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Whether the mountain bike gloves are made of cloth or leather, they do get dirty and stinky. When you wear them, you notice that they cause your hands to become smelly afterwards, which is a rather uncomfortable. The question is how to wash your mountain bike gloves properly?

You need to clean gloves regularly therefore those problems arise. Many mountain bikers don't know how to wash their mountain bike gloves the proper way to clean them thoroughly.

Remember while biking, you sweat a lot, need to touch dirty surfaces, and sometimes even wipe your brows with gloves.

It is important to know the proper method to clean those. After that don't forget to dry your mountain bike gloves. This will ensure your comfort and hygiene even after using them long time. Moreover, your nose will be so thankful for the fresh smell.

Every mountain biker has their own way. So, how do you clean your mountain bike gloves? You can inform us by commenting below.

Required items to clean gloves properly

Whether it's a leather gloves or cloth gloves, you need the following items to clean your leather gloves properly.

Powder detergent which is non-bleaching
Antibacterial bar/liquid hand soap
Leather conditioner
White vinegar
Towel

Cleaning Leather Gloves

Leather gloves are hand washed only.

Step 1. Clean the inside of your gloves

You may ask yourself, how do I clean the inside of my leather gloves? These are the steps;

Turn the gloves inside out and wear them as you usually do.
Using the bar hand-soap, wash your gloves by rubbing your hands together. Do this thoroughly, on both the front and back of your hand gloves, as well as between the fingers.
Once you are done, rinse the gloves under a tap of running water to remove all the soap.
Take the gloves off and turn them on the right side.
Wear the gloves again and repeat the same procedure as that of washing the inside.

Step 2. Dry Bike Gloves - How To Dry Bike Gloves

After washing the inside and outside and rinsing thoroughly, squeeze the water out of the gloves by pressing down from the tips of the gloves, to the cuffs. Do not wring the gloves.
You can also place them between two dry bath towels, and press to remove the water. Repeat this severally until there is little water dripping out.
Wear the gloves again and flex your fingers to mold them into shape. Afterwards, place a clean dry towel out in the sun and lay the bike gloves flat on the towel to dry.
You can turn them inside out so that the inside can dry properly. Once the inside is dry, you should turn it to the right side so that both sides are totally dry.

Clean and new looking MTB gloves after cleaning

Once the gloves are dry, squeeze out a pea-sized amount of leather conditioner and rub it into each glove. This makes them softer and more comfortable to wear. If only parts of the glove are made of leather, use the leather conditioner on the leather parts only.

How To Clean Cloth Gloves

You can either hand clean them or use a washing machine. If you don't have time, you can wash those properly using washing machine.

Here is How to Clean Using a Washing Machine

Begin by fastening the Velcro cuff straps/ closing the snap or button on the gloves.
Put the gloves in a washing machine and clean using cold water and the powder detergent for cleaning laundry.
Add ¼ cup of white vinegar to the fabric softener slot in the machine. This will help get rid of the smell if the gloves are smelly.
Hand-rinse the gloves to remove any remaining soap suds.
Place them flat on a clean towel so that they can dry or hang them out in the sun.

Here is How to Hand-Wash Cloth Gloves

You should also begin by fastening the Velcro cuff straps/closing the snap or button on the gloves.
In a sink, mix cold water and soap and start washing by adding 1/8 cup white vinegar to get rid of bad odor.
Rinse the gloves thoroughly and severally, ensuring there are no soap studs left on them.
Lay the gloves flat on a clean towel or hang them up in the sun to dry.

5 hacks to get rid of the stinky smell

Apart from a white vinegar soak, there are other methods you can use to get rid of the persistent deadly smell emanating from your gloves that just won’t go away.

It is usually as a result of bacteria, which cannot be eliminated by delicate washing. For fresh smell like the new, you can try these hacks;

Before washing, soak the gloves in lots of lemon-flavored ammonia with hot water. This will give them a fresh smell after the wash.
Soak them in hot water (it shouldn’t be too hot for your hands) after the wash before drying them. The bad smell will disappear and stay away for a couple of weeks.
Placing them in the freezer also helps to rid the smell.
Fill them with baking soda and leave them in a warm place for an hour or so. For very stinky smells, you can soak them in a very strong solution of baking soda and water.
Spray them with Lysol each time you take the gloves off after a ride. You can also benefit by placing them in the sun after each use.

Final Word

Bike gloves cannot go unwashed considering that they carry a lot of bacteria. For gloves made of a combination of leather and cloth, hand-wash them, and do not use a washing machine.

After the gloves are dry, they may seem stiff for a while but it will soften up with continual usage. Wash them infrequently as too much washing could also cause them to wear out faster.

For constant long-distant bike-riders, frequent cleaning may be necessary because of prolonged usage. Do you have any questions? Did we miss something important? Leave a comment below.

How To Wash Your Mountain Bike Gloves?