Garden glove recommendations?

Cleaning, fixing, using, repairing, best and worst of your mechanical aids in the garden...

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judyk
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I have a constant problem with finding garden gloves that last well and provide enough hand protection for the jobs that I do in the garden. I do a lot of pushing a heavy petrol mower about, a lot of digging and hoeing and at this time of year a lot of leaf raking, and all of these jobs tend to rub the skin off my hands at pressure points, especially between the thumbs and forefingers, even when wearing standard gardening gloves. I've got bony hands, so that probably doesn't help. I've tried lined padded gloves, but these are never waterproof, and in wet weather they take weeks to dry out in our metal shed, which is the only place we have to keep them, and soon go mouldy. I've tried layering, with padded or fabric gloves underneath waterproof kitchen gloves, but the kitchen gloves trap the sweat, so that the inner gloves go mouldy anyway. Thinner gloves with leather or plastic insets just don't provide enough padding. And as it's hedge pruning time now, I've got the added problem of berberis thorns and giant brambles, most of which can get through a pair of standard rigger gloves without too much trouble.

Does anyone else have similar problems with gloves, or is it just me? If anyone does, have you found any solutions? If anyone has any recommendations (either gloves to buy or layering solutions), I'd love to hear them.

Many thanks!
Monika
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My OH is a retired dry stone waller and always wore heavy duty red rubber gloves for his work, unlined, but in winter he would carry several thin woolly gloves and exchange them when they got sweaty during the day. Unfortunately, although thick, they would be no match for brambles or berberis!
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peter
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Sainsbury's have green and grey cloth gloves that I find very comfortable, no protection against thorns and not waterproof but very comfy and cheap.
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judyk
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peter wrote:Sainsbury's have green and grey cloth gloves that I find very comfortable, no protection against thorns and not waterproof but very comfy and cheap.


Thanks for the suggestion Peter, but I've been through 3 pairs of these this summer. You're right, they are comfortable, but if they get damp they just won't dry in our shed, despite hanging them up in those nylon mesh bags you can get for washing clothes. The fact that we very seldom get a few dry days in a row here in northwest Devon doesn't help... if it's not rain it's sea mist. I'll just have to keep looking!
judyk
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Monika wrote:My OH is a retired dry stone waller and always wore heavy duty red rubber gloves for his work, unlined, but in winter he would carry several thin woolly gloves and exchange them when they got sweaty during the day. Unfortunately, although thick, they would be no match for brambles or berberis!


Thanks Monika, that's the sort of idea I'm after, but woolly gloves probably wouldn't have enough padding. I'll keep trying. Impressed that your OH does dry stone walling - that and hedge laying are two skills that I can never resist standing to gawp at when out walking. They make it look so easy, but it's obviously not, and it just seems like magic to me. You're OK if you need a new garden wall, then!
Monika
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If you ever want to learn dry stone walling, judyk, there are plenty of courses available (in more normal times, of course). My OH did not start doing it full time until his 50s when he took early retirement from something totally different, but he continued until well into his 70s and greatly enjoyed it. Nowadays, more than 10 years later, he does some very intricate drawings of walls instead!
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Geoff
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I just use basic gloves like these https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-12-or-24-P ... 2749.l2649 with fingerless mitts outside them for padding. Good for weeding and general jobs but I use leather gauntlets for thorny tasks. If I'm doing anything cold and wet I put cheap surgical type gloves on first, makes an amazing difference to keeping your hands warm.
judyk
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Geoff wrote:I just use basic gloves like these https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-12-or-24-P ... 2749.l2649 with fingerless mitts outside them for padding. Good for weeding and general jobs but I use leather gauntlets for thorny tasks. If I'm doing anything cold and wet I put cheap surgical type gloves on first, makes an amazing difference to keeping your hands warm.


Thanks Geoff. The builder's gloves do look pretty strong, and I could maybe put a pair of padded ladies gloves on underneath. I may well try that. I did try leather gauntlets with a fleece lining but they went mouldy in about a month. I think what we need is a new shed... :(
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The last set of gloves I bought for gardening were from Wilko. https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/wilko-seed-weed-garden-glove-medium/p/0486967 and have found them pretty good. They come through a hand wash well which is more than can be said for many cheap gloves. Cheap as chips.
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sally wright
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This is my thoughts on the subject of gloves.

