How to touch 'em, how to not touch 'em, and what to do if you've touched 'em—all by a person who currently has several spines embedded in them. Need solutions fast? Skip to the end for spin-removal techniques!
Types of spines
Spines versus glochids
Glochids are the tiny tufts of spines some cacti have in the place of spines, or around the base of their larger spines. If you don't see any spines on a cactus, operate under the assumption it has glochids. They easily stick in skin, clothing, plastic bags, styrofoam, anything soft really (including the hose, I have learned). You won't think you even got near a cactus and somehow you'll have a patch of forty teeny spines that zap you when brushed.
Glochids are basically Satan's glitter. They can be near-invisible and spread extremely easily; I have watched glochids waft off of a cactus because I nudged its pot. If your shirt brushes against a cactus with glochids you will quickly start finding them stuck in your tender inner arms. Once glochids are in clothing you can find them (the hard way) for weeks after. Do NOT, I repeat do NOT try to remove spines by running the clothing through the washing machine, or they can get redistributed throughout your laundry.
Pro-tip: if you order a cactus with a lot of glochids in the mail, treat the package as if it is filled with loose fiberglass. You do not want to be dropping and wafting loose glochids all around your house!
Other types of spines
Cactus spines can also have barbs, meaning the spines have fine spines on the surface pointing the opposite direction. This defense mechanism works just like a porcupine spine, and can be very difficult to remove from skin without pliers. Cholla is an example; in my educated guess it is probably the genus of cactus that has sent the greatest number of people to the emergency room.
Hooked spines are also a pain in the ass, though less likely to cause serious injury. When they hook skin, they tend to grab the surface so you don't feel much other than a tugging sensation. When you attempt to move or repot the cactus its hooks will grab onto virtually anything nearby like a cat scrambling to avoid going into a carrier. Clothes, paper, wood, rubber, plastic bags, other plants, they will cling to almost any surface. Some varieties of cacti like mams can be near-impossible to unhook, so you just have to pull (which can pull the spines off the cactus).
Maintain situational awareness
I frequently fail to follow my own good advice which is how stuff like this happens:
I once heard a professional at a cactus botanical garden explain the key to avoiding getting pricked: it's not the one you're working on that will get you, it's the one next to it. For example, when you're trying to remove a stubborn cactus pup and it breaks free so suddenly you whack your hand into the cactus next door. Try not to do that.
When I moved to Tucson I quickly learned to maintain situational awareness. I've backed into spines more than once. I had to do a move out of The Matrix to avoid walking into a cholla branch that was hanging over the sidewalk one day because I was busy looking at my phone. Cacti spines are everywhere, even where you least expect it; I once found a segment of cholla an animal left on top of the back wall of my garden.
Establish no-touch zones
Something with mean spines shouldn't be living somewhere where it poses a hazard. If you keep getting bit by a particular cactus, move it behind a buffer zone of spineless plants or less-aggressive cacti (if you can't move it, place a ring of pots around it). That way, you'll get a gentler reminder you're approaching the danger zone.
Appropriate handling
Gloves
Gloves will only go so far to protect you, and your average store-bought gardening gloves aren't at all made to withstand spines. Cactus gloves exist, they are thick and tough like dog-handling gloves. But if you've seen the Desert Worlds episode of Green Planet, you know even that isn't enough to protect from some spines; the show features David Attenborough playing with cholla at Saguaro National Park here in Tucson!
I have not invested in a pair of cactus gloves. Personally I'm a klutz and find it easier to delicately maneuver and feel what I am doing without the bulk on my hands. Instead I rely on...
Tongs
When you need to directly handle cacti, such as during repotting, kitchen tongs are a cactus-gardener's best friend. I prefer the ones that are silicone-tipped so I can grab a cactus with force without sharp metal edges cutting into the flesh. (That was the price in 2024 by the way, a relic of the tariff "before times.")
Use tongs to handle the cactus when planting and repotting, and also to pluck small pots out from between cacti. If you are working with small cacti, the long kind of metal tongs or tweezers used to feed reptiles also work great! They have a bit of give so you can work with a lighter touch.
Don't try to catch a cactus
Instinct can kick in when you see a pot starting to tip over, but do NOT try to catch the cactus. Falling won't kill it! Just have a moment of zen and let it happen.
Cactus slings
When you are working with taller unpotted cacti, use a piece of scrap material as a sling to move and carry it horizontally. Good options include scraps of carpet, burlap, old clothing, cardboard, straps, old hoses, or newspaper. I often cut a piece of weed-blocking cloth or use the flat cardboard boxes you end up bringing home from Costco. Don't use anything you are fond of, since the cactus will likely leave souvenirs.
Moving large potted cacti
Add one or more stakes to the pot. Fill grocery bags with more plastic bags or crumpled newspaper to create padding you can stuff around and between branches/sections of the cactus, and wrap the entire thing well with packing plastic, old hoses, or similar. Sudden jolts during movement are liable to cause pads to break off or columns to snap, so the padding is there to prevent swaying.
It's too late for me, how do I get the spines out?
Glochids
When you are dealing with glochids, you want Elmer's or a similar flexible glue but in a pickle you can attempt other home remedies like hot wax, peelable facials, plaster, or duct tape.
Drizzle glue over the area and strengthen it by lightly patting in a strip of something flexible like paper or a plastic market bag. Wherever you think the spines are, cover a larger area because your mind will play tricks on you. Once the glue has fully dried, peel it off and if you're lucky all the spines will come with it. Spines that are barbed or barely sticking above the skin's surface can be tougher to get out. I recommend going in with tweezers and magnification—I use a jeweler's visor.
If you're unsure whether you got them all, lightly wipe a piece of fabric across the area. Clothing that is a bit fuzzy and pill-bally like an old tee shirt is fantastic at snagging small spines so they "light up."
Alternate method: I've had some success scraping spines off, similar to the 'credit card' method of removing a bee stinger but with more forceful scraping action. Go with the grain of the spines, not against. This method does risk breaking off spines and leaving the irritating tips in your skin.
Even if you get all of the glochids out, you can expect your skin to remain irritated for hours or even days. This is because glochids are built to leave behind extremely small barbs.
Larger spines
Pro tip: Have a segment of cholla stuck on you? Park rangers recommend using a comb to remove it!
Larger spines are easier to see and remove in most ways compared to glochids. You'll usually only need tweezers. With long-but-thin spines, resist the temptation to remove by hand; in my experience this often breaks the tip of the spine instead of removing it, which makes extraction a lot harder.
Spines sometimes snap off when you get poked, so that the tip is entirely embedded in your skin and can't be felt from the surface. You may see a small black or brown spot or line under your skin. Or you might feel like you are getting stabbed internally every time you put pressure on that spot. I had over a quarter inch of torch cactus spine inside a knuckle for days and could tell because it felt like a nerve was getting lit up when I bent the joint!
You may be able to work spine tips out by pinching the skin under it, creating pressure pushing/pulling toward the skin's surface. This can get the spine to stick out enough to grab it with tweezers. If that doesn't work I get impatient and slice the skin open to expose the spine. Please be safe and sterile if you're going to act like a caveman.
If it's not bothersome, you can leave spines in place and let your body reject it over time (this means forming an itchy blister or small sore). Sometimes your body decides to form a pearl of scar tissue instead though.
In conclusion
Just because you like a plant doesn't mean you have to have it in your collection. Over time I have realized the maintenance of certain plants is more trouble than I anticipated. If you have a real prick in your collection, maybe it is time to find it a new home.
