Motorcycle gloves offer amazing protection while on the road, and they are a pivotal item when it comes to safety. With that in mind, there are also various misconceptions regarding these products. It’s a good idea to learn how to wash motorcycle gloves, but some people say that washing them might not even be necessary. So, should you consider washing motorcycle gloves or not? Here are some things to keep in mind.
Should you wash motorcycle gloves?
Absolutely, you always want to ensure that your equipment is free of dirt, grime, or debris. That’s especially true for gloves, these are items that will require a lot of attention and care. They are the ones protecting your hands from any damage or unwanted chemicals/compounds. Motorcycle gloves have a major role when it comes to personal protection, so it’s imperative to understand how you can wash your hands properly and without any errors.
Does dirt wear down your motorcycle gloves?
Generally, dirt is a problem regardless of the glove material. Once dirt accumulates, you will end up with material erosion. Leather in particular is easy to damage in the long run if you just leave dirt and dust on it. What happens is dirt will make your gloves dry out. In the long run, you can see cracks, the gloves are less pliable than ever, and they will also be much stiffer than ever before. That’s the reason why you need to pay a lot of attention to this situation and not just let it be randomly.
What about grease and oil?
Just like dirt, grease and oil are also major problems. The reason why you want to know how to wash motorcycle gloves is because grease and oil build up naturally in most gloves, but especially when it comes to leather. In the long term, this can help lower the efficiency of the leather and its quality. What also happens is the gloves deteriorate and they will have a much lower efficiency. Which is exactly the thing that you need to take into consideration in a situation like this.
Using lukewarm water and mild soap on leather motorcycle gloves
Maybe the best way to learn how to wash motorcycle gloves is to use mild soap and lukewarm water. The process is simple and it just involves a few steps. Here’s what you need to do:
- First, you want to rinse your gloves with water. Preferably, you want the water to be either cool or at least lukewarm. Rinsing them with water will help remove some of the dirt, while also eliminating any excess sweat.
- Then you want to add lukewarm or cool water in the tub, along with some mild liquid soap. The next step involves dipping those gloves into the solution of both water and soap. Ideally, you want to clean the inside and outside of these gloves with your fingers, as it helps streamline the process and prevent any issues.
- Lastly, you will need to rinse the soap with some running water. That way the gloves are clean and ready to dry out. When it comes to drying your motorcycle gloves, we highly recommend not using any heat source other than the sun. Heaters or anything like that can lead to glove damage, so it’s better to just let them dry out on their own.
- If the motorcycle gloves are made out of leather, a good idea is to use a leather conditioner. Using such a product is a great idea because it helps keep the leather high quality and soft. On top of that, you will also increase the leather lifespan, which is extremely important in a situation like this!
Cleaning textile motorcycle gloves
There are many motorcycle owners who find leather gloves to be either too expensive or hard to use. That’s why they opt for textile motorcycle gloves. With that in mind, you can easily add these to the washing machine. However, the idea here is that you want to avoid mixing these with other clothing pieces.
Instead, the best approach is to add them to a cloth bag. They do have Velcro, so if you’re not careful you will end up damaging other materials. That’s the reason why having these in a bag can be extremely helpful and an important part of the process. We recommend not using softener in case your gloves come with a waterproof membrane. If you use a softener, that can lead to material damage.
Related: How To Wash A Harley-Davidson Motorcycle?
Cleaning the inside of your gloves
When you learn how to wash motorcycle gloves, one of the things you will notice is that you will need to wash the inside of your gloves too. You will need to use warm water and mild soap, but avoid soaking these gloves in water.
Instead, what you need to do is to wipe them down, using a damp cloth will be ideal and extremely helpful. After they dry out, what you can do is you can add some talcum powder, since it can help you avoid stickiness due to perspiration.
What if you have Gore-Tex motorcycle gloves?
The Gore-Tex models are very popular as well, they are similar to textile gloves, but these also have a membrane that can be very sensitive. The cleaning process is similar to regular textile gloves, you just remove the dirt or grave via air drying, then you use liquid detergent and lukewarm water to wash it, and use a sponge to remove any dirt if needed. At the end you rinse using clean water and pat dry, after that, you leave the gloves under a fan.
Conclusion
It’s a great idea to know how to wash motorcycle gloves since you will extend their efficiency and lifespan. We all want to ensure that our motorcycle gloves will last for a very long time. That’s why we recommend following these guidelines and cleaning your gloves as often as you can. Not only does cleanliness extend glove lifespan, but they will also protect you a lot better if they are clean and undamaged. Depending on your riding schedule, you might need to clean these once a month, or at least a few times a year.
