Glove care tips

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Always Wash your gloves in warm water 

Wash simply with your hands, without using scrubbers or other tools that may damage the surface of the gloves. 

We like to think of this wash routine as a healthy post-game ritual where you can think through the game and unwind. 

Two ways to wash your gloves. 

First way is to run warm water in the sink.  Put gloves ON, soak the gloves in water. Then put a dab of LIQUID soap on each glove. About the size of a dime MASSAGE the liquid soap in, DONOT SCRUB your hands together.  Rinse the gloves and squeze the gloves several times with the gloves still on. THIS WILL GIVE YOUR FINGERS A GREAT GK HAND WORKOUT. Take off the gloves and rinse the gloves again, making sure ALL THE SOAP IS OUT. Then hang dry. 

Second way to wash and easiest. In the shower, place gloves Palm side up. Wash how you normally would and then every now and then step on the gloves to squeeze out the yuck.  When rinsing, pick the gloves up and squeeze out the excess dirt. No direct soap to the gloves, just the soap and water that falls to the floor.  

Hang gloves on the pole that the curtain hangs from using the wrist strap to hang and have fingers pointing down. 

Dry gloves Naturally, hanging from something. Fingertips towards the ground, squeezing excess water out every now and then. 

Should take 12-18 hours to naturally dry

 Do NOT dry the gloves: • In a tumble dryer • On a radiator or in front of a large source of heat (e.g., fire) •Using an iron or hair dryer •In direct sunlight

Before each game: Your goal should be to make your palm moist so the latex is at its grippiest (technical note: moisture increases the coefficient of friction between the gloves and the ball). To do so, we like to dampen the surface of the gloves 10-15 minutes prior to kick-off by placing the palms under warm running water for 2-4 seconds on each glove- just enough for the latex to absorb some water. You do not want to completely soak your gloves, so avoid getting surfaces other than the palm (there is no advantage to getting the back-hand of the gloves wet). Then place the gloves somewhere where they won’t completely dry out (example: wrap them in a towel and rest them in your bag- the towel will dry out excess water but keep the palms moist). When game time comes, you want the surface of the gloves to feel moist, not so wet that water drips out.
• Right before game time / during game: A quick splash of water is a good thing.
• After each use:  Make sure to air out your gloves. Let the sweat and dirt dry out before you store them in your glove bags. Wash about every 2 weeks.
• Storing your gloves: Do not store your gloves for any length of time without having washed them first. Then, make sure to store them in a cool and reasonably moist environment. 

Avoid:
o Too wet: you do not want your gloves to remain wet for a long time, as this can cause bacteria and mold to develop.
o Too dry: if the gloves are stored in an extremely dry environment, they will become brittle and break out next time you use them
o Do not leave the palms touching each other when stored away. Otherwise the gloves may stick to each other, and may get damaged when you pull them apart