Keeping Your Hands Warm in Winter: 7 Tips That Really Work

Hands are the first to get cold and the last to warm up: little mass, a lot of surface area, and a body that, as soon as it feels cold, reduces circulation to the extremities to protect its vital organs. You could cheat with battery-heated gloves; or you can understand the mechanism and counter it. Here are seven tips that work, tested on our own outings.

1. Keep your core warm before your hands

It sounds counter-intuitive, but the best way to have warm hands is to have a warm stomach and back. As long as your body is cold, it “shuts down” circulation to the extremities, and no glove can make up for that. One more layer on your torso, a neck wrapped in a scarf, and your hands warm up all by themselves.

2. Cover your head

Same logic: the head loses a lot of heat and the body responds to it first. An alpaca beanie, warm without making you sweat, is the number one accessory for cold hands.

3. Choose the wool, not the thickness

A thick acrylic glove insulates less well than a thin alpaca glove: alpaca fibre is partially hollow, it traps air, and it doesn't hold on to moisture. Our TITLIS gloves are thin, your fingers stay nimble, and the warmth is there. We explain the differences between fibres in our comparison.

4. Avoid moisture: it chills more than the cold

Hands that have sweated in gloves that are too warm, then come to a standstill, cool down very quickly. Opt for a wool that breathes, take your gloves off when you're warm, and keep a dry spare pair in your bag for a day outdoors.

5. Don't take your gloves off for your phone

Every time you remove a glove to answer a call, your hand loses in thirty seconds what it took ten minutes to build up. TITLIS gloves have a built-in opening at the index finger and thumb: free your fingertips, tap, cover them up again. We talk about it in touchscreen wool gloves.

6. Move your hands

Clench and open your fists, swing your arms in big circles to push blood towards your fingers: two minutes are enough to get the circulation going again. Pockets are a refuge, not a solution: a motionless hand in a pocket warms up less than a hand moving inside a glove.

7. Eat and drink something hot

The body produces heat as it digests. A thermos of tea or hot chocolate, a snack halfway through your outing, and your extremities benefit. It's one of the seven essentials on our checklist for a weekend in the mountains.

And for hands that are always cold?

Some people's fingers turn white at just 10°C, sometimes linked to Raynaud's phenomenon. In that case, the tips above still apply, and a pair of thin silk or wool liner gloves worn under your gloves adds an insulating layer of air. If episodes are frequent or painful, talk to a doctor.

The gloves to match

The TITLIS in 100% alpaca, at €19.90, in Edelweiss Grey, Caramel or Ruby Red. One size, ribbed cuff, hand wash only (see our care guide).