Keeping your hands warm?

[eekolite]

I can never seem to keep my hands warm in the winter seasons. It slows them down a lot, and cuts into my drawing and such. Plus it's just uncomfortable.

Anyone have similar problems? Anyone have solutions? Just thought I'd turn over a rock, see what happens.

Thanks. :)

[TASmith]

alright, one thing you can do is slip them under your armpits. I remember this helping as a child, although as an adult you might not get the most pleasing smell after... Be sure to use deoderant first.

[Farvus]

I sometimes got this problem. I use fairly thin fingerless gloves and do some warm up exercise on big paper.

[Droid]

I wear gloves when I'm outside in winter, and if I'm cold indoors I stick 'em in my pockets and bump up the heating.

Try out different gloves, or just get a nice warm jumper and stick your hands in the pockets.

;)

[Anid Maro]

That's funny TASmith, I had the exact same advice except replacing "armpits" with "butt". :)

You could also try rubbing them periodically, breathing on them, and seeing if you can position yourself anywhere near a heat source.

I dunno where you're drawing, but if you can sit yourself near anything mechanical that may help as a heat source. Granted it's a bit like a moth to a fire, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

To be honest though, I haven't had to concern myself with the cold for ages. Where I live my biggest concern is not dripping sweat on my work. :P

[KarylGilbertson]

Yeah I live in Canada, and my circulation isn't the best to boot, so I have to deal with cold hands pretty much all year long (and feet too, but I don't draw with my feet).

Just rub 'em together, or cup your hands and blow into them helps too. Possibly invest in a small electric space heater to blow some hot air over your desk... one problem with this strategy is it will dry out your skin.

[LORD M]

Keep a thermos with hot coffe or warm coco with you at all times, and when you feel that shiver and your fingers going numb, take the thermos out of your back-pack and pour yourself a cup. And if that doesn't work, whiskey is the answer.

[KarylGilbertson]

yeah Lord M tells the truth... liquor will save you. Though I prefer scotch to whiskey. Added bonus: drunken creativity!!

[Sebastard]

Rubbing palms together very quickly works wonders and it takes only a moment of break to do it. Keep a heater close to your feet and wear a sweatshirt with a hood - if your feet are freezing, chances are you will be too and most of the body's heat escapes through the head. (or so i've heard anyway).

If everything else fails, the scotch thing might be an option. I keep an old hip-flask of Glenfiddich on my desk, for drinking/mixing with tea/whatever :P.

Me, i have one of these in my room.

http://www.petersotare.se/new/imgz/PS_Kakelugn.jpg

[ijacobs9]

Luckily Autumn just started hear so the weather is warmin up, but I used a wool glove that I cut of the middle, index and thumb fingers off halfway- works wonders with anti-smudging too.

[dumpling]

Put em down your pants. Feels good man

[Black Spot]

Sit on them and fart.

[BlightedArt]

Fingerless thermal gloves.

[phoric]

Bad circulation usually means you need to get more exercise.

[KarylGilbertson]

Bad circulation usually means you need to get more exercise.

ARE YOU CALLING ME FAT?!?!

haha jk, but actually you're right, I do need to get more exercise... :P

[alesoun]

I buy hand warmers from a camping shop. You just knead them to activate them and they can stay warm for as long as eight hours if you just knead them some more as they cool a little. Tuck them into fingerless gloves and they're warm as toast.

They come in pairs, but you can tuck one into the palm of the glove on your non-drawing hand, then simply rub your hands together to warm them up. :)

http://www.trespass.co.uk/PageProducer.aspx?Template=ProductDetail&Category=Accessories&Type=ACCESSORIES&Product=UUACTVA20019

[Ghostbrush]

stick em in ur pants :P

[Missile]

I try to keep mine perpetually attached to a cup of coffee, or if some sort of caffeine frenzy takes over then it's hot water. Winters in England are probably quite mild by the rest of the world's standards but I sit around with my window open (smoker) so I experience the brunt of it - fingerless gloves cut off even closer to the knuckle tend to work nicely indoors. Or something with very long sleeves. Or both!

[magicgoo]

http://www.handerpants.com

YCf9NkcvRno

Sometimes the internet is just so lame.

