Discourage sand from sticking to body when at the beach

Question

When at the Beach while swimming or just playing sand tends to stick to your body. More times than not it is hard to disengage from your body, without full showers or baths which are not always available. What are some ways to make sand not stick to your body at the beach or other sandy places?

Things I know:

• Using Baby Powder and things like it. I am looking for another method, as I heard this is bad for your lungs.

• Keeping my skin as dry as I can.

Any other solutions please.

Answer 1

First, you need to establish what particular problem you are trying to solve. Do you dislike the feel on sand on you while you're at the beach? Or is the issue more that you end up sandy on your way home? Do you get sand all over you, or just the soles of your feet? Here are my tips, pick and choose among them:

• bring a blanket, or better still a bamboo-slat mat. These enable you to sit on the beach without sitting in sand. A towel is generally a poor substitute since it gets damp and you need it for drying off
• pick your location carefully. Are a lot of people running by? Playing some throwing-and-catching game? Interacting with sand (eg children who like to throw it?) Especially on a windy day, this will mean sand on you. Choose a more out-of-the-way location
• when you are wet, don't run and kick up a lot of sand. Walk slowly. This way you'll have sand on the bottom of your feet, but not everywhere. This may mean bringing your towel to the water's edge so that you can dry off sooner rather than later
• bring some baby powder but do not try to use it to prevent sand. It is a way to remove sand just before you leave. Hold your breath if you're worried about your lungs.
• bring a small tub, just big enough for your feet. When you're ready to go, fill it (salt water is fine, no need to bring your own fresh water,) and dip each foot in one at a time. Dry your foot as soon as it's rinsed and put on a shoe. Dump the water out when every foot is rinsed, and bring the tub home again.
• look to see if your beach has a shower; many do. These are as effective on sand as they are on salt. You may still need to rinse your feet of sand gained as you walk back from the shower

Answer 2

It’s a beach, full of water, there is no way a dry skin or powder is going to help. It’s always windy in the beach, wait for some time to dry yourself and you can just shake the sand off. And try some simple cloth so that it will dry fast and will be easy to get rid of the sand.

Answer 3

Bringing Filtered water from home is a easy water source to clean, non salty water. (Alternatively, you can use the melted ice from the cooler)

This will benefit with a towel to wipe yourself down and keep your body cleaner after leaving the beach.

Many times, after swimming, the salt will actually add the feeling of 'sandy, dry, rubbery' to your body. By wiping down with a dedicated towel and some fresh water, you will feel much better afterwards!

Answer 4

I guess there is not much that can be done for prevention. This is more about what to do to get off sand.

I hate sand in the car when our family of 5 goes to the beach. What works for us is this:

After you are done in the splashing in the wet sand and water, if there is time to play/chill on the drier sand areas for 10-15 mins (on a hot day), all we have to do is shake the dry sand off or dust it with a small towel just before entering the car.

I always carry 2 washed milk gallons filled with tap water when we go to the beach. Just wash the sand off to your hearts content and you can keep your car spotless.

(BTW, we also carry some empty trash bags to put on the seats to keep it dry if we are pretty wet.)