Kitchen Garden Forum

What do you all do about trying to keeping your gardening gloves fit for use? Mine seem to go quickly stiff with mud and I'm wondering whether there's an effective way of keeping them supple, even if all the dirt stains can't be removed. Many of them are a mixture of rubber or suede like fabric. Do they come up well if they're put in a washing machine or are most of them best washed by hand?

I throw mine on the shed floor where they dry over night then give them a bang on the fence knocking all the mud off them they are as good as new

The problem I have is being right handed I wear the ends out of the fore finger and the middle finger.

I have a pile of left handed gloves which are fine but holes in the right handed gloves.

Tracie

I gave up using so-called gardening gloves ages ago. I buy strong kitchen gloves (usually black) at a larger size than I usually need and then wear them with stretchy woolly gloves inside them. When working on the allotment, I keep at least three pairs of stretchy woolly gloves in my pocket and then change them when they get sweaty. These strong rubber gloves wash very well in the washing machine. They take some time to dry inside, but hanging them up upside down first to drain them completely and then the right side up over a heat source like the boiler or radiator will do it within about 24 hours.

For delicate work, like pricking out or planting small seedlings, I use disposable gloves, bought in a packet of 100 at a farm shop.

Hope that helps.

I don't get chance to wear out the right hand glove - my partner seems to only use the right hand glove and never brings it back, so I now have 12 left hand gloves. Unfortunately they aren't the style that I can turn inside out to convert half of them back to right hand gloves. This does work with rubber or latex ones though.

Whether they are cheap or expensive my little pinkies go through them! I buy cheap - doesn't upset me quite as much when they fail!

Westi

I use the disposable ones as well but I use two together to make them a bit thicker when weeding. I cant use anything for pricking out. I sometimes buy gardening gloves from Wilkinsons they are material on the back and up the sides of the fingers and plastic coated on the fingers and you can wash them. They cost about £1-£2 pr pair.

Maybe left and right handed people need to pair up so they can swap gloves.

Ebay them

Catherine wrote:Ebay them

Or Freecycle?

I like the plastic coated material ones that are about £2 a pair, I've had leather ones which are good as long as they don't get wet as they go stiff and you have to work them about to avoid 'robot hands'
Scats do a rubberised material pair with textured grip on the fingers and palms that I've found are really tough and great for handling logs.

MW

robo wrote:I throw mine on the shed floor where they dry over night then give them a bang on the fence knocking all the mud off them they are as good as new

I'm with robo

I'm afraid to say, i just heve rough hands.

Been trying to find out what sort mine were and they are these http://www.mailordertrees.co.uk/Briers++Washable+Gardener++Gloves/0_caaa342/PRAB137.htm They are still fairly soft - maybe not as soft as they first were but certainly better than other sorts I have had..

Didn't put them in the washing machines though (too dirty and thick with soil) - just rinsed under a tap so are grubby looking but they are at the allotment.

Leather gardening gloves can be kept supple with hand cream. Wash the dirt off first, though.

Unless I'm dealing with briars or stingers, I find gloves an encumbrance and keep them off.