Goalkeeper Glove Care & Maintenance

GOALKEEPER GLOVE CARE & MAINTENANCE

MOST IMPORTANT RULE ABOUT GOALKEEPER GLOVES
Use your fists to push yourself back up to avoid the palms of your gloves seeing contact with the ground. Using your palm may help you spring back up quicker, but it will cause unnecessary wear to occur on the latex.

 

How to Care for your Goalkeeper Gloves and Maintain Them

Goalkeeper gloves will always wear and deteriorate at a quicker rate when in use more often.

Not all goalkeepers are the same, therefore wear and tear is different for everybody. Wear and tear are impacted by many variables such as.

  • the playing conditions (pitch and/or weather)
  • usage
  • how they are maintained
  • playing surface
  • goalkeeping technique

To make sure that you extend and maximise the lifespan of your goalkeeping gloves, you should employ the following tips before, during and after use.

 

New Goalkeeping Gloves

Remove the plastic film and Pre-wash your new gloves before using them for the first time and allow them to dry naturally (check the washing instructions below). This is to ensure that any preservatives from the manufacturing process are removed from the latex. If you want absolute confidence that they are ready, a second pre-wash will not hurt the gloves. See below for instructions on how to wash your gloves.

Essential Maintenance Tips for Your Goalkeeper Gloves

Before Play: Pre-wash your gloves before using them, wet the palms so they are moist to touch. This is to ensure that you activate the latex and make sure that you are getting the maximum grip out of your gloves when you use them. Shake off excess water if you have applied too much, but the gloves will be thirsty.

During Play: When you are playing in your goalkeeper gloves, occasionally wet the palms of the gloves with water to get the best possible grip and durability from the latex palm. Latex is not designed to be dry. Therefore, you will often see pros on TV/Stream squirt water on them or even spit, to make the latex come alive. But it is also to wash the dirt or other debris off, that can find their way onto the palm or finger surface.

After Play: After using your goalkeeper gloves, make sure that you wash them within the hour and leave them to dry naturally.

Do not leave your gloves to dry out too much, as the latex palms will become brittle which will have an impact on durability and grip which is not what you want (our “how to” on drying your gloves further down the page has all the info you need!).

How to Wash Goalkeeper Gloves

If you want to make the most out of your goalkeeper gloves, wash within the hour after use in warm water (a maximum of 30º C water temp).

Rinse and soak the gloves in the sink or bucket, The gloves should  be washed by hand, using your thumbs and fingers to rub the dirt off - lightly - applying too much pressure can tear pieces of the latex. We do not recommend using any sort of brush or scrubber for this reason…only hands, NEVER use your fingernails!

Leave your gloves to dry naturally, it should take around a day(24hrs). For more information on the best way to dry your gloves keep reading.

How to Dry Your Goalkeeper Gloves 

Once you have washed your goalkeeper gloves and are ready to dry them, we recommend applying pressure with a towel to your gloves to soak up excess water, before leaving them to dry naturally. Do not wipe or scrub them with the towel as this may tear pieces of the latex.

You can also hang them on a washing line (not in direct sun) or in the bathroom but be careful not to leave them in direct sunlight or a humid environment.

DO NOT dry your gloves by using the following methods:

  • On a radiator or heater
  • In front of a fire
  • In a tumble dryer
  • Using an iron
  • Using an airing cupboard
  • In direct sunlight
  • By ‘wringing’ them out

All the above methods may cause a loss of natural moisture in the latex and in turn, make them dry and brittle. Be sure to follow our process on how to clean your goalkeeper gloves to minimise your chances of error.

Where to Store Your Goalkeeper Gloves

Store your gloves in a reasonably cool and dry environment out of direct sunlight. Keeping your gloves somewhere humid can cause mould and bacteria to grow and damage your gloves. We recommend that you leave your gloves to dry overnight as a minimum. Leaving your gloves out to dry for too long in very dry environments can cause your gloves to become brittle and dry.

Make sure that the palms of your gloves are not touching when left to dry. If you do this, you may find your palms stuck together when you return and peeling them apart will likely tear the latex.

Avoid storing your goalkeeping gloves away without having washed them first.

 How to Care for Your Goalkeeper Gloves

Let us review the core processes of caring for and maintaining your gloves and ultimately extending the life of them.

  • Pre-wash the gloves before your first initial use.
  • Pre-wet your gloves before each match/use
  • Occasionally dampen palms with water during use to help with the grip.
  • Wash within the hour after use in water under 30ºC.
  • Leave the gloves to dry naturally
  • Keep in a cool environment out of direct sunlight.

Goalkeeper gloves are generally designed for use on natural surfaces like grass; unless specified (e.g. a specialist 3G/astro turf latex which sacrifices grip for durability). If you are using a goalkeeper glove on an artificial surface such as 3G or astro turf you will be placing a higher level of stress on the latex, therefore it will wear quicker.

Latex Degradation

We only use the highest-quality latex sourced from Germany to offer the best grip in all conditions. However, latex is an incredibly soft natural product that is subject to wear and tear over time, which cannot be avoided. At any point, latex can and will begin to show forms of wear and tear, it really can be as simple as an unlucky nick off the playing surface. And it can happen in your first game just as much as it can in your fiftieth.

Latex degradation will be affected by multiple factors including:

  • Age of keeper
  • Technique
  • Playing surface
  • How they were prepared
  • Were the care instructions followed
  • Volume of saves and how busy your defence is making you!
  • Luck

The better you care for your gloves the more life you are likely to get out of them. If your latex begins to show signs of wear, then do not panic. Wear and tear on your gloves are normal and expected - all our gloves come with 4mm of latex material on the palm, so will perform until there is no latex left on the palm.