Touch Lamps

How a touch lamp works

Every lamp on this page has a touch control, and that is the whole idea of a touch lamp. The base or body is linked to a small circuit that notices the tiny change in electrical charge when your skin meets it. Touch it and the light comes on; touch it again and it changes brightness or goes off, depending on the lamp.

Because the circuit reads the charge in your skin, a bare hand works best: gloves or a sleeve pulled over your fingers may not register. A light, deliberate tap is also more reliable than a quick brush. In the dark there is nothing small to feel for, so you simply reach out and touch the lamp, which is why touch control suits a bedside so well.

Dimming a touch lamp

Most of the touch lamps we stock dim as well as switch, using the same touch that turns them on. A touch dimmer either steps the light through its brightness levels as you tap or fades it up and down while you keep a finger on the lamp; a quick try tells you which yours does.

Dimming is what makes a touch lamp so handy beside a bed or sofa. Turn it up to read, then down to a low glow before sleep, without sitting up to reach for a switch. For a film night in the living room, a lamp turned low is gentler than an overhead light.

Warm white light from an LED touch lamp

Almost all of the touch lamps we stock have built-in LEDs, which settles the bulb question for you: there is no bulb to buy or fit. A few take a small screw-in bulb instead, which lets you choose the bulb yourself. If you fit a bulb to any lamp with a touch dimmer, choose one marked as dimmable.

Most of our touch lamps give a warm white light. Warm white at 3000K has a soft, mellow tone that suits a bedroom or living room after dark and is kind to wood, fabric and skin tones. A few give a cooler daylight tone instead, which makes more sense on a desk than beside a bed.

Touch table lamps and touch floor lamps

Most of the touch lamps we stock are table lamps, and this is where touch control really earns its place: beside a bed or on a side table by the sofa, your hand is never far from the lamp. Across the range, most suit a bedroom or living room, and we stock touch lamps for a desk or study too.

We also stock touch floor lamps, which suit an armchair or a corner of the living room with no table to hold a lamp. Place a floor lamp where you can reach the touch control from your seat, and favour a steady, weighty base, because a lamp you tap should not rock.

Rechargeable and outdoor touch lamps

Many of the touch lamps we stock are rechargeable, so once charged they need no socket or cable. That lets you put a lamp where wiring never reaches, such as a shelf, a windowsill or a bedside with no socket nearby. Give it a full charge before you use it, then top it up during the day so it is ready by evening.

Some of our touch lamps are rated for outdoor use, so they can light a garden table, a balcony or a terrace after dark. Wipe the touch area dry before you tap it, as water can confuse a touch control, and store the lamp indoors when it is not in use.

Touch lamp finishes and styles

Every lamp we stock here has a modern design. Within that, we stock industrial and Scandinavian styles, along with touch lamps that feature wood. Most of the range is made with metal, and on a metal lamp the touch area may be the whole base or body rather than a marked spot.

We stock touch lamps in white, black, chrome, silver and brown, in matt and polished finishes. Because a touch lamp is handled so often, think about fingerprints: a matt finish hides them well, while polished chrome shows smudges but wipes clean with a soft cloth. For a warmer metal, a few of our touch lamps come in bronze.

Cleaning a touch lamp

Unplug a touch lamp before you clean it if it has a plug, because wiping the touch area can switch the light on and off as you go. Use a soft, dry or barely damp cloth, and never spray cleaner straight onto the lamp, as liquid that seeps into the touch circuit can make it behave oddly.

On polished chrome and other shiny finishes, skip abrasive pads and strong cleaners, which can scratch. Dust matt finishes and wood rather than rubbing them hard. On a rechargeable lamp, keep the charging point free of dust and moisture, and wipe down any lamp that has been outside before you bring it back in.