Why are your hands slippery when dry, get “grippy” when they get a little bit wet, then slippery again if very wet?

Question

Why are your hands slippery when dry, get “grippy” when they get a little bit wet, then slippery again if very wet?

In: Physics

Answer 1

The surface tension of water is greater than the surface tension of your dry skin, which is mostly just tiny dead flaky bumps. Once you have too much water, no, you’re no longer dealing with service tension and now you’re dealing with fluid viscosity, which counteracts the tension.

Source: science and 25 years of hyperhidrosis presenting primarily in the hands and feet