Best Gardening Gloves

Buying guide for best gardening gloves

Do you have a couple of green thumbs? If so, you need a good pair of gardening gloves to protect them. Gardening gloves aren’t just for keeping your hands clean, either. The right pair can help protect you from annoying scratches, abrasions, and other maladies you can suffer when working in the dirt.

BestReviews wants to make sure you have the best experience possible when tending to your peonies or eggplants. The guide below explains the very good reasons why you should always have a pair of gardening gloves on hand, as well as the different types available.

Our goal is to make sure you can dig, till, and prune without worry. When you’re ready to buy a pair of gardening gloves, scroll up to the top of this page to discover our favorite picks.

Do you like to get your nails done regularly? A pair of good gardening gloves ensures you won’t ruin your manicure.

Reasons to use gardening gloves

There’s more than one reason to don a pair of gardening gloves when you head out to your garden.

• Wearing gardening gloves helps prevent skin irritation. Whether you have sensitive skin or you’re working with prickly pants, wearing gloves helps protect your skin from abrasions, scrapes, splinters, and other irritations. After all, when digging in the garden, there’s no telling what you’ll encounter! This includes plants and dirt as well as the herbicides you use in your garden. Gardening gloves can also shield any open wounds you might have from dirt and infection.

• Wearing gardening gloves helps keep your hands clean. You might still want to wash them, but it will take less time to get your hands and fingernail areas clean if you wear gloves while gardening.

• Wearing gardening gloves helps prevent bug stings and bites. Working in the garden often entails sticking your hands in bushes and other leafy growth where insects lurk. A pair of good gardening gloves acts as an extra barrier between you and pesky bugs.

• Wearing gardening gloves protects your hands from dry skin and blisters. Working repeatedly with your hands can cause them to become dry and cracked. Using gardening tools without hand protection can cause painful friction blisters. Gardening gloves can help protect your hands from these maladies.

Gardening glove materials and types

Gardening gloves are made of a number of different materials, including leather, faux leather, rubber, and cotton.

Leather gardening gloves are durable, protective, and flexible. The price is usually higher than that of gloves made of other materials, and the gloves themselves may be thick, which can decrease feel and dexterity. Bear in mind as you shop that some leather gloves are of a higher quality than others. Also note that you cannot machine wash leather gardening gloves.

Faux-leather gardening gloves cost less than real leather gloves, and you can machine wash them. However, they’re less durable than real leather gloves.

Rubber gardening gloves are waterproof and very protective, but they are not puncture proof, and your skin can’t breathe well inside of them. These gloves are extremely easy to clean and reuse.

Cotton gardening gloves are not very durable, but they are flexible, cheap, and comfortable. We don’t advise them for heavy tasks, as they offer poor protection against scrapes and abrasions. For light gardening tasks, however, they are an excellent choice. If you opt for cotton gardening gloves, expect to replace them at least once per season, if not more often.

Many gardening gloves also feature a mix of synthetic materials like neoprene for added stretch and flexibility.

Types of gardening gloves

Rose pruning gloves: These gloves are longer for added protection of the forearms when pruning thorny rose bushes. They’re an excellent choice for gardeners with sensitive skin who want to avoid direct contact with different plant materials.

Work gloves: These gloves are not just for gardening; they’re suitable for all manner of outdoor work. They’re typically very sturdy with reinforced palms and quality material that won’t tear.

All-purpose gardening gloves: These types of gloves are made of a variety of materials. Some are meant for lighter work, and others intended for tougher gardening jobs.

Disposable gloves: These are ultra-inexpensive gloves meant for one-time use. They’re great for handling things like manure. You can get the dirty jobs done while wearing these gloves and simply throw them out when done.

How to choose

With so many materials and glove styles, how do you choose a pair of gardening gloves? The right choice depends largely on the types of tasks you want to do. Sowing seeds, culling seedlings, and picking produce from the vine requires the dexterity of a flexible gardening glove. Pruning roses and other thorny bushes requires a high-cut pair of gloves that will protect you from cuts and scrapes. Tending to a pond and aquatic plant life requires something waterproof that will keep your hands dry as you work. In short, you should evaluate your needs and buy accordingly. If one pair of gardening gloves can’t fulfill all your needs, consider purchasing two pair; it never hurts to have a spare.

Gardening glove durability

Do you want a pair of hardy gardening gloves that lasts more than one season? Gloves with reinforced fingertips and leather patches are a good bet. They provide added protection against sharp objects and plant life, and they’re likely to last longer than cheap, flimsy gloves thanks to their construction. That said, thicker gardening gloves don’t typically provide as much feedback and dexterity as thin cotton gloves.

Regardless of whether you buy thick, durable gloves that last multiple seasons or thinner gloves that last only a few months, we advise you to opt for a product with sturdy seams and stitching. Be careful, though: glove seams that are too thick may cause chafing.

Gardening glove comfort

With gardening gloves, it’s important to look for a mix of comfort and durability. Your gloves should fit without feeling too flimsy or too tight. The wrists should be snug, but they shouldn’t cut off your circulation. Look for flexible finger joints that make it easy to manipulate items. You may also wish to look for gardening gloves with adjustable wrist cuffs.

The better your gloves fit, the easier it will be to do precise work. There are plenty of sizes available, including sizes specifically for women and youth. In general, it’s best to avoid one-size-fits-all gloves in favor of a more tailored fit.

Gardening glove prices

Under $10

For under $10, you can find plenty of lightweight cotton gardening glove options in an array of colors. Most inexpensive gardening gloves won’t last more than one season.

Between $10 and $40

If you’re looking for a good pair of faux leather gloves or reinforced cotton gloves with padding, expect to pay between $10 and $40. This includes some higher-end gardening gloves with leather reinforcements.

Over $40

If you don’t mind spending a little more on gardening gloves, you can get an ultra-durable, comfortable, flexible pair made of a high-quality material like leather. For the price, you should expect to get several seasons of use out of the gloves.

Did you know there’s a fungal infection called Rose Gardener’s disease? It’s relatively rare but is most often contracted via cuts on rose bush thorns – hence its garden-related name.

FAQ

Q. What’s the best way to care for my gardening gloves?

A. If manufacturer guidelines allow, throw your gardening gloves in the washing machine after each use. Hang them to dry. If your gloves are made out of leather, however, you will probably want to hand wash them using leather wax.

After you’ve cleaned your gloves, don’t store them all crumpled up. Find a place to hang them so they dry thoroughly and maintain a good shape.

Rubber gloves are the easiest type of gardening gloves to care for. Just rinse them off after use with a garden hose or under the tap.

Q. Can I really contract an infection from playing around in the dirt without gardening gloves?

A. Yes. One particularly serious infection that you could contract from rooting around in the dirt without gloves is toxoplasmosis. For non-immunocompromised individuals, the symptoms are usually mild and non-life threatening, but it can be dangerous for pregnant women and those with weakened immune systems. Wearing gardening gloves can help shield you from undesirable bacteria, fungi, and parasites that lurk in the ground.