How do you wash golf gloves? After a single round of gloves, your golf gloves will often accumulate some amount of dirt, gunk, or moisture.
To extend the lifetime of your gloves, you need to take good care of them, and clean them regularly. In fact, taking good care of your golf gloves will also avoid them from crusting up, reducing your feel, and increasing your handicap.
How to Wash Golf Gloves?
There are a few methods out there to wash your golf gloves, but they were not all created equal. Some cleaning techniques will clean your gloves well but require effort. On the other hands, other methods will require little input from you, but damage your golf gloves.
Best Method: Hand Wash your Golf Gloves
Golf gloves, especially leather gloves, are quite fragile. Therefore, you need to treat them gently and opt for a hand cleaning method.
To hand wash your golf gloves, slip on one of the gloves you wish to clean.
With your other hand, pour a small amount of mild soap or saddle soap on the glove you want to clean. Saddle soap is a cleaning agent specifically made for leather, so it is the best choice, although mild soap should do fine. Avoid a strong soap solution; you only want a little bit of mild soap to loosen up dirt on the glove. Too much soap will not be good for your glove.
Squirt or pour a little bit of water on your glove, and take
Next, gently scrub the glove with a towel. Avoid scrubbing too hard, or you will cause additional wear in your golf glove.
Direct the soap towards the dirty parts of your glove and scrub off any dirt or gunk present.
Once the glove is clean, use some water to rinse off all the soap and dirt off the glove. It is very important to remove all the soap, or the glove will harden and crust.
After all the soap and dirt are removed from the glove, give the glove time to dry. Ideally, keep the glove on until it dries so the glove keeps its form. If you cannot keep the glove on, let it dry alone, but put your hand back in it every now and then.
Repeat this process for the second glove if you wear two gloves. If you were a single golf glove, you are done!
This is the best, least destructive technique to clean and wash your golf gloves!
Method to Avoid: Throw your Golf Gloves in the Washing Machine
Throwing your golf gloves in the washing machine will clean them, but it is not a recommended method. In fact, putting your gloves in a washing machine is a rather rough treatment, and it can warp the form of your gloves. In reality, this means your gloves might not fit on your hands as well as they used to. The use of a washing machine will also cause more wear in your gloves, reducing their lifetime.
To reduce the downsides of throwing your gloves in the washing machine, make sure you use a cold heat setting. Warm water will damage your gloves more than cold water.
Finally, after the washing machine cycle is over, you need to dry your gloves.
However, ideally, once again, keep your gloves on until they dry so they keep their form as much as possible. If you cannot keep the gloves on, let them dry on a table, but put your hands back in them every now and then.
BONUS TIPS:
+Choosing darker colored gloves instead of white gloves will reduce the appearance of the gloves looking dirty.
+Rinse your gloves after every round of gloves to remove the dirt and other gunk. Dirt will harden on your gloves and contribute to stiffening them up. Use room temperature water, not warm water.
+Leather gloves are more fragile than synthetic gloves and react badly to moisture and salt coming from sweat. Avoid drenching your gloves when you clean them, as moisture can cause them to harden.
+Do not use your golf glove to clean your dirty golf ball or golf club when you are playing a round. Use something else to clean your balls and clubs. For instance, you can use a spare towel or rag.
+When scrubbing your golf gloves, there should not be too much fabric moving around. If you notice lots of fabric sliding on your hand, your gloves might be the wrong size. Check out our guide to get the best fit: How to Size Golf Gloves.
Conclusion
In summary, you now know the best method to clean your gloves, and which one to avoid! Avoid the washing machine, hot water, moisture, salt, and rough treatment of your gloves. Keep your gloves clean, and they will last much longer!
Have you tried other glove cleaning methods? Let us know down below in the comments!
