Two different nursing populations--one from Phoenix, Arizona, and the other from Racine, Wisconsin--and a group of persons prone to dry skin from Racine were evaluated for the presence of scaling, cracking, and erythema, the major visible symptoms of hands with dry, chapped skin. The results provide insight into the effects of age, season, geographic locale, handwashing frequency, and work area on skin condition. Season (winter), geographic locale (northern locale), and age (over 30 years) were the most significant extrinsic factors influencing the manifestation of hands with dry, chapped skin. In the presence of these predisposing factors, a handwashing frequency of only one to two times per hour was sufficient to significantly increase the severity of dry skin. Among nurses those most susceptible to dry skin were over 30 years of age, were high-frequency (more than three washings per hour) hand washers, and were exposed to the winter climate of a northern locale.