one hand washes the other

Hi,
Yeah, pretty well.
Clive

I've always heard the first one in a longer form.

One hand washes the other, and together they wash the face. = Cooperation leads to accomplishment.
You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. = I'll do a favor for you if you reciprocate.
CJ

CJ. It seems like you don't think they are the same. The first idiom seems to focus on cooperation and accomplishment whereas the second is conditional and no accomplishment is implied.

They are more alike if you use only the first part of the first one (about hands).
When you think about the meaning of the full saying of the first one, the meanings are no longer so similar.
CJ

Thank you, CJ. It's an interesting idiom with two meanings.

Well yes and no, you're forgetting the rest of the quote... "and they both wash the face." Meaning people who help each other can achieve more, as opposed to someone by themself (one hand) trying to accomplish the same goal.

Well said!

The answers you have received sound much more virtuous than what I have for you. In lobbying and international law, "one hand washes the other" is the explanation given when a government official gives special treatment in exchange for a bribe. It is also the phrase often allegedly used by government officials to solicit a bribe in exchange for granting requested action.

I use it as a way of saying by helping each other out we can "stay clean " in other words out of trouble.