A decorator with sweaty palms! Major help PLEASE!!!

My Wilton instructor suggested keeping a glass of ice water handy and wrapping your hands around it periodically as a fix for warm hands while holding the piping bag.

If your hands are sweating while you're handling fondant or other components of your cakes directly, then you HAVE TO wear gloves. However gross it is to you that your hands sweat inside the gloves is just a fraction of how gross it is to serve food that you've sweated onto. Sorry.

My hands do run warm, but I have never had sweaty palms when decorating. However, have you tried using cornstarch on your hands instead of 10x? That may keep them dry at least. Other than that, I think gloves are your next best bet (yeah, they will make your hands sweat more, but they will keep the fondant dry and latex does not conduct heat.) 

Good Luck!

Perhaps you could buy disinfecting wipes and wrap a cold pack in a towel to keep at your work station.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elcee 

My Wilton instructor suggested keeping a glass of ice water handy and wrapping your hands around it periodically as a fix for warm hands while holding the piping bag.

 

If your hands are sweating while you're handling fondant or other components of your cakes directly, then you HAVE TO wear gloves. However gross it is to you that your hands sweat inside the gloves is just a fraction of how gross it is to serve food that you've sweated onto. Sorry.

Amen! 

OP, there's really no way to avoid the gloves. I think after a while you will get used to it.

Have you tried white cotton or cotton/poly gloves? I know they're used when dealing with blown/pulled sugar. The don't give you the sensitivity of rubber/latex/plastic gloves, but they soak up the sweat and give you a layer between your hands and piping bag to cut down on the effect of heat.

My Wilton instructor suggested using two piping bags - one cooling in the fridge while working with the other, then switch out when the one gets too soft.  I have to do that with cream cheese icing. 

Botox helps with hyperhidrosis (sweaty palms).  If sweaty palms interfere with your occupation, your insurance should cover it.  Ask a dermatologist for more info.  

I run my wrists under ice cold water for a minute or two, cools the blood into the hands or something. Maybe try damp 'wraps' around your wrists like cold compresses but maybe under the gloves so they dont drip?
 

You need to be wearing food grade gloves. ESPECIALLY when you knopw that you are putting out more sweat.

But you can put some cornstarch onto your hands just before you put the gloves on.  That will make them feel comfortable for up to a half hour of work.

Your other option is very fine cotton gloves on your skin, and then on top of those you should be able to tolerate any kind of food grade glove.

The advantage of wearing gloves is that your hands will be insulated enough that you will no longer heat up the icing bags.  Using plastic-lined cloth pastry bags will also help with the heat.

And NO HAND WIPE RESIDUE please.  That's even worse than bare hands.

Aurora, look for photo handling gloves.  They are typically a very thin cotton with some spandex-ish type material for stretch and shape.  They are also made to be virtually lint free.  I'd cut the fingers off of them as to not lose the finger sensitivity.  Those, with some cornstarch in the palms, layered under nitrile gloves (please, no latex when handling food) should keep you from having to wash every 30 seconds. 

wrap these around your arms maybe

http://www.hsn.com/products/mission-3pk-enduracool-cooling-towels-by-forbes-riley/6872615

There is a topical prescription available for hyperhidrosis.  I forgot what it is but my son is plagued with sweaty palms and his doctor suggested it. 

I agree with the other poster: NO LATEX GLOVES.  Please choose nitrile or vinyl.