The Smartest Ways to Keep Sand From Sticking to You at the Beach

Even people who love going to the beach have to admit that dealing with the sand that inevitably ends up in your shoes, towels, bags, hair, and eventually, home, is a pain.

That’s why over the years, Lifehacker posts have featured strategies for making cleaning up after a day at the beach a bit easier. These have included classics like bringing baby powder, a mesh bag, and an extra towel, as well as favorites like the fitted sheet trick.

While those are certainly a start, we’re back with even more tips to minimize the amount of sand that sticks to you and your stuff. Here are a few to consider for your next trip to the beach.

Why does sand stick to everything?

Before getting into the tips, let’s start with some science.

Ultimately, it comes down to moisture. As Dan Seitz explained in a 2018 article in Popular Science, water molecules can attach directly to the grains of sand, and additional water molecules can stick to those water molecules, and so on. That means that beach sand will latch onto anything wet—including from sweat—and the drier you’re able to keep your stuff, the better.

How to stop sand from coming home with you

Now, let’s put that sand science to use with these four strategies, which also come from Seitz’s 2018 article:

Use fabric softener on your beach towels

You can’t fully sand-proof a towel, but washing it with fabric softener will help it repel water.

Invest in some hydrophobic spray

Before heading to the beach, pretreat the bottoms of your shoes (ideally, flip flops or other open-toed shoes that allow you to quickly empty them of sand), cooler, chairs, bags, and any other items with a nontoxic water-repelling spray.

Avoid metal drink containers

Pull a can of soda, seltzer, or beer out of a cooler on a hot day, and it’s going to sweat, and may then get coated in sand. Prevent that from happening by putting the can in a foam koozie, or pouring it into a plastic cup. Similarly, bring water or other beverages in plastic or double-walled bottles.

Exit the water when the tide is coming in

If you opt to go in the water, and happen to be in a body of water with waves, get out when the tide is heading in. “When the tide pulls out, it draws loose particles of sand with it, which could stick to you,” Seitz explains.