As great as touchscreen-operated mobile devices are, they’re a real pain in the neck when it comes to winter and you have to pull off your gloves to operate them.

It’s fine if you stop in a cafe or restaurant where you can slip your gloves off and type a quick message or check an email, but when an unexpected phonecall comes in and you’re left swiping at the unlock screen like a cat pawing at the TV during a nature show, you soon grow to hate using a smartphone in winter.

Gloves with special metal fibres in the tips have been on the market for a couple of years now, but they’re not always of the greatest quality. And even if you do find a decent pair, what if you already have a pair of gloves that you’re attached to and would rather use instead?

Japanese company Onsight might just have the perfect solution…

Tebu-Touch (tebu coming from Tebukuro, the Japanese word for gloves) is a new material-friendly liquid that allows smartphone users to operate their touchscreen-based devices using any pair of gloves they like, avoiding the need to buy a new pair.

By adding just a couple of drops of the magic liquid to the fingertips, that pair of gloves that you painstakingly selected to go with your snazzy hat and scarf combo instantly becomes touchscreen friendly.

According to Onsight Japan’s instructions, the process is as simple as squeezing a couple of drops onto the material and waiting a few seconds for it to dry. “Although the liquid may create the sensation that your touch screen has moisture upon it, the liquid will not damage the screen in any way,” the product’s directions assure us.

So, if auntie Nora sends you a new pair of gloves this Christmas, or if this is the first cold season you’ve owned a smartphone, Tebu-Touch might be an essential purchase.

As for me, at just 698 yen (US$8.90) for a bottle that can be used more than 40 times, I’ll be picking up a few bottles of Tebu-Touch to take home as presents for my family this Christmas…

Source: Onsight Japan via My Navi News