Last Updated on December 3, 2020
Some people believe that you must wear rubber gloves when you go to put your PC build together. It’s not entirely necessary and I’ll tell you why!
With my first couple of builds I made sure that I wore rubber gloves because I figured that since static electricity can’t get through rubber that I’d be entirely safe.
Although this is true, rubber gloves really aren’t needed as there are some super simple solutions to making sure that you don’t have any static electricity in your hands when you go to build.
First Thing’s First
Before you go off and really start putting everything together – make sure that the area is a nice, open area that you are able to build in.
I always like to have a wooden table or a surface that is similar in the middle of a room. I’ll have all of the parts on or away from the surface, installing each part one by one.
You’ll basically want to make sure that you aren’t building on carpet, that you aren’t around any animals and that you are away from anything that can generate a static electric current.
If you don’t, you risk the chance of shorting one of the parts with your build – mainly the motherboard… which is also the most important part about your PC!
So it’s not just needing something to keep the static electricity out of your body while handling parts, static electricity is all around you. Just make sure that you have an elevated, hard surface away from anything and everything that could hinder your system.
Like in the picture above, use the bags that some of the parts come with. These were made specifically to keep static electric charges away so they help with being able to keep a part in one spot.
There are plenty of PC build tutorial videos out there that show you each step as they’re building the PC live.
I also want to reiterate – keep all of your parts away from pets at all times. Your pet’s hair generates a ton of static electricity and if they wander close to some of the parts there’s a chance of shorting them…
But Do You Need Rubber Gloves?
The short answer is no, you don’t need to wear rubber gloves while putting your PC build together.
I always used to especially when I was putting together a PC for a friend or a family member.
I wanted to take every precaution possible because ruining my own system would be one thing but ruining a friend or family member’s PC would have made me feel horrible!
All in all, trying to put a build together with gloves on can actually make it harder to put together.
The hardest part is getting the motherboard mounted in the case, you need to fit your fingers in tight spots and wearing gloves doesn’t help that at all.
There are still a couple of things you can do to ensure that you don’t have any static electricity and I’d like to share them for those of you that are moving forward with your builds.
One way to make sure that you don’t have any static electricity going through your body is by touching the power supply while it’s plugged in, just make sure that the power supply is turned off on the switch.
This will ground you… so frequently touch the power supply while you’re doing your build and that’ll ensure that all of the static electricity leaves your body so that you won’t accidentally mess up one of your components.
If you want something that feels a bit more on the safe side then you can also always go with an anti static wrist strap.
You simply wrap the strap around your wrist and clip the other end onto a large metal object and that’ll ensure that all of the static is gone.
You can clip the clip to your case if it’s metal, your power supply or really anything that is able to be clipped and made of metal.
It’ll ground you while you’ve got it on so it’s ideal to wear it the entire time that you’re putting the build together.
Nowadays I simply touch my power supply here and there while I’m putting my build together and so far I haven’t had any problems. If I have my anti-static wrist strap handy, I’ll sometimes only use that.
If Newegg and plenty of other PC building enthusiasts out there have the confidence to say that a power supply that is plugged in and turned off will ground you then I also have 100% confidence in it! 🙂
In Conclusion
To sum it all up – rubber gloves simply aren’t needed.
They don’t hurt anything, it just makes it harder to fit in the tight spots when you’re putting your build together.
There’s always the anti static wrist straps and the power supply when you need to ground yourself.
If you don’t have your part list together quite yet and are just researching as you move forwarding with the idea of building your PC then you should check out some of the guides that are here on the site!
There are plenty of options when it comes to gaming PC hardware. I’ve narrowed it down to separate budget points to help you get a PC going that fits your needs.
So, are you going to be using your power supply as a grounding tool?
Or are you going to be wearing an anti static wrist strap while you’re putting your build together?
Let me know in the comments below! 😀
Hey there! 👋 I’m Colton, founder of PC Builds On A Budget.
Whether you need help putting your PC together, finding a great pre-built rig, or want some help finding awesome peripherals – I’ve got you covered!
I share my experiences of anything and everything related to gaming PCs with you here. 👍
can you let me know if i took a c drive apart and tried pulling inside parts out with my uncovered hands and now I feel some tinglingly, is that static electricity and what should i do
If you’re worried about possible static electricity built up, touch a metal object keep your hands well moisturized etc to keep grounded and to keep static electricity away from your PC’s components. I wouldn’t worry too much about it, simply touch something else that is metal to ground yourself then you’re good to go!
I think I’ll wear the wrist strap to keep safe from static electricity, though I’m not sure if my wrist strap works or not. (Hopefully they test them before sending them out) I hear you can also attach it to your legs if it’s easier.
Thanks for the informative article.
I’ve learned from Tech Quickie on YouTube that we should not rest PC parts on the outside of their antistatic bag. It’s better to leave them inside the bag, or to rest them somewhere, put them on the cardboard box. That’s because the outside of the anti-static bag specially conducts electricity from our hands, but we don’t want that side to touch the computer part. Also, would regular plastic generate an electric charge? Thank you so much
What’s up Andy,
I always wear mine, it will never hurt anything. I use this one from Rosewill.
Right, they’re totally safe to use if you make them inside out or keep them inside the bag. Then there will be absolutely nothing generating a static charge because regular plastic cannot carry a static charge. It’s really not about the surface that you place the hardware on, more-so it’s about whether or not what it’s touching is carrying a static charge. Always make sure to ground yourself in some way.
I’ve never heard of any PC parts going bad from setting them on top of the anti-static bags but since that material does have a little bit of conductive material… I can see how someone would take the extra precaution.
Thanks for reaching out with your comment! Good luck on your builds. ?