Every fighter knows that great feeling when you unpack a new pair of gloves. The musky smell of leather is a naturally loved smell. Unfortunately, this is pretty short lived. After one or two sessions pounding the heavy bag that musky smell of leather will soon turn to week old moist sweat. It is important to know how to wash boxing gloves.
The reason for the stench of sweat is because (especially on poorer quality gloves) there is not a great number of ventilation holes on the inner lining of the glove. This means that moisture is trapped. You will sometimes find that even when the gloves have been thrown into a gym bag and left for a week, even two, you will put your hand inside and it will come out soggy.
Unfortunately, one of the common consequences of not washing your gloves can be increased exposure to bacterial infections which can wreak havoc if you have any open cuts or sores on your hand. Also, the smell can be pretty unpleasant and stink your gym bag out.
How To Wash Boxing Gloves
Thankfully, there are a variety of different ways on how to wash your boxing gloves.
Salty Water
One of the best and most hassle-free ways to wash your boxing gloves is to leave them in a salt solution overnight. To do this all you will need is a bowl big enough to fit in two gloves, access to water and some salt. This will kill any bacteria on the inside of your gloves but be careful. As the solution may break down the leather. The best way to check if this method will affect your gloves is to contact the manufacturer. They will be able to clear this up pretty quick!
Anti-Bacterial Spray
Another way to clean your boxing gloves is to use an anti-bacterial spray. These can be bought at most home goods stores only setting you back a couple of dollars. This will be a great temporary solution if you have training in a couple of hours and don’t want your gloves to smell, but nothing will replace actually washing them so don’t do this all the time.
Many people recommend the brand Febreeze as a great anti-bacterial spray for cleaning boxing gloves.
Air Them out After Training
Although this will not clean your boxing gloves, airing them out after training will help eliminate the risk of bacteria growing and will almost certainly stop smells. Filling the gloves with old magazine paper, or newspaper if you have any straight after training will do the job nicely. Although; eventually you will probably have to wash them!
A video overview is here –
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