Washing your goalkeeper gloves is going to allow you to extend the lifespan of your gloves, and also get better performance on the field. I’m someone who is usually going to predicate that you need to rely on your technique more than any piece of equipment that you can find. At the same time though, goalkeeper gloves in good conditions these days can make a difference. There’s no question that it’s going to be easier to make clean catches with gloves that are still providing high grip levels. What is also true is that good goalkeeper gloves that are going to be able to provide an advantage for goalkeepers who wear them don’t come cheap. For 99.9% of us it’s super important to make sure that we’re able to get the most out of each pair that we buy. That’s why how to wash goalkeeper gloves is important.
Right out of the gate I want to get to an uncomfortable topic. There are currently a ton of products out there that claim that they are the best to wash your gloves. Do any of these work? I haven’t tried all of them, but out of the ones I have tried I want to pull some of the important aspects that each product should provide. If you don’t want to spend money on additional products then you can use soap and water that you have at home. There are different things to account for when it comes to the type of soap that you’re using so that’s something that I want to cover.
Step 1 Pick Out What You’re Going To Be Cleaning The Gloves With
I mentioned this already there are a ton of products out there to wash your goalkeeper gloves with. Virtually all of the goalkeeper glove manufacturers out there have a product that they sell to clean your goalkeeper gloves. What I want to do is give you some tips on what you want out of the soap, shampoo, or specialized soap to wash goalkeeper gloves. Essentially what you need is something that’s going to serve as a lubricant that’s going to allow you to scrub the gloves and clean them without ripping them. That’s the key element that you want to look for. What you don’t want is soap or whatever you use that’s going to embed itself in the fabric.
An example of something that you may have at home that you don’t want to use on your gloves is hair conditioner. That substance is way too thick, and it’s literally designed to embed itself in hair. If you have gloves that take that in they can become really slick. If you’re going to be using something that you have at home regular shampoo or even hand soap would do. Dish soap is another one of those things that you’re going to want to avoid. It’s too thick, and it can embed itself in the glove and that’s not what you want. If you want to be extra safe just make sure that you buy one of these products that glove manufacturers sell.
Step 2 A Bath A Sink Do What You Want To Do
Usually what you want to do to wash your goalkeeper gloves is fill a tub or even the sink with some water. There are people out there that like to put their gloves in the washing machine. I have an article on that already. There are certain types of gloves that you maybe don’t want to put in the washing machine. Older gloves that are at that point where they are about to rip are certainly not the gloves that you want to be putting in the washing machine. Again to be extra safe what you want to do is fill the bathtub or a sink even.
You could do a bit of a pressure wash if you will with some goalkeeper gloves. If you have a very thick glove and you don’t have enough time to let them dry out you may want to limit the amount of water that you’re using in the process. The best thing that you can do is go ahead and fill the sink and use that water to be able to wet the gloves, and use soap on them. The good thing about filling up the sink is that you can go ahead and drain the water out when it starts getting too dirty. You’re going to see the water get filthy. If that’s going to gross you out then the sink is the way to go.
Step 3 Scrub The Gloves – How To Get That Done
Really what’s going to determine your success is how you can scrub the gloves. What I actually like to do is scrub the gloves with itself in a sense. You’re using the glove fingers to scrub the palm area. Some people don’t love that friction because it can cause some of the parts that you’re trying to clean up to rip. However, that’s why it’s important that you’re using a shampoo or soap that helps you get the glove clean, but also serves as that lubricant that we were talking about.
Could you use something else to scrub the gloves? Sure, but as I mentioned you want to make sure that whatever you do, you don’t rip the glove in your effort to scrub it clean. A good idea could be to take a tooth brush, and use that to scrub down the glove. We probably don’t have to say this, but you probably want to use a toothbrush that’s exclusive to your goalkeeper glove cleaning activities. Don’t be putting that tooth brush back in your mouth. Using an old toothbrush for something like this is probably not something that we’d recommend either, but that’s for each of you to decide.
