Cleaning and looking after your boxing gloves is one of the best ways to for the longevity of your gloves! Most will spend a lot of money on some gloves so it’s important to make sure you get your money worth and not let them deteriorate too quickly.
If you are like myself, I have a multiple boxing gloves I use and after hard session in the gym it can be so easy for you to forget about cleaning your boxing gloves.
However, there is a real danger to leaving your gloves in your gym bag after a particular sweaty session. Over time if you continue to keep up this bad habit, it can start disintegrate your gloves quickly and that is last thing you want. Especially if you have invested in a really good and expensive pair of boxing gloves.
So to help you out I’ve complied my top 6 tips to look after and clean your boxing gloves:
1. Wipe your gloves down
Now it might seem like a fairly obvious tip to make, but make sure to grab a cloth or paper towel and wipe down the sweat after a gym session. Leaving them wet for too long can start deteriorate the gloves making the sweat damage the leather/vinyl layer and leak into padding underneath overtime.
This tip can really help you minimise the damage and is something a lot of people forget to do after their training.
2. Buy some glove deodorizers
This is absolutely key if you want to keep your boxing gloves in great condition, especially on the inside of your boxing gloves. We all know it is a lot harder to clean on the inside as the sweat from your hands and fingers can drench inside during a training session.
The best way to make sure your gloves stay fresh is to invest in some deodorizers, which don’t cost that much at all. You can get a more basic ones like the ‘No Stink Sports Glove Deodorizer‘ or these fantastic glove fitting Meister Glove Deodorizers for boxing on Amazon, these help absorb the majority of sweat leaving the gloves smelling nice and fresh.
3. Stuff the inside with paper towel
Now before you can get your hands on a deodorizer for your gloves, a simple and easy option is to stuff the inside of your glove with paper towel. This might not be the most effective long term option, but it will certainly absorb most of the sweat in the glove.
It might not improve the smell however and the sweat can still stick onto glove from paper towel over time, so use this a temporary option.
4. Air them out
You need to make sure you take your boxing gloves out of your gym bag after your training session. By keeping them in your bag overnight, this can build up plenty of bad bacteria which creates that horrible sweat smell overtime.
This bacteria can also start to damage the padding from the inside, which in turn could hurt you hand if you’re not careful. So next time take them out your gym bag, stretch your gloves out and air them out, it’s that simple!
5. Spray with air freshener
If you don’t have the deodorizers to freshen your gloves up, you can always just use a fabric air freshener or odor eliminating product. These can be purchased at your local super market and all you need to do is give them a little spray.
You can even spay some freshener on a cloth or paper towel and wipe your gloves down on the inside and outside that way too.
6. Wear hand wraps
This is something you should be wearing anyway, but by wrapping your hands it will reduce the amount of sweat and bacteria that could build up on the inside of the glove.
By having that layer between the skin of your hand and the glove, it will definitely help reduce the bacteria from building up on the inside which can create that horrible smell.
There is also are a whole range of various boxing handwraps you can purchase today pn Amazon fairly cheaply.
Conclusion
So to make sure your gloves last you a long time, you need to wipe them down after your session, put some deodorizers on the inside of the glove and take them out you gym bag and air them out. If you are lacking funds make sure to stuff some paper towel on the inside and give them a good spray with the air freshener.
I hope these tips will help you consider to take better care of your boxing gloves.
Let me know in the comments below what tips you found most useful.
Check out more of my boxing blog content here.
14 thoughts on “6 Best Ways To Look After And Clean Your Boxing Gloves”
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Greetings to you
Thank you for posting!
Reading from the beginning to the end I liked the way you explain how you should look after your gloves properly. I would never have thought about protecting the gloves from bacteria. I will make sure to always browse your website and look for the latest news from you.
Same to you Bajram! Appreciate you enjoyed the review and glad it helped you consider the importance of looking after your gloves. Please make sure to come back, I plan to continue putting more blog content like this in the next year.
Thanks
J
Thanks for the tips to look after your boxing gloves. They are very accurate and educative. My boxing gloves do not last long and I didnt know what I was doing wrong. I just thought I was buying fake or low quality gloves. I would also like you to recommend the best brand of boxing gloves available ?
Hi Aweda, happy you liked it. In terms of the best brand, that’s a tough one! I’ve always believed in the quality of the Everlast gloves.
Thanks
J
For me, that was very interesting! About the only knowledge I have of boxing is watching Cinderella Man and when I was in high school, watching the boys trying out for the Golden Glove. Honestly, I didn’t know that all this care needed to be done with the gloves.
Are the gloves made of leather? All told, I learned something new today. And, I think that’s the purposed of any blog.
Hi, thanks for the comment. I definitely need to watch Cinderella Man, heard it’s a great movie! Gloves are generally made of leather or a synthetic leather, but you still need to look after them properly.
Glad you leant something new today!
Thanks
J
My son has boxing gloves and I was looking for a way to wash them when I came across your site. I wipe them down constantly but, I never thought to use a deodorizer. Does febreeze work? Going to invest in some hand wraps too. Thank you for your help and my son is going to love your Boxing Life website.
Hi Kari,
I’m glad to hear this article has helped you out! In terms of using febrezze, that should be fine, just make sure to spray it on some paper towel first before you start cleaning them.
Thanks for your kind words too. 🙂
J
This is great information about how to take care of boxing gloves. I am thinking about getting gloves for a nephew and had no idea what to look for or what else he might need. I will print out your article and include it with his gloves and deodorizers.
A word of caution for anyone else reading this post: If you can afford it, please buy the deodorizers that are made for boxing gloves. Those spray deodorisers can be toxic for some people. It’s not really something you should have on your hands if you can avoid it.
Thanks for the information and a great post.
Hi Theresa, thanks for this comment and glad you found my tips useful. Hopefully your nephew will take my advice on aboard and look after his gloves.
Appreciate your comment on the spray deodorisers, I would always recommend using the glove deodorisers first foremost. If you are to use the spray make sure you are wearing hand wraps when you use the glove to stop any chemical getting on your hand. Thanks for making this insightful point Theresa.
J
Thank you for the article on 6 ways to look after your boxing gloves. I myself have just started taking up boxing as a beginner I never even thought of having to take care of my boxing gloves or that there was even a way to do so. I always wondered if there was a way to stop them from stinking. I was also wondering mine on the outside are starting to split is there anything that can be done to stop it?
Hi Geoffrey, no worries at all, I’m just glad it is helping more people become aware so their boxing gloves can last longer. Oh that doesn’t sound too good, it sound like they may be on the decline! I would recommend getting some new gloves soon. Check out my boxing gloves for beginners article here. Hope this helps and thanks for the comment!
Thanks
J
Cleaning gloves after a boxing match seems like a tough job. Not everyone like it. I totally agreed with what you trying to say. Gym Anti-slip Sports Gloves are the amazing gloves for gym and stuff.
Thanks for the comment Faiz and yes it can be nuisance after boxing training, but still really important for the longevity of your gloves.
Will make sure to check out the anti-slip gloves, they look like they could come in handy!
Thanks
Jamie