Important criteria for good gardening gloves - That's what matters

Good gloves are essential when gardening. But what criteria do they have to meet to optimally protect our hands? Find out here.

Winter is passing and we hobby gardeners are already in the starting blocks again. As soon as the weather permits, we'll be working hard outside again. Digging, planting, cutting - this work can sometimes leave marks on our hands. That is why it is so important to wear gloves when doing any gardening work. They not only protect against cold and wet, but also against abrasions and nasty thorns.

In the first years of my gardening I only used cheap products from the discount store. In retrospect, I spent more money on these things than if I had bought something decent straight away. As the saying goes: "If you buy cheap, you buy twice". This may not always be the case, but unfortunately in my case it was true.

How do you recognize good gardening gloves? - 7 important criteria

1. Protection against cold and wet

Good gardening gloves must of course protect against the cold and wet. This point was often the KO criterion, especially with my cheap gloves. At least I think that hands should not be wet and damp after repotting, because unfortunately they were. Instead of dissipating moisture, it was directly attracted.

You can't completely rule out moisture getting into the gloves, because then they would have to be made of a material that is water-repellent. This would in turn mean that the hands sweat underneath. Most manufacturers therefore use breathable textile fabric. Gloves made of this material keep moisture out for a relatively long time.

2. Intuition

An important criterion is the feeling in the gloves. Especially when plucking weeds you can tell whether the gloves are good or not. If you only have soil in your hand instead of wild growth, you know that these are not the right ones.

Impractical gloves are identified by thick, chunky seams at the fingertips. These make precise work almost impossible. Be sure to pay attention to this when buying.
Gardening glovesbut should still have reinforcement on the fingertips, which is processed in such a way that it does not interfere with work. The reinforcement serves to protect against moisture and dirt.

3. The perfect fit

If the gloves don't fit properly, not only is it completely impossible to work with them, it can also drive a hard-working gardener outright incensed. The feeling of the gloves almost slipping off your hand is just impractical. Working with a chainsaw or other equipment could be dangerous.

Always pay attention to the size information. Every good manufacturer always offers different sizes, there is always something from S to L. Other providers only offer the size F for women and M for men.

4. Secure hold

A secure hold is also very important for many jobs. Many manufacturers provide their gloves with special nubs on the inner surfaces so that they do not slip off during your work and possibly injure yourself. Other gloves have a water-resistant latex coating. Both options are good and provide additional security when working.

There are also padded gardening gloves specially designed for working with a rake, spade and digging fork to prevent blisters and calluses. That extra padding isn't bad for this kind of work, but you lose the feeling in the gloves quickly because some models are really, really thick.

5. Robustness

From plucking weeds to cutting roses - if you don't want to keep changing your gloves, you should make sure when buying gardening gloves that they are sufficiently robust. After all, who wants to pull all the thorns out of their hands one by one?

Since gardening gloves are nothing more than work or protective gloves, they are divided into different performance levels according to the degree of stress. The basis is DIN EN 420 or the specific form of DIN EN 388 (protective gloves against mechanical risks).

If gloves meet the minimum requirements of DIN EN 388, they are often marked with a hammer (pictogram). Below that is a 4-digit number representing the achievement levels achieved.

1. Number: Abrasion Resistance
3. Figure: Tear Strength

The table shows how the gloves are divided into specific performance levelsor which requirements they have to meet.

If you want to learn more about the individual performance levels and how they are determined, you will find the right information at the Bundesverband Handschutz e.V.

6. Seam Strength

Many of my cheap products didn't last long. Especially when they got wet, I had the feeling that the seams dissolved into thin air. Of course that shouldn't be the case. It doesn't help if funny motifs adorn the gloves. But you can't expect perfect quality for just a few cents either.

7. Pollutant content

Gloves are important to protect your hands from injuries and dirt - they are not called protective gloves for nothing. It is all the worse, however, that many gloves contain harmful substances that irritate the skin and can lead to skin diseases.

The problem is that gloves cannot usually be manufactured without these components, which is why DIN EN 420 indirectly allows their use. But with the requirement to specify the substances. So everyone can decide for themselves whether to use the gloves or not.

The trade association for the construction industry provides a detailed list of allergens that everyone can access.

I also found a very interesting article about the pollutants in gardening gloves at the Bremer Umweltberatung. Here you can find out, among other things, that an examination of 13 gloves according to the Öko-Test showed that seven of these gloves were contaminated with plasticizers and another five contained questionable heavy metals. Only gloves made of nitrile could not be found to contain harmful substances.

My Favourites:

My most frequently used gloves in the garden are the PU micro gloves and the Monza nitrile gloves from engelbert-strauss. They just fit perfectly and you can do almost any gardening job with them without any problems.