How to Care for Soccer Goalie Gloves

Feb 3, 2023

There’s no way around it—soccer goalie gloves won’t last forever, especially if you or your kid plays at an elite level. Nevertheless, you can extend the lifespan of goalie gloves and prevent premature wear and tear with good maintenance. Here’s a look at how keepers can maintain their gloves to lengthen their “shelf life” and performance.

1. Breaking them in

Even if you choose the perfect goalie glove cut, size, and style, you’ll likely need to “break them in.” In other words, breaking in goalkeeper gloves means manually adjusting them, so they fit…like a glove. It’s all about comfort here. If you don’t break them in, the gloves may feel stiff, which you don’t need while playing. Breaking them in prevents this distraction so that you have the perfect balance of dexterity and comfort.

How to break the gloves in

Tape the fingers in your goalie gloves back, wrapping them with electrical or masking tape so they’re bent back and spaced apart.
Test the gloves by catching or deflecting the ball or doing push-ups.

When the gloves feel right, you’ll know they’re broken in.

Maintaining their grip and tackiness

What’s the most important function of your goalie gloves? Grip. As its name implies, the grip is how well the gloves can stick to and hold the ball. Gloves with good grip make catching and holding the ball easier, which improves your ball control. But even the best goalie gloves lose grip over time. You need to maintain their grip (or tackiness) so it doesn’t vanish too fast. Fortunately, maintaining glove grip is straightforward.

Maintaining grip in goalkeeper gloves

Use a spray that increases the tackiness of the palms
Avoid pushing off the palms of your hands (when on the ground)
Consider rotating your gloves with another pair. Using your gloves less will slow down wear and tear so that the palms are still tacky.

Of course, the right goalie gloves to begin with affects how long the grip remains intact.

3. Washing and drying

What you do with your gloves before and after games matters just as much as what you do during a game. Enter washing and drying. Certain cleaning procedures can be damaging to the gloves, not to mention cleaning products, so it’s important to use the right ones.

Stay away from harsh soaps, solvents, and cleaners you’d use on home surfaces. You won’t like what they do to your gloves! Also, it’s ideal to wash your gloves in warm water and avoid drying them in heat.

Tips for washing and drying soccer goalie gloves

Wash your gloves before using them. This removes any residual soap that was used in the factory during the production stage. More importantly, washing them beforehand increases the grip of the gloves.
Moisten your gloves before using them with warm water, and keep them slightly wet (but not soaking).
Clean the goalie gloves after a game using warm water and mild soap. Wash them by hand—no washing machines or harsh detergents.
Use a specifically formulated goalie glove wash (optional but recommended).
Dry off your gloves at room temperature, and, as mentioned above, keep them away from heat.

Storing goalie gloves

Storing goalie gloves is all about keeping them away from hazards. That means placing them away from radiators, heaters, windows (through which light and heat penetrate), and other sources of heat. Your best bet? A cool, dark, and dry place. For added protection, you can keep them in a goalie bag, but make sure to keep that bag in a safe spot.

Long live your goalie gloves

Don’t forget that choosing the right goalie gloves from the get-go is the key to longevity. Caring for your gloves will prevent early wear and tear, but the gloves' construction ultimately determines their shelf life. So choose wisely. Some goalie gloves are built with features that allow them to withstand the forces of stopping and catching the ball, which extends their lifespan.

Our lines of goalie gloves, which include the Gladiator and Silencer lines, feature these additions so they can take a beating but still hold up. It’s our job to give goalkeepers the toughest gloves available so there’s nothing to hold them back.

Looking for soccer goalie gloves for a youth or adult player? Browse through our line of gloves for goalkeepers to find their perfect fit.