These Are the Best Dishwashing Gloves for Long Hands

If you’ve ever struggled to find the right dishwashing gloves, I can definitely relate. For starters, my hands are a bit of an odd size: long with thin fingers. Medium gloves tend to be too short, but large ones too bulky. And while I’ve never had too much trouble with “dishpan hands,” I’ve definitely noticed skin irritation after a deep-clean session with Bar Keepers Friend. Then, when I finally decided to get serious about finding the right pair of kitchen gloves, I was surprised (and not a little overwhelmed) by how many options I was faced with when I opened up my internet browser.

Up to my elbows in options and more determined than ever, I decided to purchase a handful and get to scrubbing. Here’s how it went.

Kitchen gloves seem like a pretty basic item, but there are definitely several nuances to consider when thinking about what works best for you. I perused so many reviews to pull my top contenders! I considered length, cuff, material, and size. Ultimately, I purchased large and medium gloves in six different brands to get a good feel for the options out there.

Once I acquired all of the gloves, I put them through a series of different tests. I tried them on my basic, daily after-dinner dish duty as well as heavier-duty jobs like scrubbing my stovetop or the scorched residue off of my Dutch ovens. I wanted to see how they performed with more delicate items like wine glasses as well as my heavy pots and pans. As a final test, I held my gloved hands under the hottest running water for 30 seconds to see how well they kept my hands insulated. 

While all of the gloves did what they were advertised to do, and I think overall you can’t really go wrong with any of the top-rated choices available online, I was able to immediately hone in on three I liked the best. I used those for the rest of the week to determine the winner.

I thought for sure I would prefer a glove with a foldover cuff, but these Elgood gloves surprised me. They fit snugly up my forearm without being too tight, and were long enough so that no splashes found their way down inside. 

These latex-free gloves are lined in cotton and I found the amount of flocking to be perfect. Some of the gloves had a much thicker lining, which helped better insulate against hot water, but made it trickier to hold more delicate items or scrub into corners. These gloves had enough to insulate and still allow me to really feel what I was holding.

The fingers of these gloves in a size medium weren’t quite long enough for my oddly long digits, but otherwise they fit well. Add the textured fingertips and I know can confidently wash my stemware with soapy hands without feeling like I’m going to drop them.

A final note: I especially liked that they came in two colors, so I can use one for the kitchen and one for the bathroom without mixing them up. 

This Korean brand of gloves has a bit of a niche following. Extra long, reaching up to my elbows, and a deep pink color, these gloves are a bit ridiculous. But I honestly preferred them to the other elbow-length gloves I tested, many of which had a flared opening and were kind of floppy. 

In terms of sizing, most of my fingers filled the gloves to the tips, but the pinky was a bit long and overall they were a little too wide. Still, despite the not-ideal fit, the ultra-textured fingers were extra-grippy and there was no way I was dropping anything wearing these gloves.

These gloves also aren’t lined, which I found I actually preferred, but based on the number of lined gloves on the market I don’t think that’s the norm. Held under the hottest tap water for 30 seconds they definitely insulated the least, but I had no issues while scrubbing counters and doing sinkfuls of dishes.

Overall, these gloves ended up in second place because of the lack of lining, their color, and their length. Not everyone wants pink, rubber gloves, but I find them over-the-top in the best way. Prices vary, but a single large pair is currently listed at $6.60, a pair of mediums for $8.99, or five pairs of size small for $16.94.