[TASmith]

"Though I prefer scotch to whiskey."

I thought these were the same thing? The only difference being, Scotch is a Scottish brand of whiskey, whereas many other countries also produce whiskey. That and I think Scotch is made from wheat? Whereas we Americans usually use corn.

[alesoun]

Noooooo! Whisky is smooth (mostly) It slides down gently(ish) and warms you.
Whiskey tries to punch a hole straight through the back of your throat!

Try The Balvennie, or Cardhu. Laphroaig or Glenfiddich, then tell me how good whiskey is!

It's the water that's used that makes the difference! :P

Barley......

[KarylGilbertson]

yeah it's technically "Scotch whisky" (no "e"), but like Alesoun said there's a BIG difference.

[R a n d i s]

you need to move. rubbing hands will only help little…
You need to get up and run across your house or apartment, not the most interesting form of jogging but effective regardless.
I do that couple times a day, 10-20 min for each run.
Your heart rate will increase, your organs will get more blood and your hands will be less cold.
Do not get drunk… that will damage you on long term.

One glass red wine is very good tho and one cup of coffee per day is healthy too.
Everything that will help with the blood circulation is good.
Do sports
And take a a cold shower after a hot bath or a hot shower, that will seal your skin pores and keep the heat inside your body longer.
Drink hot green tea, that is healthy and helps too.

[Oni Rem]

*sigh* looks like i need to teach you noobs how to warm your fingers!


First off this technique I learned from Tai Chi !! SHORT TAI CHI CLASS IN SESSION!!!

Another First off!! I wouldn't recommend drinking beer or liquor to not feel the cold,
when you dont feel, its a problem, you freeze without knowing your freezing,
your probably dead and you dont even know it lol

and its good to always exercise :)

OK!! lesson starts!!

1. make a fist!

2. Don't fully closed your fist! Why? if you do then where will the heat go or bounce off of?
The heat will go out of your hands. Thinking that a closed fist would keep the finger all warm is wrong.
There is no place where the heat can generate/bounce around and warm up your fingers
because there is no open area for it to do so and so heat will escape easily leaving your finger still freezing!

3. leave your fist open like your are holding a small pole or watever. An open fist sounds right.

4. Do you feel it?! Heat is generated from your open fist into that small area warming your fingers from with in!
although it will eventually escape but it will keep on generating heat and bounce around in there before it goes instead of escaping right away.

5. put your hand in your pocket or where ever you like to increase the heat and keep it trap longer :)

There ya go a lesson from a Tai Chi Master ...well just master of Sun Style and Hotel Tai Chi :P

[Straight Edge Ryan]

I just wear those fingerless leather biker gloves. Keeps my hands warm and I can draw easier with them than with regular gloves

Plus it's been scientifically proven they make me look at least 20% cooler

[KarylGilbertson]

One glass red wine is very good tho and one cup of coffee per day is healthy too.

One serving of scotch (one ounce) falls under this rule too... I read that somewhere, I think it applies to most hard liquors actually. Moderation!

[R a n d i s]

yes i guess it applies to most but please not 1 glass of each all at once :D

[Sunseaker]

Yeah, frozen hands are the worst! I get ice cold even in summer as I have a circulation condition, but I draw outside a lot, and in bad weather it's not nice having numb zombie hands (and limbs). Fingerless gloves with heatpacks shoved in are the answer, I like to have the pack on my wrists towards the palm, as on top it doesn't seem to work as well. Failing that just one in a pocket or a thermos can be nice. Unfortunately the thermos should not have liquor in it.

[eekolite]

Ahhh thanks for all the replies guys. Some great (and hilarious) stuff in here. I guess I'll just try a new combo of gloves + nearby heater + brief exercise for circulation + hot drinks + fists and body heat. I think with all these going I should be good for the winter.

Keep dreaming everyone. :)

[Akeyla]

if my frozen fingers get really bad then I take a hot bath, helps a few hours after but cant always be done, taken aside that you feel drowsy ;) I also heard that a glass of red is good, drunken daily with a meal :)

[R a n d i s]

fap fap

[Slash]

If you can keep your torso warm, your hands will follow suit. Wear a warm vest or something, keep a heating bottle on the inside of it. (you know, those rubber bladders that you fill with hot water..

