Students from Duke, UNC develop lotion to target clammy hands

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill senior David Spratte says he had sweaty hands as a teenager. He also noticed he wasn't alone.

"Everyone is wiping their hands on their pants, on the chairs in front of them, whatever it took to avoid the awkwardness and embarrassment of sweaty hands," Spratte quipped.

In 2013, Spratte met Duke University senior Kasper Kubica through a scholarship program, and the duo came up with an idea to make sweaty hands a thing of the past.

They enrolled the help of a UNC chemist, and after about 60 prototypes, they launched Carpe Lotion.

"Within 10 minutes, it will reach full effect, and you'll start feeling it working," Kubica said of the lotion.

Kubica says the lotion should be used about three times a day to keep hands dry.

Carpe Lotion has been selling on Amazon since 2015, and the reviews, so far, have been good. Kubica and Spratte now work in an office at American Tobacco Campus in Durham.

"That Amazon review where somebody said they were crying they were so happy," Kubica remembers with a laugh. "I'm not making this up. They said, 'This made me cry, I was so thrilled.'"

Kubica and Spratte say the money they are making from the lotion is nice, but it's not everything.

"It's not the same feeling as getting an email from someone saying this has changed their life," Spratte said.

One tube of Carpe Lotion costs about $15, and the product recently made it to shelves in Harris Teeter stores.

The duo is also working on a formula specifically designed for athletes.