I wear thin gloves in the garden all the time but even little unnoticed stingers can get me through the fabric at the side. Definitely a wuss these days. But as a kid - legs and arms always covered in stings and scratches.
I also wear gloves as there is a long list of stuff that will produce a rash and I always use dock leaves when I get stung. I see the science and raise you one Old Wife There are a multitude of remedies (many of which I use) that have not yet been 'explained' by science but which work.
And nettle tea is so useful.
"The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it." Sir Terry Pratchett
Ribwort plantain is supposed to have antihistamine properties, although I struggle to get much juice out of them. Docks I think just provide cooling sap and help to rub the stinging hairs out of the skin.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
I have multiple gloves, but always end up gardening with my bare hands somehow, including digging like a mole lol. My hands are a complete mess of callouses and receding cuticles. But I won't pull a nettle without gloves.
"What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour".
I see a few of you use gloves. I tend to as I dislike getting dirty! Another wuss...
But what gloves do you use? The thicker gloves just don't work, and the thin 'nitrile' type gloves work well, but fall apart at the slightest thing and it means loads of extra crap going into landfill. I want a hardy version of the thin nitrile ones - a half way house between a Marigold (other brands are available) and super thin disposable ones.
I wear ordinary kitchen gloves, not Marigolds just Tesco/Morrison’s own only for pulling out brambles, I do always buy the heavier ones though, surprisingly tough, never had a thorn go through.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
Usually wear rigger type gloves in the garden ( suede fronts, partly cloth backs). Plus suede welding gloves for pulling up brambles and pruning the pyracantha. I do hate getting stung or scratched. Whatever gloves I’m wearing, I almost always find a ring of spots and scratches round my wrists and forearms, but don’t usually notice what caused it. Also got caught out by nettles which seem to be able to penetrate trousers without any trouble!
I like the gloves that are a knitted fabric with the palms and fingers coated with rubbery stuff, or the cheapo knitted cotton with pimply bits on the palm side in summer when everything is very dry, but I'll try anything that I can find in my size (my current ones are XS and still a bit wide) at a sensible price, because I wear them out quite quickly and the expensive ones don't seem to last any longer.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Posts
Definitely a wuss these days. But as a kid - legs and arms always covered in stings and scratches.
And nettle tea is so useful.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I do hate getting stung or scratched. Whatever gloves I’m wearing, I almost always find a ring of spots and scratches round my wrists and forearms, but don’t usually notice what caused it. Also got caught out by nettles which seem to be able to penetrate trousers without any trouble!