of nail, so this also works pretty well for me.

One other tip I read somewhere . . . as a better alternative to acrylic nails, is to cut tiny pieces of a ping pong ball, glue them to the underside of the nail, and then trim to the appropriate length. Apparently, the material used in ping pong balls is ideal for this. Haven't tried it myself, though!

[W5BLT]

You'd think some enterprizing individual would invent a fingerpickers polish. One that keeps the nails hard and also isn't shiny....

Any future millionare wannabees or inventors in the crowd?

[swiss cheese]

I used to put my right fingers one by one twice a day (at least) in my nose...
Ten minutes each...
The problem is my thumb...
It hurts so...
I planned to adopt an hippopotamus to facilitate the operation

[kcpkr]

i use 'knox for nails' (gelatin) and a nail strengthening cream called 'hard as hoof'. the creme is absorbed by the nail and doesn't leave a shine. i haven't had any problem with my nails since i started using these products, about a year and a half ago, and i used to break my nails all the time before.

[Mike G]

kcpkr:

Thank you for the tip. I like the idea of "no shine". Thanks to all others as well.

[anothersmith]

kcpkr - where do you get "hard as hoof"? I've never heard of it.