The Best Gardening Gloves With Claws

Buying Guide

Gardening can be hard on the hands and lead to broken nails, sunburn, dry skin and other irritations, like blisters and bug bites. Dermatologists recommend investing in a good pair of gardening gloves to protect the hands while working in the dirt. Fortunately, gardening gloves don’t cost as much as you might think.

Even better, there are now gardening gloves with claws fitted onto the fingertips to help with digging. These clawed gloves can replace the hand rakes and trowels that you’d normally use for digging, weeding, planting or spreading fertilizer, compost or mulch.

Some of these gloves come with one clawed and one un-clawed hand, but other sets have claws on each hand. They are usually made with a knit material on the back and a latex coating on the palms and the back of the fingers.

Gardening gloves with claws often have wrist-length elastic cuffs and shield your hands from scratches, dry dirt, wet mud, sharp thorns and insects. However, when the claws are attached, you likely won’t be able to grasp small things like seeds. The claws are designed to help with digging and raking but cost you a little dexterity as a result.

Keep in mind that although these claws are designed to dig, they are made of plastic; if the ground is hard or you have a major gardening project going on, you might want to opt for sturdier metal garden tools.

Gardening gloves with claws are perfect for light gardening and can make the work go a lot faster. To clean them, just rinse them off in cold water and let them air dry.

• When you’re shopping for gardening gloves, look for waterproof, puncture-resistant materials.
• Avoid buying gloves that are made of low-quality materials or that fit poorly. If your gloves are too tight out of the package, they will only get tighter as you work and could end up ripping.
• Many of these gloves come in one size, while others have small, medium and large options. A sizing chart may be provided, which tells you the length from you wrist to the tip of a finger, for example. Use this to compare to your own hand.
• Use some hand cream after gardening, even if you wore gloves, to keep your hands from getting too rough.
• Remove your jewelry before gardening. Rings can get damaged, and bracelets can get caught on things as you work.
• Most gardening gloves with claws are not touch-screen compatible.
• A pair of these make a great gift for your favorite gardener as it might not be something they would’ve thought to buy themselves.