If you work in the freezer section of a distribution center or warehouse, you’ve probably noticed that your hands are the first to get cold. Not only do they get cold, but they can also become quite painful and numb. This makes your job more stressful than it needs to be.
If you’re like me, you’ve tried all kinds of gloves that are marketed for cold weather work but none really work in a subzero temperature distribution center environment. This is because passive warming gloves can’t really stand up to handling frozen surfaces for long periods of time.
Many freezer warehouse workers reluctantly accept that there is no way around it; your hands are just going to freeze no matter what. But I’ve been experimenting with several methods for keeping warm and found three that actually work:
- The first solution is to use HotHands, which is a brand of disposable hand warmers that get warm once exposed to the air.
You take them off their packaging, shake them a little and drop them inside your gloves. They’ll take a minute or two but will eventually start to warm your hands.
They also have a version that warms your toes which is great because your toes can get really cold and numb in the freezer.
The big disadvantage with HotHands, though, is that they can get quite uncomfortable in your hands, especially if your job involves handling heavy items all day.
Also, each pair lasts a day so you’ll need to keep buying a new pack of these hand warmers every month or so. - The second solution is to use heated gloves. These are battery powered and warm up immediately when powered on. Lyshion is a good example of these types of gloves.
They have a few drawbacks, however:
1. They can be quite expensive (more than $100 in many cases).
2. Secondly, they are quite bulky when compared to normal warehouse gloves.
3. Lastly, due to frequent use, warehouse gloves tend to wear out pretty quickly, and so will these. This makes it doubly annoying due to how expensive they are. - The last solution is my favorite, and that’s using heated glove liners. Heated glove liners are thin, battery powered and warm up immediately when powered on.
They are cheaper than heated gloves and are not as bulky.
Their main advantage is that they don’t get worn out as easily as heated gloves. This is because you wear them inside your normal gloves which shields them from wear and tear.
Once your gloves start to get holes in them, you just change them while keeping your heated liners.
If I’ve convinced you that heated liners are the best way to actually keep your hands warm in the freezer, then here is how you set them up:
You’ll get two rechargeable lithium ion battery packs.
They are what you’ll use to power your glove liners. You can get them for cheap on Amazon for less than $30 each.
Batteries don’t usually perform well in a cold environment. However, since you will be wearing a thermal coat/hoodie on top, this shouldn’t be a problem.
You’ll want to wear these glove liners underneath your regular gloves. The outer layer is made of soft but tough polyester material so they’ll be both comfortable on your hands and long lasting.
They have a super thin and flexible heating element that is connected to a USB power cable.
They also have a switch which you can use to toggle them on or off.
Get two armbands (one for each arm) that are used for holding mobile phones. Only this time you will use them to hold the two battery packs.
You’ll then wear the arm band on each upper arm and insert the batteries in each one.
Then run the two cables from the heating pads along your arms and plug them into the battery packs.
Lastly, you’ll wear your outer thermal wear (e.g., jacket or hoodie) to cover everything up nicely.
You now have a superior way of keeping warm while working in a freezer warehouse. If you need to remove them temporarily, you can just let them hang around your hands or unplug them from the battery entirely.
