A few days ago my tote bag handle triggered a sensor on a sink faucet in a ladies room, causing water to pour into the side pocket where I kept my cell phone! The bad news is that the phone was ruined, but the good news is that I got to trade it in for a much more up-to-date touch screen version. (Even the uber-polite sales assistant at the Verizon store laughed at my dinosaur phone! But I didn’t mind. 🙂 ) Since the temperature was ten degrees, I soon learned first-hand what I’d always heard about gloves and touch screens. Luckily, I’ve also heard about DIY-ing your own conductive gloves, so I decided to give it a try. I found conductive thread on Amazon.com (I’m sure it’s available lots of other places, too), cut a 6-inch length, stitched a small asterisk design on the index finger of my glove (making sure that the thread went all the way through so the inside will touch the skin of my finger), and tied it off. It works! It took five minutes, and I have enough left to do all the gloves in the house. Yay for new phones and successful DIYs! ♥
Jan26
PILLOWS A-LA-MODE 
Wow! They think of everything! And you’re going to love the touch screen, especially now that you can access your screen in all types of weather. LOVE this project.
Thank you, Lauren! I’m loving it, too . . . as you can probably tell! 🙂
No turning back, now. (Crazy bathroom story though. Wow).
I know! I had just knocked the salt and pepper shakers off the table in the restaurant while putting on my coat before that. So graceful, aren’t I??? 🙂
Oh I could tell you tales that would curl your toes. My scalp is like a road map of bumps, knocks and drops.
Thanks for the information. I keep having to take off my gloves. Learned something new today. 🙂
Yay! I’m glad I’d tucked that bit of advice away since I ended up needing it! 🙂
I saw that DIY the other day and was wondering how it worked! Good to hear it worked! Will definitely have to give it a try!
I know what you mean . . . I’ve seen it all over Pinterest and blogs . . . but I had to try it myself! 🙂
Another good idea! What a fab gift for someone. A knitted or crochet pair of gloves with this conductor sewed in. I love it. I love the internet because of the generosity of idea sharing AND I love that you got a new phone. I have a new one too and it is taking me a while to learn to drive it but the “whipper snappers” are kind and patient with me and helping a lot.
What a great idea to use this for handmade gloves!!! And good luck with your phone, too! I was traveling at the time so I read the direction book during my layover at the airport and hopefully have the best parts figured out now! 🙂
Huh! I had no idea! I have heard of cell phones accidentally landing the toilet but i have never heard of your situation. I bet you are totally going to love your new updated phone. Mine is starting to get old and I just got it two years ago! ~Thea
Mine was over FIVE years old, so you can only imagine! 🙂 And yes, that was quite the unusual accident, and quite inconvenient, too, since I was on a business trip to NY at the time! Thankfully there is a Verizon store just a few blocks from the publisher’s office, so I only had to make a short trek in the cold to solve my problem. 🙂
Better solution than I have, when I first moved back to PA I needed gloves, but my hands prefer mittens, the pair I found has a hole in the thumb so you can pull the thumb out. It is a combination of fingerless gloves and a mitten with a pocket that covers the fingers. Luckily I don’t use my phone often when wearing gloves, but my thumb is always getting cold when I wear these.
That sounds like a good pair of mittens to have! 🙂 I was in PA last week for a day and a half to visit my family there. Then I took Amtrak (first time ever!) to NY for my business meeting/training. It was fun to see that part of the country again!
I’ve never taken Amtrak yet, something I still have to try 🙂 I’m glad you had time to visit family on your way to a business meeting.
One year Hubby chopped up his cell phone with the snow blower. Who knows where the snow blower blew it; we never even found a part! LOL! He’s had several phones and currently has a new smart phone. Me? I still have a little old flip top cell phone. I need to find something accidentally disastrous to happen to it so I can keep up with the rest of ya’ll! Very clever solution…that conductive thread.
The snow blower . . . I can only imagine how surprised he was! 🙂 Here’s hoping that you get a reason for a new phone soon, but at the most convenient of times and in the most convenient of ways. 🙂 P.S. I was SUPER happy that all my contacts were backed up so they could load them on my new phone! Since I was far from home, that definitely made life easier.
That is so cool!! I thought you were going to say you made your own gloves with the special thread. lol I was going to say you’re a better woman than me! We don’t often need gloves here in Texas but I’ll keep it in mind if I vacation in the north again. Thanks!
I was at a training in NY when it happened and our trainer is from Houston. She did NOT appreciate the ten degree weather! 🙂
Reblogged this on My Devon and commented:
Great idea if you are stitching presents for people …except for fingerless gloves lol.