I have found over the years (30+ as a professional gardener) that there is not a single pair of gloves that will do all tasks. It's just not possible. So I usually have at least 5 different types on the go. Also, to my eternal annoyance, I have baby soft hands which blister frequently and I cannot keep a callous for more than a week. Apart from my mucky fingernails it would not be possible to tell my profession from my hands.

(If you are a southpaw please transpose all right and left gloves - so to speak)

Single use gloves - good for oily tasks or painting jobs. Keeps the one who does the laundry very happy..... Also useful if you are handling something which might make you itch or blister such as Rue, Arum italiacum or Hyacinths; dye plants such as Horned Poppy or Plume Poppy. You can peel them off and get rid of the problem so you don't get got the next time you put on your gloves.

Domestic Rubber gloves - good for weeding, light pruning of non thorny stuff etc. When you develop black fingernails replace them. I usually wear holes in the left glove mostly as that is the one hauling out the weeds loosened with the trowel which is in my right hand. The right hand 'spare' whole glove should not be discarded as it can be re-used in two ways. Turned inside out as another left glove or on your right hand when you are pruning and you cannot use the secateurs with right glove to the heavy one that you are pulling branches out with on your left hand.
To keep them 'nice' in hot weather I may have 2 pairs on the go to allow 1 pair drying time whilst the other pair is getting sweaty. I also always leave them turned inside out when not in use. Always buy the heavy duty kind; they last long enough to get something done before they are knackered.

Woolly, cycling or standard fleecy winter gloves - good for when you are sweeping, raking or hanging on to the back of the mower/rotorvator/strimmer/leaf bloweretc. They provide some padding against blisters and vibration. They are good to keep your hands warm but do not do dirt at all.

Leather gloves with a fabric back - good for general gardening jobs where you don't want to get scratched etc. Buy these from a builders merchants or similar as the ones from most garden centres are really not up to the job. These leather gloves CAN be washed and then made supple again by wiping them over with dubbin. Only treat the leather parts with the dubbin mind!
Do NOT buy the ones with flowers or girly colours as they are useless; I would describe those types of gloves as Margo gloves (the good life) as I don't actually believe they are meant to be USED......

Heavy Duty Gauntlets.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/AUOKER-Handlin ... 6&sr=8-153
These look like the only gloves/gauntlets I have seen that come close to a 20 year+ pair I own that ARE thorn proof; and we have where I work what I call winter prune only Berberis, because that is the only time of year you can wear enough to keep you un-punctured.... They are made from some kind of heavy suede and I can barely bend my fingers in them but they do what it says on the tin. I have to hide them from the others and I call them my dragon hide gloves. You might investigate welders gauntlets as those looked like they might be useful.

Well there you are; make of this missive what you will.
Regards Sally Wright.
judyk
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Thanks Sally!

I am a southpaw, so I have duly transposed. :D

You'll be pleased to know that I've ordered a pair of the dangerous dog handling gauntlets from Amazon. They look to be exactly what I'm after for the berberis and in particular the bramble thorns. I've received my usual amount of perforations already this season but I'm looking forward to next autumn with confidence now.

I do use tough grade black Marigolds over cotton or cheap garden gloves and that does indeed work well, but the inner gloves never dry out in the winter due to the climate in this part of north Devon - we are right on the edge of the Bristol channel, and in winter if it's not raining it's sea-mist. We also have a metal garden shed that seems to conserve the moisture, but that's another topic of discussion on its own, I think.

I did try fleecy lined hide gloves for the winter but the outside part just went mouldy. I think I'll try a pair of knitted gloves as you suggest (or knit some) and put these under the Marigolds, and I'll look into the leather ones from a builder's merchant.

I agree about the Margo gloves... pretty much a waste of money, and most of the designs are awful anyway. They would go well with the flowery backless garden shoes that get your socks soaked. Garden shoes... another topic?

Thanks again for the comprehensive reply.
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