The gloves after a year

I've always bought the cheapest work gloves I could find, which usually means getting something canvas, or combination thin suede/canvas. The type of gloves that are $3 a pair, or 2 pair for $5. There are three problems with those cheap gloves: they're very uncomfortable, they don't last very long, and they get dirty fast in the garden. Last March I decided to buy a pair of more expensive work gloves:

I've been using these exclusively for a year now, so I thought I'd give a report on how they're doing. If you're not one who likes to read a whole blog post or you're in a hurry today, I'll jump to the conclusion: these are great gloves, with a great price/performance ratio! Read on for details...

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First I want to point out that these are not specifically gardening gloves -- they're general purpose, modern work gloves. Second, I want to say that although I no longer got the cheapest gloves on the rack, I got the cheapest of the "better" gloves -- these cost $10.

This is what they looked like a year ago when brand-new:

Ooh, they look so clean! Not yet broken in -- look at that thumb!

They're holding up pretty well, but the fingertips on the left hand -- I'm right-handed -- just started wearing out a couple of days ago:

The big problem though is the hole in the index finger of the right glove:

That just formed sometime in the last month or so, and obviously it's my main digging/poking/scratching finger and gets the most wear.

Fingertip wear was a big problem with the cheap gloves too, but the cheap ones also had problems with seams coming apart. These gloves are pretty good in the seam department. The slightly-padded palms are completely intact:

No problems on the back either:

The only seams that have come apart, even though they were double-stitched, were the thumb seams:

I tried and tried, but I could only take a photo of both thumbs at
once after I took the right glove off and held it in my left hand.

Again, the left one is fine, but the seam on the right thumb is completely gone. Even so, I didn't really notice a problem when wearing the gloves -- the loose thumb flap didn't get in the way or let any dirt in. Maybe it will get worse in a little while and will start being a problem, but for now it's still fine.

The soft, fuzzy patch on the thumb -- which I assume is for wiping your brow -- is fuzzier now than ever:

"Powerful like a gorilla, but soft and yielding like a Nerf ball." Google it.

It didn't get this way from extensive brow wiping -- I think it fuzzed up when I washed the gloves. That's one of the best features of these gloves: they're washable! That's synthetic leather, so when the gloves got too dirty I'd just throw them in a bucket of water with some soap and hand wash them, give them a rinse, and let them dry overnight. The cheap $2 gloves are useless after getting muddy or wet, because they turn crusty and even more uncomfortable than usual. These felt so nice after being washed.

That's probably the biggest selling point of these gloves over other gloves I've used in the garden: they are comfortable! The $2 work gloves were bearable, but never comfortable.

So comfortable, washable, quite durable, and only $10. Total winner! I'll be buying another pair of these this weekend, and using this worn pair as my backup or lender gloves.

I've seen "landscaping gloves" in catalogs that look like this but may be sturdier, but they cost $30. I like getting nice tools, but that's a little pricey for me. Unless they're guaranteed to last more than three years, I'll be sticking with my $10 model.

What kind of gardening/work gloves do you use, and do they have any weaknesses or great features? Let me know in the comments.

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