I learn something new every day from my blogging friends, and this is amazing. I guess lots of people knew about this, but I’d never heard it before, but it sure makes good sense in this age of limitless technology.
I learn SO much, too! I’ve read this on a few blogs (I wish I’d kept track so I could credit them!) and maybe Pinterest and it sure came in handy!!! 🙂
What an interesting post! I have heard of those gloves, but never knew what was so special about them….now I know! Sorry to hear your phone got ruined, but glad to also hear that you got a nicer one out of this accident!
I was really upset for a bit since I was away from home, but it all turned out perfectly. Life is like that sometimes, isn’t it??? 🙂 I almost bought some conductive gloves I saw at the airport, but I decided to come home and try this first. I’m glad I did! 🙂
Very cool!
Thank you! Several commenters have mentioned using this for handmade glove, too . . . LOVE that idea! 🙂
Congrats on your new phone!
Thank you . . . I really love it! 🙂
Leave it to you to come up with yet another way to “do in” a cell!!! LOL! There is always something new and clever on the horizon, isn’t there?? I’ll trust you to find it while you’re “out there”!!!!!! Hugs…..
Yup . . . never heard of this particular accident before! And of course I was carrying my oilcloth-lined tote with oilcloth-lined pockets so the water just stayed in there . . . my poor phone didn’t stand a chance! 🙂
Great idea, can’t wait to try it!
After reading this, I’m beginning to feel a bit like a dinosaur, myself! lol
I’ve never heard of such a thing! Does the conductive thread portion on your glove work like a stylus, making it easier to use your devices? I have a dinosaur phone, too, that I only use for actually talking to people (I don’t text at all!) so I have no idea how this works.
I haven’t read up on the actual science of it, but usually nothing happens at all (making your device useless) when you touch the screen with a glove-covered finger, so using the conductive thread creates a contact between your finger and the screen. You can also buy conductive gloves, and many people just wear fingerless gloves. But now I want to go look it up so I can explain the how and why!!! 🙂
Ah, I think I get it, now. You want to use your device outside when it’s cold and you have gloves on. 🙂
That’s awesome! Thanks for sharing this. I’ve been debating getting a special pair of gloves to use with my iPhone but keep putting it off. This would be a great little project!
Yay! 🙂 I like it because I can fix up several pairs of gloves for way less than the price of buying one pair of the special ones . . . and use the money I save for something fun! 🙂
Where has this been all my life!!!! This is awesome!
I thought so, too!!! Now to do the rest of my gloves! 🙂
Great idea – I’ve found some pretty fun stuff on that site.
I know! They’re so creative and personable! 🙂
Thanks for sharing this project. Mtetar
You’re very welcome, Mtetar! 🙂
Hi Katherine, I really like this! I should do the same! I’m sure you are loving your DIY gloves as much as your new phone 🙂
I AM!!! 🙂
I love the conductive thread trick! So clever! I especially like your chic red gloves too.
Re: mywithershins’ question about the conductive thread making your phone easier to use, may I add in my two cents? I knit a pair of gloves and included some conductive thread in the finger/thumb and I was shocked to see that my phone seemed more responsive to me. I often have exceptionally dry fingers in the winter and touch screens don’t always work so well for me. The conductive thread really helped “boost” my touch, so to speak. I’d be interested to see if anyone else has that happen for them as well.
Interesting!!! 🙂
Who knew! Never heard of such a thing. Thanks for the new information. It takes a village to keep me organized and up-to-date with things and you are one of my favorite villagers! 😉
Awww . . . that makes my day, Laurie! 🙂
Just FYI they are addictive 🙂
Uh-oh!!! 🙂
🙂
Wow! I had no idea!! Thank you 🙂
You’re very welcome! 🙂
What a great tip! I’m so happy to hear that I’ll be able to update all of my existing gloves to work with my iPhone! No more freezing fingers & trying to swipe to answer with my nose. (Yep, that actually happened. It seemed like a good idea at the time…)
Sarah
I can just picture that!!! 🙂 Have fun DIYing your gloves . . . you’ll LOVE it! 🙂
That’s a witty solution to a very annoying problem. I’m glad you had the success you experienced. I, for one, still use a T9 phone and couldn’t be happier. The simplicity of flipping open my phone to call someone is awesome.
I probably would have kept my flip phone forever if it weren’t for the “incident.” 🙂
They’re just fantastic….
That’s great! Thanks for sharing!
You’re very welcome, Ellie! 🙂
Amazing, that is my biggest problem in the winter, thanks for sharing.
You’re very welcome, Liz! I had to laugh when one bloggy friend said she has resorted to using her nose on the touch screen! 🙂
that is too funny, I never thought about that !! I have to be honest, I just had to try that, lol, the nose works.