Things To Account For Before You Move To Drying Process
The drying process is certainly the most important part of cleaning goalkeeper gloves. If you leave them out in the sun for example the materials can harden, and that’s going to make the gloves lose grip. In any case, there are things that you’re going to want to account for before you hang your glove out to dry. No matter what soap or shampoo you use in the cleaning process you want to make sure none of it remains on the gloves when you get ready to dry them out.
I talked about this when I mentioned that you don’t want to use dishwasher soap or conditioner. Even with some of the products that goalkeeping glove manufacturers offer that are supposed to be perfect for cleaning goalkeeper gloves you want to ensure that you get rid of all of the soap before you head to the drying process. As I mentioned before if you don’t get rid of the soap there’s a chance that when the gloves dry out they’ll be slick. Slick goalkeeper gloves equals no grip. You don’t want goalkeeper gloves that are pearly white, but can provide enough grip for you. Get rid of all of that soap. If you have to use extra water to get rid of the soap make sure that you squeeze the glove to get as much water out as you can as well.
Pick Out The Best Drying Process
Let’s look at what you don’t want to do first. Don’t just put your gloves out to dry in the sun. If you do, there’s a chance that the latex on the gloves is going to get hard. Hard latex equals no grip. If you want to go through a bit of a more passive drying process then you can hang the gloves out to dry, but in the shade. Keep in mind that if you’re going to go through a passive drying process you may not be able to use the gloves for at least a couple of days. Even then if they don’t dry up well enough they can be damp, and smell bad.
Maybe the best thing that you can do is be active with the drying process. There are a couple of things that you’re going to be able to do to speed up the drying process. One of the options is to literally throw the gloves in the dryer. As is the case with throwing your gloves in the washing machine though you want to be very careful with how you’re putting in the dryer. You don’t want to leave any velcro areas exposed. The velcro can get caught on any part of the drying machine and that could tear up the glove. At the same time if you have gloves that have seen better days maybe you want to avoid the dryer.
Another option that you’re going to have available to you is to use a hair dryer. That’s going to allow you to control the drying process through and through. You can even use cold air instead of hot air if you’re worried about the heat making the gloves become stiff. Pick the drying process that makes the most sense for you.
How Often Should You Wash Goalkeeper Gloves?
That’s going to depend on how often you play. If you play every single day then maybe you want to wash them at the end of the week. When you train 3 times a week, and play on Saturday or Sunday you may want to wash them before the game if your training gloves are also your game gloves. Just make sure that the gloves are dry enough come game day. Overall if I had to give a very general answer I would say most of us are going to be ok with washing our gloves once a week. When I played the team staff would wash your gloves after every single session if you wanted them to. Too much washing actually caused my overly expensive Uhlsport gloves to wear out much quicker than they maybe should have.
How To Wash Goalkeeper Gloves Conclusion
As you can probably tell by now there are different washing methods that you could potentially use. I just recently washed my gloves in the bathroom sink in the days that it took to finally sit down and finish this article. The sink has plenty of benefits because you can get direct water into the glove when you need to. Particularly if you’re having trouble washing off some of the soap that you used. The true key though to the washing process itself may very well be finding the right tool to be able to scrub your gloves with. I had one of those brushes that you can use for your shoes, and I think the tooth brush idea is still better.
Another thing that is super important is the drying process, and I’ll just leave you a little nugget here. If you want to make sure that your gloves are able to keep their grip once they’re dry after the wash apply glove glue. That can actually contribute to having long lasting goalkeeper gloves. What you don’t want to do is apply glove glue to dirty gloves. At least you probably don’t want to be doing that consistently. The base of a dirty glove can still be slippery, and you’re just adding the sticky substance, probably not ideal. Go ahead and wash the glove and then add the glove glue when they’re dry. That’s going to extend your goalkeeper gloves’ utility life.
