How to Care for Leather Work Gloves || Black Gumbo

Here's a topic that is often overlooked by casual backyard gardeners. I'll tell you why I like leather work gloves for gardening, and how to care for them. Here I will show you my method, why I chose the products I chose, and how to apply it. I prefer a glove that conforms, is pliable and soft, is mostly water-proof, and, well, "fits like a glove." I'd enjoy hearing how you take care of leather too.

I will also talk briefly about oilcloth and using boiled linseed oil to add a layer of water resistance to hats and cloth the way they used to in more simple times.

I currently receive no benefit from providing product links or reviews, but for the love of good things, here's the stuff:

You can find the gloves here:

Leather Dressing here:

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Black Gumbo shares our suburban, backyard, sustainable gardening efforts. We work a small-scale, typical Zone 9a garden and raised beds, the kind of gardening accessible to all. We tend to take the slice of life approach and hope you will enjoy our family, our dog, our cooking, our adventures, and occasionally some commentary and advice. We love family, joy and friendship, and we invite you to enjoy these things with us!

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[falconx]

I'm 75 years old. Have used neatsfoot oil all my life and never had a problem with it. Saddles, bridles, holsters, boots, you name it.

[barrybrum]

Great video, thanks for creating and posting it. Keep in mind that clean gloves last longer by far than gloves with dirt and chemicals left in them. Especially any work gloves that have been exposed to petroleum products. I suggest that you clean them first, then oil them. I use saddle soap paste and a clean rag for spot cleaning of my gloves and I use glycerin bar soap and warm tap water for a more thorough cleaning. Just put the gloves on and wash and rinse your gloved hands a few times. Blot them with a dry towel to remove excess water, but don't twist or stretch them, which can distort their shapes. Lay the well rinsed gloves out flat on a dry towel and reshape them periodically. But, my REALLY dirty leather gloves get tossed in the washing machine along with my work clothes. They of course won't last as long as hand-washed gloves, but by the time they get relegated to the washer, they are nearing the end of their functional life anyway. I use Snow Seal for moisturizing and waterproofing my leather gloves. I'm 71, own a farm in Missouri, and I've been caring for my leather work and dress gloves for more than 50 of those years..

[lauraschwager]

I like that you show the gloves that you like in action! That adds a nice touch to your video!

[rachelcarson]

I thought I was the only one who geeked out on proper gloves. I’ve tried all those clever options too. I guess I’ll have to bite the bullet and get a couple good pairs of leather. Nuttin beats the real deal! Reminds me of conditioning my son’s first baseball glove 😊

[ardentarrosa]

I've used neetsfoot for my leather gloves, and so far so good. It's not degrading the thread or anything like that. I'm very happy with it. Thanks for your awesome video!

[paulf]

I agree with all you say about leather work gloves. I use huberds shoe grease and shoe oil. It contains nothing but beeswax and pine tar, it works superbly on boots and leather gloves.

[manaudlongboards]

Great video! In Spain we use horse grease for leather. Literally the fat from a dead horse is used and it works amazing. It isn't as liquid as oil but it works a lot better. Hope I helped in some way.

[rigopinedagarcia]

Hi Scott.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge about how to take care of your working gloves. For me, it is very important to use gloves that fit and conform my hands pretty well, due that I have pain problems in both hands. At night, I even sleep with wooly gloves on, which in a tropical country is hard to get use to. But you do what you have to do.
For me, in Nicaragua, linseed oil would be an expensive option to choose for this purpose; thus, I usually use simple baseline for my work gloves, is cheap and works pretty good. As I said, this is a cheap option you can try if you live abroad the USA. It may not be as good as linseed oil, buy it'll do the job.
Greetings from Nicaragua.

[CBsGreenhouseandGarden]

Yes Sir those are some really good gloves. All those others just don't cut it for gardening. I have found a new pair of Kobalt gloves that Lowes sells that I fell in love with. Not as good as my old leather ones but they are very close. Thanks for the info on how to take care of them. Hope you have a great rest of the week!

[SprocketWalker]

Please be careful with linseed oil. Saturated, discarded rags can and will spontaneity combust if left wadded up. Hang wet rags up to dry outside before disposing of. Thanks for the video!

[Truthseekingnomad]

Thank you I just got myself a pair work gloves and needed some info on how to make last a good while and this helped out 🤠

[grafxgrl]

I love the international replies - so cool to learn what others use/do!

[Butchthebugman]

If I care about the color, I use Bick 4. It's the only thing I've found that absolutely will not darken the leather. But it provides little water resistance.
If I don't care about the color, like with work boots or gloves, I go with Huberd's Shoe Grease. It's mainly pine tar and beeswax, and smells like a campfire. It will darken the leather, but lasts a long time and provides pretty good waterproofing.

[craftfarms]

I agree. Leather gloves are the best. They do conform to your hands to make things easier. I bought a couple of good pairs from Harbor Freight. I have tried my leather cleaning from Saddleback Leather that I use on my work bags. It's called Chamberlain's Leather Milk. It seems to work okay. Thanks for the information!

[CrispyFrenFry]

Great video and suggestions: however, I'd recommend using saddle soap to thoroughly clean the leather and unclog the pores of dirt and unnecessary oils and then follow it with a leather conditioner of your choice.

[reaganl.]

I have used Boiled Linseed Oil on my yard tools and their handles as well as a some WWII era rifle stocks that were in dyer need of some help. I read somewhere that there was an old saying, 'Apply once a day for a week, once a week for a month, once a month for a year...then once a year for life.' I have some of my fathers shovels and rakes that he would coat using fine steel wool in the summertime, they still repel water and have a deep walnut color to them. I know these yard tools are at least as old as me. You can also apply it to the metal parts to inhibit rust on tools, I don't know about using it on firearm metals personally.

[therusticranchgarden]

great info. i will do that to my leather gloves for sure. thanks.

[Owl_Knight_Terror]

thank you I appreciate your help, very informative

[grafxgrl]

Thank you for this well-researched message!

[francoisbelangerboisclair]

If you want to really take care of your gloves. You can go in a saddlery shop. They usually sell professional products for leather and know their stuff if you find a good one. It's also way cheaper compared to a shoe shop.