A soft brush (like a back brush) or one of those round puffy scrubbies (you see them hanging in the soap aisle) are what I use. I use a nail brush for my hands.

Lava soap and a nail scrub brush.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Nail brush

just returned from CVS to buy a nail brush, sole purpose of visit, so LOL when I saw this, I found it really hard to find one and then it was $3.99! gasp! that is the first thing apart from veggies, which I have found more expensive than the UK, so maybe I will shut up about it :-)
another good use of an old one is for gently cleaning the soil off carrots and potatoes so you will get double bubble on your investment.
for a job interview, I would have a manicure those people are amazing and yes men can go in, just don't chose red as it might send the wrong signals LOL. good luck with the interview.

Before going to the garden, I drag my nails across a bar of Ivory soap. The soap lodges under my nails, and when I wash up, the soap and any dirt goes away. I suppose almost any bar soap would work, but I always have Ivory on hand to make insecticidal soap, so I use it.
Good luck on your job interview. If you have a little dirt under your fingernails, it proves you are a hard worker!

mix up a batch of cole slaw with only your hands, for some reason the gunk under your fingernails will be gone. weird.

Do a big sink full of dishes. (With a pan and everything, not wasting water by letting it run while you soap stuff.) All dirt under your fingernails will be gone by the time you are done. :)

I keep my nails extremely short in the gardening season.

To get them clean is a lot easier, that way.

I use an old toothbrush & wash my hands with Boraxo powdered hand soap. It comes in a shaker can & is getting VERY hard to find.

One doesn't need to use much of it to get the hands squeaky clean.

I've gotten a few mechanics to use it. Their wives are happy, happy. LOL!

If the dirt isn't very stubborn, I run the water pretty hard and hold my fingers cupped under the stream so the nails are pointed upward and the water blasts the dirt out from under the nails. That gets rid of most of it.

But I've learned that if I don't want to deal with it, to wear gloves, rubber or gardening ones.

Fuller makes a great fingernail brush. Link below.

BTW, remind me never to eat cole slaw at organicislandfarmer's house!

Here is a link that might be useful: Fuller nail brush

KEEP FINGER NAILS CLIPPED AND SHORT.
JUST USE AN OLD TOOTH BRUSH, OR A CHEAP NEW ONE.
SOFT ONES ARE BETTER.

$3.99 FOR A NAIL CLEANING BRUSH??? HAHA.

Good gloves is the only way!
I enjoy gardening without gloves, but if I 'forget' and start rooting around with bare hands, no matter how I scrub, there's still dirt lodged in/on/under...

Lee Valley Tools sells surgeon's hand/nail brushes. I bought a dozen. They're great.

Here is a link that might be useful: Nail Brushes

I use a nail brush with the peroxide toothpaste to get them super white and clean.

There are heavy hand cremes like "O'Keeffe's Working Hands" that you can apply before going out in the garden. Make sure you've got it under the nails.

It is easier to wash the dirt out later.

Here's wishing you the Best of Luck!

Steve's digits

peroxide toothpaste . . . !?

1. Wear gloves for digging, raking, big weeds etc. But not feasible for planting and small weeds.
2. The soap under the nails trick.
3. Wash your hair
4. Go swimming - that does your grubby toes too

Heavy duty water proof gardening gloves for heavy duty gardening work. Sometimes I start working with dirt without planning, and sometimes the gloves broke. So I keep a jar of old Vaseline with my scissors, and try to remember to swipe vaseline under and around all my nails before I go to the garden. With vaseline, clean up is much easier. If the black dirt (compost) really stained my nails, I soak them for a few minutes in a bowl of water with some vinegar or lemon juice, then brush.

I also use this old vaseline around the garden (as barrier for ants, etc, or sometimes on my tools).

I use the 'jet' setting on my garden water hose nozzle. The feeling is not the most pleasant, but it gets the job done quickly. Aim it underneath your fingernails from the side.

LOL, I use the jet setting on my hose nozzle too!
I also have something like these gloves:

http://www.amazon.com/Swissco-Exfoliating-Bath-Gloves-White/dp/B0000WURP6

I call them my scrubby gloves, but they're not for gardening, they're for the shower. I slip them on, put some body wash (AKA soap) onto each glove, scrub away at myself, and by the time the body is clean, the hands are too from the exfoliation inside the glove. Neat!

My sister-in-law noted that soil that has a lot of organic material in it isn't as 'dirty' as the native soil.

My nails look a bit hammered right now. I've been making new garden bed and the clay soil sticks to my hands. I dig my nails into a bar of soap when I start showering to jam some soap underneath them. They come pretty clean by the end of my shower.

after the coleslaw comment it reminded me of a TV chef in the UK who admitted to making Bread dough after gardening as the kneading really cleaned her nails well! ewukk!

I love my Nitrile gloves. They are thin, cheap, and flexible. I always wear double, and reuse them. After each use, I take them off and hang them on a post. Each one can be reused many times. One box lasts forever.

Ditto's to the jet setting on the garden hose feedback.

This works for me to get the ground in dirt from the wrists & hands as well as knees or feet in the summer. I usually wear gloves, but my wrists and forearms can get quite dirty if it's a wet day.

homemade sugar scrub made with brown sugar & baby oil enough to make a paste

Kept in a container with a spoon or popsicle stick near the bathroom or laundry sink. Scoop, scrub well (no water turned on yet), add some water, scrub more, pull up sink stopper, add your choice of hand soap scrub, dip in water, scrub & rinse. Soak if needed in tub & scrub more.

Hands will be softer & smoother as the dry skin is removed.

eeeeyew on the cole slaw!!!!!!! rofl

"Flat" hose nozzle setting is like a power washer and gets all the dirt off my nails and hands. Best to do it when dirt is fresh and not dried on.