Tom Asked,

hi there, i recently bought the nike vapor grip 3 glove and i heard that you have to prewash gloves to remove the chemicals in the latex. i washed them under the shower at the same temperature as you would normally shower in and i noticed the latex turned yellow (they were originally white). have i ruined my gloves? please help!

Tom,

Thank you for submitting your question to Ask the Goalkeeper. It is a good idea to wash/rinse your gloves before wearing them. I have also had gloves turn this yellowish, off-white color before. I have never noticed any difference in the grip after the color change. For some reason some gloves do this and others don't. So no, you haven’t ruined them, they should work just fine. You shouldn't even be able to tell a difference other than the color (well I haven't at least). When you do wash your gloves and if you choose to use soap, make sure it is a very, very little amount, and don't ever put soap directly onto the latex. Put a very small amount of soap (one or two drops of liquid soap), in a large amount of water and submerge your gloves. I usually use the bath tube. After cleaning, run clean water through your gloves, thoroughly rinsing out all of the soap. Any soap left behind will severally dry out the latex. I can't stress enough how small the amount of soap should be used, if any at all. Final, squeeze out as much water as possible, and hang dry. Here is another answer about cleaning new gloves "Buying New Gloves"

I will ask around and see why this color changed occurs and if I come up with any answers I will let you know. But in my opinion, your gloves should be fine. I hope I was able to help answer your question.

Best of luck,

Chase Harrison

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