Gloves!
Liz Warner
Posts: 199
in Talkback
I'm a new gardener with some cheap gloves! My nails (now cut!) creates a hole in them so I spent a day gardening without any gloves at all. My novice hands are now suffering- a lot! My gardening at the moment involves weeding, moving soil, clearing paths, and planting. Can anyone recommend some good gloves that will protect my hands but aren't too thick that I can't feel what I'm doing please? Thanks!
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I love Ethel gloves - you can get them on Amazon. They have leather reinforced finger tips so you can garden with long nails
Maybe this thread from last year will help http://www.gardenersworld.com/forum/tools-and-techniques/gardening-glove-suggestions/666970.html
I have just boght a new pair as last years ones were worn through!!
I have different gloves for different jobs and believe me a thorn protective quality is a must on some of my jobs..
I never took some much notice of the brandname, more of the quality and comfort.. I'm sure you have some great suggestions here..
I've got a pair of these: http://shop.nationaltrust.org.uk/medium-leather-hide-gloves/p6534 They are great, I've done lots of digging with them and not a blister from the garden fork. I can still pull up the odd weed in them, too. I got them in one of the NT shops, though, not online - I'd tried on many different gloves and most had fingers that were too short for me. So I'd suggest not buying any without trying them on firts.
Posh fingernails? What are posh fingernails? Unbroken fingernails without dirt under them? I can dream...
The best way is to go to garden centres, DIY stores and the like and try gloves on. My hands are very arthritic and in some gloves I can't bend my fingers at all, so trying them out is essential. The gloves have labels to tell you how much protection they provide so you can choose the vital qualities for the work you are doing.
In the winter I particularly like my thermal waterproof gloves. They have a knitted style back which is very effective for warmth and a waterproof butyl type coating over the palms, bottoms of fingers and fingertips. Definitely keep my hands warm and dry in the winter and I have yet to wear a hole in these.
From spring onwards I prefer lighter gloves which are a mix of very thin, soft leather and fabric and resemble a full golf glove. They are very close fitting and the right ones have thin enough leather to allow for most weeding / pruning / dead heading tasks. I usually develop a hole in the palm (where the hand fork and secateurs nestle) towards the end of the season.
For pricking out and potting on I either wear no gloves or use latex fine touch gloves - tend to be single use only.
For tougher jobs involving thorns and branches I have leather gauntlets - last for several seasons.
As others have said - the only way is to try them on and see what's comfortable for you. Cheap cloth gloves are a waste of money for me - I usually wear a hole in them after a couple of hard pruning sessions. Most leather gloves are way too thick for my taste. I cannot do anything other than coarse shredding / digging type work in anything other than soft really thin leather gloves.
Only started using gloves a few years ago after I sustained quite a serious injury to my knuckle from a rose thorn (became infected and rather nasty). Has made a difference but I still seem to have dirty nails
I forgot to mention that I used to have a pair of decorators' gloves and they were great for jobs where I needed more precision. They had thick rubber coating on the palms and bottom of fingers, so they provided protection, but they weren't waterproof from above. Really good summer gloves for me.