8 Best Gardening Gloves of 2025, Tested and Reviewed

Tested by Stacy Tornio

Whether you're planting, pruning or weeding, good gardening gloves matter. The right pair of gloves can help keep your hands and arms free of scratches and scrapes while working with thorny plants. They can also make tasks easier and keep your nails and hands looking good throughout all the seasons.

When it comes to gardening gloves and how to choose the best ones, it's important to think about what type of gardening you'll be doing. If you do much pruning or heavier gardening work, you'll want thicker, gauntlet-style gloves. But if you're mostly looking for gloves for easy planting and light weeding, a shorter, lightweight pair is probably all you need.

How We Tested

To find the best gardening gloves available on the market, we purchased 15 top-rated pairs in a variety of price points and styles. We then completed the following tests on each pair of gloves to determine the overall winners.

Fit Test: Fit is crucial for any gardening glove. We tested how well each glove fit, recognizing that individual hand sizes and shapes vary. We focused on ensuring that each glove offered a snug fit, with enough grip to prevent slipping during use. Gloves that were too loose or baggy tended to compromise grip and made it harder to handle tasks. While some gloves offered a bit more room, the key was finding pairs that provided overall comfort and grip for a secure gardening experience.

Gardening Tasks Test: To replicate real-life gardening scenarios, we put each glove through several common gardening tasks, including planting, weeding, garden maintenance and cleanup. Each glove's performance was rated based on how well it protected our hands, allowed flexibility and remained comfortable throughout these activities. Gloves that excelled in this test provided a good balance of protection and ease of movement.

Scrunch Test: Flexibility is a big factor for gardening gloves, as gardeners frequently bend and flex their hands during tasks. For this test, we scrunched each glove up without wearing it, assessing how well the material returned to its original shape afterward. This helped us determine if the gloves could hold up after repeated wear and compression in storage or during heavy use.

Poke Test: Many gloves claim to be thorn-resistant, so we tested this by handling prickly plants, including a thorny shrub and an indoor cactus. We began with a light touch, then moved to a firmer grip to evaluate both comfort and confidence in the glove's protection. The best gloves allowed us to feel protected even when grasping thorny branches, providing enough resilience for more challenging tasks without discomfort.

Wash Test: Gardening gloves need to be easy to clean, especially after a long day of planting or maintenance. We hand-washed each pair with basic dish soap, checking for ease of cleaning and observing how well the gloves held up after drying. We looked for any signs of shrinkage, color fading or changes in material feel, ensuring that each pair was just as comfortable and ready to use after washing.

What to Consider When Buying Gardening Gloves

Size and Fit: The size and fit of your gardening gloves can be a personal preference. Whether you like your gloves to "fit like a glove" or be loose, but think about how you will be using them to ensure they'll work for you. Most companies will provide a size chart to reference when buying, so be sure to check the measurements. If reviews of the gloves say they fit tight and you're not a fan of that, definitely size up.

Material and Protection: If you want to be able to hose down your gloves or throw them in the wash, look for vinyl or cloth options, as opposed to leather. If you need that extra protection from your daily gardening chores, opt for a thicker material. You might have to wash it by hand, but it'll give you what you need.

Breathability: If you'll be gardening in warm weather, breathable gloves are essential to keep your hands comfortable and reduce sweating. Materials like bamboo or lightweight synthetic fabrics offer good airflow, keeping your hands cool and dry during longer gardening sessions. Look for features like mesh panels or ventilation holes, especially if you'll be working outside in the summer.

Comfort and Design: You want your garden gloves to be flexible and easy for you to move your fingers around in. Also, pay attention to other design details like whether they are tight at the wrist or have extra padding on the palm. Based on your needs, this can be really important.

Grip: Some gardening tasks require precise finger movements, like planting small seeds or pulling delicate weeds. If you need a higher level of dexterity, opt for gloves with a snug fit and flexible material. Many gloves offer textured or rubberized palms and fingertips, which can improve grip, especially when handling wet or slippery tools.

Waterproofness: Gardening can be both messy and muddy. Look for gloves that can hold up to all weather conditions or that you can easily wash.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should you wear gloves when gardening?

Sometimes you truly want to feel the coolness of the soil between your fingers, so you'll opt out of gloves entirely. But there's nearly always a case to be made for gardening gloves for certain jobs. For instance, pruning or weeding are both good reasons to wear gloves.

Can you wash gardening gloves?

While many gardening gloves are made of materials like leather, you can still wash most of them by hand. Wash by hand with a gentle mixture of soap and water, and then hang them outside in the sunshine to dry.

What are gauntlet gardening gloves and who should buy them?

Gauntlet gardening gloves are designed with extended cuffs that protect the wrists and forearms, making them ideal for thorny plants or plants with long, prickly stems. They're ideal for anyone who needs more coverage while pruning or working with tougher vegetation.

What's the best material for gardening gloves?

The best material depends on your needs. Leather offers durability and protection but requires careful washing. Rubber-coated gloves provide waterproofing and grip, while bamboo is lightweight, breathable and eco-friendly — perfect for lighter gardening tasks.

Other Gardening Gloves We Tested

The HANDLANDY Pruning Gardening Gloves had sturdy pigskin and cowhide. These gloves are well-suited for pruning, passing our thorn test with ease. However, their bulkiness limits dexterity for finer tasks like planting, and the light-colored fabric shows dirt quickly. They are durable for heavy-duty work but less versatile overall.

Amazing Stuff For You! Nylon Garden Gloves are gloves with a snug fit and grippy texture, making them comfortable for light garden work. However, the slightly plastic feel and limited breathability make them less ideal for heavier tasks or thorny plants. They're a good choice for simple, everyday gardening but not for bigger jobs.

The G&F Jersey Gardening Gloves were comfortable and breathable. The lightweight cotton gloves are great for simple tasks. However, they lack durability and thorn protection. The material easily absorbs water, limiting their usability for heavier or wetter gardening jobs.

The NoCry Long Gardening Gloves are made with soft goatskin and long cuffs. These gloves excel with thorny plants, offering solid protection. While they're durable, the light color dirties quickly, and the wrist elastic isn't as secure as other options. They're reliable for prickly tasks but harder to maintain.

Why You Should Trust Our Tester

Stacy Tornio is a master gardener and certified master naturalist with extensive experience in both gardening and product testing. Based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Stacy has tested numerous gardening products, including gardening seats, pruning shears and weeding tools, for HGTV. With a hands-on approach, Stacy brings practical insights from real-world gardening to each review, ensuring that each product is thoroughly evaluated for quality and usability.

Why You Should Trust HGTV Shopping Experts

HGTV Shopping Experts believe the best method for testing products is based on how our fans are going to use them in the real world. In each of our Tested and Reviewed stories, products are not tested in sterile laboratory settings that don't mimic real life. Instead, we test products in real homes that reflect our readers' real lives, which can also include pets, kids, partners and more. We follow rigorous testing rubrics designed by our expert editors and take copious notes during the testing process. When choosing our top picks, we evaluate all of our testing data and take into consideration many factors including ease of use, price, product availability and practicality. Our goal is to choose the best products for our readers.