How can I recycle (or possibly reuse) old work gloves?

work glovesWe’ve had an email from Derek asking about large scale recycling:

hello. i work in heavy industry and we use thousands of pairs of work gloves, most are thrown away when torn, but a lot are thrown away when covered in substances like oil or just dirt. could you tell me if these gloves could be cleaned and recycled or cleaned and used for other purposes.

I don’t know for sure but I suspect the fabric of all the gloves, whether torn or not, could be reclaimed – shredded up to make insulation if nothing else. Anyone know for sure?

Any other ideas about recycling – or reusing them on a large scale?

(Photo by Penny Matthews)

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9 Responses to “How can I recycle (or possibly reuse) old work gloves?”


  1. Nick says:

    Check around your area to see if there are any industrial laundry facilities. I have a friend who owns one in SW Michigan, and they work with a lot of different companies to clean their dirty, oily gloves, towels, etc.

  2. Gulia says:

    Throw them into garden shredder, and use as mulch.

  3. Thomas Ward says:

    I had always wondered the same thing, too, since I own a million things made of neoprene (work gloves, sunglasses cases, etc.). Upon researching the Internet, I came across a company called M.L. Winters, located at http://www.mlwinters.com, that specializes in industrial cleaning.

    You may want to look into sending your gloves in to their ReZorb program, which specializes in cleaning and/or recycling of old neoprene work gloves.

  4. Rob says:

    I have work gloves that are washable work gloves. BUt as for others like the one in the pick- I am afraid there is no use for them. I like Gulia’sshred it and use as mulch suggestion!

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  6. Dianne Guy says:

    I used mine up last year by attaching a cord to the wrist end and hanging them in the tree`s , the birds nested in them and one glove have 3 different birds hatch their young in it in one season, it was great to watch them through my bioknocks

  7. Scott says:

    I too have this large glove usage problem…..can leather gloves be made into mulch?
    Is leather biodegradable?

  8. Ruben Perussi says:

    I will like to fined a company that will buy used work gloves.

  9. TIMBERLY says:

    I work for an Industrial Dry Cleaner in Oklahoma! We Laundry all type of work gloves even if they are soiled with oil and what not. Alot of work gloves are reusable. Leather gloves can not be water washed. We use special mineral spirits on the gloves we clean and return to our customers. If you would like you can check out our website at http://www.Brentind.com. If you are not in any of our areas that we services you are more then welcome to ship your gloves to us and we can clean them and ship them back.
    The 3 R’s!!! Reduce! Reuse! Recycle!



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