Hello, I never post on here but I've recently got great results for my severe case of mechanic hands so I wanted to share.  I've had rough, peeling, cracked fingers for about 15 yrs and tried every lotion in the book without it helping.  I finally went to a dermatologist specifically to see if I could do anything to help.  Man, I wish I'd gone years ago.  The difference is night and day.  I now have smooth fingers like a "normal" person.  I was doing everything wrong.  The changes I made were:

1) using the RX steroid cream (Dipropionate) for 2 weeks twice a day with white gloves for at least an hour. 2) then using another Rx cream twice a day (Protopic) as maintenance  3) keep my hands out of water as much as possible and when they do get wet, always put lotion (listed below) on afterwards  4) don't use scented soap  5) don't use regular liquid soap  6) don't use antibacterial soap  7) wear rubber gloves for cleaning - don't let chemicals get on your hands  8) soap recommended is: CeraVe Bar, Vanicream, Cetaphil or Dove bar soap to wash hands  9) lotion recommended is: CeraVe, Vanicream, or Cetaphil lotion to hands after every handwashing  10) Use Aveeno Eczema Balm nightly to hands and sleep with white cotton gloves.

It all sounds like a pain in the neck but I was determined to try it to see if it worked.  Worth the effort if it is a real problem for you.  I know rough hands are not the worst part of this disease by far but it is a painful daily nuisance.