A glove is a bag of cloth or rubber that covers the hand. It seems to be nothing more than that. Looked at as a tool of hand care, though, one glove turns out to have three faces: the glove that keeps hot water and detergent away from the skin, the glove that wraps a moisturised hand through the night, and the glove that stands between the hand and cold air, sunlight and friction.
Wearing gloves sounds like a single act, but each occasion has its own purpose and its own way of putting them on. Nobody wears washing-up gloves to bed, yet a surprising number of people pull cotton gloves over damp hands. This article divides gloves into three occasions and sets out the role and the basic method for each.
Gloves for wet work: keeping hot water and detergent away
Washing up, cleaning, gardening. Hot water, detergents and soil all dry the hands, which is why gloves are recommended for these tasks. The back of the hand has little sebum and thin skin, and the film of sebum that holds water in the outer layer is easily lost to washing and friction. A glove is the plainest way of making sure that film is never taken in the first place.
There is one rule for putting them on: the hands must be completely dry. Pull a rubber glove over a wet hand and the water trapped inside has nowhere to go, leaving the skin in warm, damp air for as long as the work lasts. That is the same as being wet for a long time, which is hard on the skin and on the nails. Dry the hands first, check that they are dry, then put the gloves on.
As for the material, powder-free or latex-free gloves cause less irritation. Gloves dusted with powder on the inside leave that powder on the skin after they come off. During long sessions it helps to take the gloves off once and let the moisture inside escape.
Cotton gloves at night: moisturise first, then cover
When the hands are badly chapped, one approach is to moisturise before bed and then wear cotton gloves. Here too the order matters. Smooth serum or cream over the backs of the hands, the fingers and the nail contours, wait a little until the surface has settled, and only then put the gloves on. Cover the hands with cloth the moment after applying and much of the moisturiser ends up in the glove rather than on the skin.
Cotton is chosen for its breathability. Synthetic fibres and rubber trap heat and moisture; cotton lets the hand breathe. A hand can be wrapped all night without becoming clammy, and in the morning the skin feels smooth and dry to the touch. Keep the gloves themselves clean and wash them every few days. A glove whose fibres are saturated with old moisturiser is no friend to the hands.
None of this needs to happen every night. Ordinary evening care is simply a serum worked into the hands; gloves are a tool for especially dry days or for a once-a-week intensive session, and regarding them that way makes the habit easier to keep. We have written separately about the weekly overnight hand mask.
Gloves outdoors: cold air, sunlight and friction
Winter gloves exist to keep the hands warm, but from the point of view of hand care they do three jobs. They shield the surface of the skin from dry, cold air. They take on the friction of handrails, straps and bag handles so that the skin does not. And while driving or cycling, they block the sunlight that falls on the backs of the hands.
UV light reaches the hands in winter too, and the back of the hand is the place where sunscreen is most often forgotten. Where a glove covers, the skin is protected. It does not protect the wrist, nor the hours spent indoors by a sunny window with the gloves off. Sunscreen and gloves are not alternatives; each has its occasions.
With outdoor gloves, pay attention to the inside. A rough lining, or a glove so small that it squeezes the fingers, becomes a source of friction itself. If the fingertips are white when the gloves come off, or the skin around the knuckles is red, the size needs a second look.
Choosing, wearing and putting away: a short list
- Dry the hands completely before putting gloves on. This applies to every occasion.
- Powder-free, latex-free gloves for wet work; cotton for the night; a smooth lining for outdoors.
- Choose a size with room at the fingertips that does not grip the wrist.
- Dry the inside after use. Never put gloves away damp.
- After the gloves come off, wash and moisturise. Gloves are not a substitute for moisture.
The last line is the one that matters most. Gloves protect the hands; they do not give them anything. A hand that has just come out of a glove has been losing moisture to heat and humidity. Wash with lukewarm water, pat dry, moisturise straight away. Placed within that sequence, the glove makes sense as a tool. Our hand care page sets out the whole order of washing, moisturising and protecting.
How Soie sees it
Soie thinks of gloves as the tool that protects and of the hand serum as the tool that gives. After wet work done in gloves, or in the morning when the cotton gloves come off, take one or two pearl-sized drops of Enlight Hand Serum on the back of the hand and work it in between the fingers and around the nails. It leaves no stickiness, so there is no need to wait before putting gloves back on.
Gloves are not there to keep the hands away from a life of using them. They are there so that the hands can go on being used. Wear the right pair for each of the three occasions, and moisturise when they come off. That alone makes the glove a quiet ally in caring for the hands.
