Why bother with glove care?
Honestly never thought much about glove care until last month when my training partner literally gagged after I took off my gloves. Smelled like dead squirrels mixed with sweaty socks. Figured it was time to figure this out unless I wanted to spar alone.
My lazy experiment week
First just tried leaving them near the window hoping fresh air would help. Spoiler: it didn’t. Then stuffed old newspapers inside like some YouTube hack suggested. Ended up with sticky paper bits glued to the lining and zero odor improvement. Total fail.
What actually worked
Finally got serious and did this routine after every session:
- Immediately wipe down with 50/50 water-white vinegar mix using a washcloth. Got right into the crevices around thumb area.
- Stuffed dry silica gel packs inside (saved from shoe boxes) instead of newspaper.
- Air-dried upside down on bottle holders so sweat could drip out.
- Biweekly deep clean by freezing overnight – kills bacteria without water damage.
Game-changing discoveries
Learned that leather cracks not just from hits but from dried sweat salt crystals. The vinegar mix cuts through that gunk way better than soap. Also realized fingers get funky fastest so now I always spread them wide while drying.
3 months later update
Gloves still look and smell decent! No more crusty lining or that gross damp feel. Even the wrist straps aren’t stiff anymore. Best part? My training partner actually used them last week without making that “I’m gonna puke” face.
Final thoughts
This takes like 2 minutes after training but saves so much money and embarrassment. Thought about buying expensive sprays but vinegar + silica packs + freezer method is basically free and honestly just works better.
