As Spring unfolds and our collective attention turns to warm weather activities such as gardening I want to take a moment to write about the importance of protecting your hands with cotton glove liners. Glove liners, otherwise known as ‘liner gloves’ or simply ‘liners’, are not just for use as an additional layer worn underneath winter gloves for added warmth. Glove liners—cotton glove liners in particular—may be worn underneath work gloves all year round for protective lightweight hand coverage.
A lightweight cotton glove liner provides protection by preventing your skin from touching the inside surface of the ‘outer’ glove you are wearing. Simply put, it acts as a textile barrier that prevents your skin from being irritated. One example: I’m a big fan of leather work gloves for my gardening chores. The garden I inherited is filled with several lovely varieties of roses. The leather gloves I buy are unlined and priced on the low end on account that I use and abuse these gloves. I am guilty of leaving these on a shelf in my garage damp and dirty after a good afternoon’s work. My leather gloves dry stiff after that kind of neglect. I wear a pair of soft seamless cotton gloves underneath my gardening gloves to save my skin from being rubbed by dried stiff leather—never mind the gloves’ cut-and-sewn seams.
Healthy Skin / Healthy You
There are other examples but the bottom line is this: Skin plays a vital role in our overall health in that it keeps harmful microbes out of our bodies while keeping our bodies at a comfortable temperature and allowing us to sense the surrounding environment. If you take care of your skin, your skin takes care of you. Check out these links from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) to learn more: Healthy Skin Matters and Red, Itchy Rash?
Lightweight Protection in Various Forms
It is not enough to recognize the value of cotton glove liners by simply reading this post. To truly appreciate how helpful a pair may be when worn alone on the hands or underneath another, outer pair of gloves you need to go out and buy a pair or two (or a dozen depending upon what you choose). Cotton gloves liners may be purchased from an online shop, your local “big box” store or your neighborhood pharmacy. Search online using the phrase ‘lightweight cotton glove liners’ to get a terrific overview of the cotton glove options available for purchase.
Be aware: Not all cotton glove liners are the same. Some are made from cotton fabric that has been cut-and-sewn together into gloves whereas other cotton liners gloves are seamless knit. Furthermore, the glove fabric cross-sectional thickness may vary from tissue-paper thin to something a little thicker on account of the yarn size used to make the gloves. Finally, in reviewing glove descriptions online or on glove packaging please pay special attention to sizing. Cotton glove liners are valuable in that they provide lightweight hand coverage that protects your skin from direct contact from irritants….provided they are worn.
Anne Golding is the owner / operator of Occupational Textiles Solutions LLC. Occupational Textiles Solutions LLC manufactures and sells stretchy glove liners—including cotton ones—through her No Limits Textiles brand.