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If you touch the bulb with your fingers, the salts and oils from your skin will damage the bulb and cause the heat to concentrate. This can significantly reduce the life of the bulb or even worse cause it to shatter. For this reason most halogen capsule bulbs that you buy will be sealed in plastic inside the box.
Likewise, what happens if you touch a halogen light bulb?
It is a good idea to try not to touch the Glass on Halogen Light Bulbs, even when changing the bulb. This is because when you touch a Halogen Light Bulb, you leave behind a residue on the Light Bulb which can in time cause the bulb to heat up unevenly, and even cause the bulb to shatter as a result.
Moreover, how do you hold a halogen bulb?
Because of this, we always recommend that halogen bulbs never be handled by your bare hands. Use gloves or clean paper when holding the bulb so that you do not make immediate contact. Also, because these bulbs burn at a high temperature, make sure you let any bulbs you are replacing cool down before removing them.
Some of the higher wattage incandescent bulbs get fairly hot, not a bad idea to wipe them before installing but also likely fine if you don't.