Regarding “use gloves/socks/paper/etc.” when handling tubes, I’m pretty darned sure that’s a myth; by the time the tube gets hot enough for foreign substances to matter, all the volatiles in your fingerprint will have long since evaporated.

I mean, think about it… they put colored paint on the tubes, don’t they?

I realize that’s not popular wisdom, but “popular” and “wisdom” never went well together anyway…