When its time to buy new gloves do you feel overwhelmed by looking at the rows of gloves hanging from their hooks? It sure can be difficult to know where to begin! Let’s begin by selecting a favorite brand and going over their options. The Wells Lamont gloves are a favorite brand of leather work gloves for our crew, so let us start with them and go over my experiences with them.
Wells Lamont Premium Leather Work Gloves
Our Wells Lamont Gloves are put to the test! We use them in our Tree Pruning and Removal business, so they are used often and for long hours a day.
Made from premium cowhide “the toughest leather” helps extend the glove life. Even working through summer and winter these gloves are up to the task.
Which Jobs Are Wells Lamont Gloves Good For?
The cowhide leather gloves are extremely durable and can be used for many tasks. Leather gloves are the ideal glove to protect my hands while handling rough or sharp objects.
In my job I am often handling a rope to lower branches from the tree we are working on. So you can well imagine that running a rope through my hands is going to shorten the life of the glove significantly!
Our more conventional use of the Wells Lamont Gloves is wearing them when the weather is cold to keep our hands warm. They are excellent at protecting my hands when handling shrubbery or trees with thorns or briars on it.
Dragging heavy branches to the chipper is another frequent use for these leather work gloves. The same glove is a favorite when using a chainsaw and are especially useful when a hot chainsaw suddenly needs a new chain because the original chain became dull from hitting a nail or stone hidden inside the tree.
Leather work gloves are great for cutting and splitting firewood. They keep splinters and rough edges away from my hands.
Now, those are only a few examples of the hundreds of uses for Wells Lamont gloves, each person’s occupation will lead to different uses for leather work gloves.
How Does The Glove Feel And Fit?
We need to remember these are work gloves, designed for hand protection and long-lasting life. While cotton and polyester gloves will fit snugly and comfortably they will not stand a chance in our work.
Leather work gloves may feel somewhat uncomfortable at first, but the leather will become pliable and fit your hand much better after light use.
I can usually feel if I am wearing somebody else’s gloves, so they must stretch slightly and form to the hand of the wearer.
Which Part Of The Wells Lamont Gloves Wear Out First?
We can expect our Wells Lamont Gloves to have a shorter than average life span because running a rope through our hands creates enough heat to feel it through the glove. So yeah, even a leather work glove will definitely not survive that abuse very long.
These are high quality leather gloves and the pairs that are not used to lower limbs last much longer, but eventually the long work days wear them out.
During our normal use of dragging branches or operating a chainsaw we will wear a hole into the index and middle fingers on the glove, usually about in the middle of the finger. Even with a small hole we continue to use the gloves until it gets larger and then we throw them away.
Washing And Cleaning / Is It Necessary?
I guess that is going to depend on what you use the Wells Lamont Gloves for. And a personal preference on how you want your gloves to look.
Our gloves are usually put in the toolbox at the end of the day, and dug out and used the next day. Tree sap and especially pine sap will put dark sticky patches on them.
The best way to remove tree sap is to keep wearing them! Any sap on the glove will gather dirt until it is no longer sticky and by continuing to use them the sap will dry and break apart and eventually fall of.
An example of how this works, did you ever have paint on your hands that was almost impossible to scrub off? You get some of it but not all of it. By the time you come home from work the next day you look at your hands and realize the remaining paint wore of off them while you were working!
Of course this method doesn’t work for everybody, some gloves that are worn infrequently may need to be washed occasionally.
But What If Comfort Is A Priority – Not Heavy Use
Excellent point! Of course not everybody is going to have a job that requires rugged gloves and are more focused on comfort or form fitting gloves. Maybe you need insulated gloves to work outside in the cold. Great news! The Wells Lamont Gloves are available in various kinds off leather and some kinds have an insulated pair
Cowhide leather is the leather work glove we use. It is the thickest and most abrasion resistant of these natural leathers. Its thickness prevents a soft form fitting glove, but provides the most protection and long-lasting life.
Goatskin leather another popular leather work glove! These are usually thinner than cowhide leather gloves. They are going to be less resistant to heavy use because they are thinner and softer. Their advantage is they are able to fit snugly and comfortable to your hand.
Deerskin leather is an excellent choice! They are soft and durable and are the only leather that can get wet and dry soft. That can be an advantage depending on your primary use.
Insulated leather gloves are ideal for working outside when its cold, Wells Lamont gloves are insulated to keep your fingers warm and are available in cowhide, goatskin, and deerskin to suit your needs.
Although I don’t worry much about leather drying soft in my cowhide gloves. Sure, they get wet and will be stiff at first, but after a few minutes of work they soften up! During the winter when snow is on the ground my gloves often get wet. I simply take them home and lay them out to dry and use them again in the morning!
Taking Care Of Your Gloves / Storing Them
Occasionally apply a coating of leather conditioner or mink oil to keep your gloves soft and water repellent.
If your they become wet or you wash them, always dry leather work gloves at room temperature. Using a heat source will dry the leather to fast and it could result in cracking the leather.
When you aren’t using your leather work gloves, store them in a well-ventilated dry area and out of direct sunlight. Sunlight will dry out and age leather, so don’t let them sit on a windowsill.
With general use and proper care a leather glove can last a long time!
Did you already wear leather gloves for your projects? I would welcome your thoughts and experiences about your favorite leather work gloves!
Your arborist friend:
Justin
