Four steps to texting without freezing.

Magic Touch Greg Maxson

Winter gloves and gadgets don’t mix. Most touchscreens use capacitive sensing to complete a weak electrical circuit through skin and locate our tapping. And while wool, cotton, and leather gloves insulate hands from the cold, they block the body’s ability to shuttle electrons. Strategic stitching with conductive thread, however, can prevent essential electronics from becoming unresponsive bricks the moment you bundle up.

1. Order silver-plated nylon thread (silver conducts electricity). This can be difficult to find in stores, but major online retailers carry it.

2. Pick a pair of gloves to modify. Although leather works, it’s harder to push a needle through.

3. Stitch the figure of a star or other solid shape onto the glove’s index finger with the thread, making sure it will contact both the touchscreen and your skin.

4. Bundle up and tap away.

Want to read more articles like this, plus tips and tricks, home hacks, DIY projects, and more? Subscribe to Popular Science today, for less than $1 per issue!

8 Comments

Nice idea !

http://space.perraudin.fr

Wont it scratch the screen?

jjay79,
Only if that screen has an itch, lol.

Or cellphone companies can use Nokia's PureMotion touchscreen and have it work with gloves without modification. :S

Indeed Aoki. This is pathetic. Just buy the New Nokia 920. The best smartphone on the market (Yes i own one!, best money ever spend). It even has wireless charging. You can use glooves, pens, keys etc to operate the screen. You can even use your fingers.

Ya, don't spend ten bucks on thread, spend $550 on a new phone. Logical.

Thanks for the Christmas gift tip PopSci! I've known about this forever but I live in a city where winter lasts about two weeks and never dips below zero, so it's just sat in my head as useless knowledge. Everyone back home in the frozen north is definitely getting a sewing needle and some of this thread as part of their gifts this year now though! I've ordered my thread online already.

I work at a hardware store in Wayne PA. I want to do that to a pair of gloves. were do I get the thread.

Popular Tags

Regular Features



July 2013: The Future Of Flight

The incredible innovations, like drone swarms and perpetual flight, bringing aviation into the world of tomorrow. Plus: today's greatest sci-fi writers predict the future, the science behind the summer's biggest blockbusters, a Doctor Who-themed DIY 'bot, the organs you can do without, and much more.


Online Content Director: Suzanne LaBarre | Email
Senior Editor: Paul Adams | Email
Associate Editor: Dan Nosowitz | Email
Assistant Editor: Colin Lecher | Email
Assistant Editor: Rose Pastore | Email

Contributing Writers:

Kelsey D. Atherton | Email
Francie Diep | Email
Shaunacy Ferro | Email

circ-top-header.gif
circ-cover.gif
bmxmag-ps