I have to start out by saying in that over 20 years of playing football, I NEVER pre-washed my gloves! Is this is a good thing? Well I am sure you will get lots of different answers but this worked for me.
However ... when gloves are manufactured, the latex is coated with chemicals which help preserve it. A pre-wash will help remove these chemicals. All gloves and latex's will respond differently to a wash i.e some will only require a quick rub down with a damp cloth, while others will require a much more vigorous wash and clean.
This has probably confused you even more!
Some of the gloves that you buy won't need a pre-wash, but most will, to my knowledge anyway. An alternative is the plastic film covering you see on the Nike Contact foam - this doesn't require pre-washing, and is good to go from the time you get the film off.
I know some of the latexes I've tried (like the Sondico SS latex) were very very slippery without pre-washing, and it's only after a couple of washes that the grip comes in - the gloves, prior to pre-washing, are virtually unplayable for me.
Reusch Megagrip too, comes with the instructions to 'rinse in warm water before first use to eliminate any soap remains, necessarily used in the production process.'
So, a prewash is basically just a rinse to wash out all the chemicals. Don't use soap water/glove wash to pre-wash your gloves - just good old, plain, tap water. For some gloves, you'll notice alot of bubbling etc - signs that the chemicals are coming out. You should keep on rinsing till the bubbling stops, and then leave the gloves to dry. For other gloves, there might not be bubbling, just give it a good rinse and rub and depending on the latex, you should soon be seeing the desired grip.
That's just my take on things, it's worked for me so far. At the end of the day though, always read what's one on the manufacturer's instructions. They probably won't call it a pre-wash - maybe like in the Reuch, just a 'rinse before use', but it's the same thing.
Hope this helps!
Adammaniam: I'm with Jimmy and have NEVER pre-washed gloves in almost 30 yrs!...until I got a pair of Selsport Euro Premier Guards (discussed in another Forum in comparison with Sondico Premier Legends).
The trouble is I tried them in a match yesterday (admittedly when they were still damp from a couple of washes the previous few days) and they were awful! We used a new Lotto ball that still had the "shine" on it and it felt like a cake of soap!
So as you can understand I'm not convinced about pre-washing after this experience - or was it down to the fact that they hadn't had a chance to dry out?
Would it be an idea to have a Glovebag data base for all the main manufacturers different latexes - ie. what conditions they're best for, a rating(five stars,perhaps) - this could be widely open to peoples opinion ; although I've always found Chewie's and Jim's to be pretty spot on ( I'm not looking for a gold star, honestly) and whether a latex needs a pre-wash,soak,wipe and what, if any,pre-match cleaning is required.
I've always been an Uhlsport boy,but possibly because I've been ignorant of other brands latex and partly because on the whole I've been pleased with what I've had from Uhl (although I wish they'd bring back APG).
I'll apologise now if this has been mentioned on other posts - if it has I'm unaware, but these questions keep cropping up and a reference of this sort would be a great help to a lot of guys.
BigRobo - that's a good idea, though I think it can sometimes vary from glove to glove even within the same model. Still, it would be useful.
KiwiGK - Cardiff is spot on here, and I actually mentioned it in my post too, that some gloves need a couple of washes before the grip starts to come appear (I'm not sure why though). And like Cardiff said, it's not just washes, but uses too. For my Umbro Widecut (which I did a 'quick look' on here too), I washed them, brought them out for games, wasn't confident in the grip (but they would get soiled from using them for awhile), went home, washed out the mud etc and continued the process for a couple of times before I was finally confident enough in the grip to use it. The number of times will vary according to the glove, so my advice for gloves that need to pre-washed is to always have a back up pair if your first pair is still in the 'breaking-in' period, and till then, just keep on using and cleaning it till the grip comes out.
Is the best way for things to be - I don't think so, I would rather have a glove that is good to go from the start. But this is the way it's been for me so far . I'm sure there are gloves out there that don't need a wash too, but for those who do, it may take awhile before you start seeing results, and I suspect that may be the case with your Selsports. I know it's frustrating if that's the only pair you have, but that's the only advice I can give,sorry!
It's worth the wait though (or it has been for me) - 3 months of using the Sondico SS and about 2 months after using the Umbro Widecut, this is what the latex is like now (i've put some 1 and 2 GBP coins on them, one is prior to my game yesterday (the Sondico) and one is after washing and drying, this morning (the WideCut)). I know tackiness doesn't correlate directly into great grip, but there's no other way of showing how the latex is other than this (for me anyway).
So yeap, keep faith with the Selsports, I'm sure they'll come good in a while (might be quite a while though!) Pre-washing works (for those gloves that need it), but for some gloves, it takes time before maximum results come out (for me anyway)
The Sondico SS
The WideCut (sorry for the poor photo quality)
i'm with adam 100%. besides, it's an excuse for me to have several gloves in rotation at once ;)
the last two gloves i used straight from the bag - nike t90 and puma icana le - both performed well straight off but the puma improved after several uses and washes whereas the nike stayed pretty constant.
the easiest way for me to tell if a glove needs prewashing is to take it in the shower on a low heat and give it a bit of a clean - if your hands feel "soapy" after you've worn the gloves in the shower then they definitely had chemicals in the palm still. this was how i proved that some gloves i'd bought off a KZ member had not been used.
as mentioned above, reusch megagrip definitely needs a good prewash, as does sells SS in my experience.
just to point out that i only use clean water for prewashing. no soap at all.
when gloves are dirty, glove wash.
This is taken directly from Sells website .....
FROM NEWRinse glove palms through with clean warm water only (no soap at all) to remove the detergent used when manufacturing the palm.Allow the gloves to dry naturally and the gloves will be ready to use.
BEFORE EACH MATCH/TRAINING SESSIONDampen the palms of your gloves just before you use them to optimise grip
So pretty much what everybody has been saying ... except me Gee, just think how well I would have gone if I had pre-washed my gloves
Thanks Adammaniam...I've given the Selsports a couple more washes (in water not glove wash) and have since done the "coin" test (with NZ$!!) and now get some tackiness!
I'll try them again this weekend and they should be good to go.
Maybe you've just convinced this old keeper to pre-wash from now on!
KiwiGKfanatic:Thanks Adammaniam...I've given the Selsports a couple more washes (in water not glove wash) and have since done the "coin" test (with NZ$!!) and now get some tackiness!I'll try them again this weekend and they should be good to go.Maybe you've just convinced this old keeper to pre-wash from now on!
No problem KiwiGK (and credit to Cardiff too, I think he made the 'wash and use' point initially).Also, it's great to hear that the gloves have 'woken up' KiwiGK - I think that's precisely what a site like this is for! Imagine years ago - the Selsports ( i know they didn't exist then) may well have been condemned as a bad pair of gloves!
Of course, (to anyone else reading this too),the 'coin-test' (and tackiness for that matter) isn't a perfect indicator of grip; there may be gloves that 'fail' the test but yet grip extremely well, and vice versa. The main thing I wanted to get across was that after a few washes and uses, my previously 'slippery as anything' gloves were getting rather tacky,and the grip increased too, so that's the main point - pre-washes may not be a one-off process for some gloves, and may take a few washes, but the gloves usually come good in the end. It's great that Cardiff had the same experiences too, b/c he's a much more extensive 'glove experience' than me.
Hope to hear some good news about the Selsports soon!
I never been a person to prewash me gloves.
I purchased a pair of Sells Dual Adhesion Ultra Guard. And wore them straight out of the pack.
The ball was like a bar of soap in training, but after a prewash ( no washing powder) and the grip was noticeable better.
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