Your hands get cold because your body is trying to preserve the heat by cutting down circulation to the limbs. Keep the torso warm and your body wont have to compensate, allowing free flow of warm blood from your torso to your fingers.

[Baron Impossible]

Noooooo! Whisky is smooth (mostly) It slides down gently(ish) and warms you.
Whiskey tries to punch a hole straight through the back of your throat!

Try The Balvennie, or Cardhu. Laphroaig or Glenfiddich, then tell me how good whiskey is!

No Macallan? Macallan 18yr old, the finest of whiskies. I remember buying it when it was only £20 a bottle - 4X that now but still good value.

[KarylGilbertson]

No Macallan? Macallan 18yr old, the finest of whiskies. I remember buying it when it was only £20 a bottle - 4X that now but still good value.

Ahh yeah that's good...

[Red*]

Oh god this is the worst! I have Raynauds so the circulation to my fingers is terrible and cuts off if I'm cold too long, or do something like holding onto cold veggies while preparing them. I tend to find that the warming pads don't do much if I'm drawing because I can't really hold them and concentrate on drawing.

Fingerless gloves are alright for drawing although if the glove is too thick then it can hinder the drawing a lot. I would reccomend fingerless cycling gloves as they allow the fingers more movement but keep them nice and toasty.
(Of course keeping the whole body warm tends to do the trick, so it might be just as helpful to drink that hot drink instead of holding it :P)

[Eveningkiss]

i have an ODDDDDDDDD one (and my densit will kill me) when i was a kid i useto suckle my thumb NOT because of the whole "must suckle" thing but because "A" it kept my thumb warm and B the heat from breathing kept my fingers warm so i could then turn around and draw plus i often held a blanket which also helped.... yes it was creepy and sick but i was a kid and kept me warm =P

[ChristmasBunneh]

I've got low blood pressure so my hands are cold often and sometimes even when they feel warm (but are cold to the touch)
I have a few pretty worn huuuge guy hoodies with long sleeves so I can just let them cover most of my hands. Also by chance I happen to have a radiator-water pipe run along the wall near the floor just behind my desk so I can stretch my feet to it. Hands under the butt can also help.

[Sorknes]

I did't seen this topic before now... There are actually several ways to get your circulation better in your hands, which is likely what's causing you to feel cold.

Alcohol is usually a bad idea, it just takes away the feeling, but it still happens.

Smoking will make it worse, as it'll make the veins in your hand tighten themselves up even more.

There is in particular a method where you slowly "learn" the veins in your hands to react better that consists of cold, lukewarm and hot water in different tempertured rooms that I know of people who has used successfully, but it's not done over night and they were given instructions by their doctor.

I would suggest talking to a doctor about it, it might be a symptom for something else if it's bad. For smokers for example, getting cold feet is sometimes a forewarning for something that might end up much worse later because of circulation problems. The doctor might also give you some tips on how to reduce the miscomfort in addition to what you can find online.

Good luck anyway. :)

[Purrdey]

Yup a brisk walk or something to get the circulation going helps hugely, a hot water bottle tucked into the waistband of your trousers helps.

I grew up on the north east coast of scotland in a drafty victorian house where the windows used to freeze on the inside in winter, so I know about cold hands!

[Camilla]

In addition to all the sound advice I will mention "Glögg". It is heated red wine with various spices, sugar, raisins, almonds, orange peel and perhaps even some rum.

[Teowli]

I can never seem to keep my hands warm in the winter seasons. It slows them down a lot, and cuts into my drawing and such. Plus it's just uncomfortable.

Anyone have similar problems? Anyone have solutions? Just thought I'd turn over a rock, see what happens.

Thanks. :)
My mom made these fingerless gloves that I ended up snatching. They're essentially chrocheted tubes with thumb holes. They really keep my hands warm and aren't cumbersome to draw with because there isn't fabric inbetween my fingers. :). I'm sure there's a pattern on the net somewhere.

[Parka81]

My hands are always cool and I put them on my neck.