Indian monsoon is brutal on leather. Between June and September, a glove zipped inside a gym bag overnight can grow mould in 48 hours, and repeated damp-dry cycles crack full-grain hide faster than a year of punches. Good gear dies in the bag, not in the ring.
The routine
- Never leave gloves in the bag. Out of the bag within an hour of training, every single session.
- Air-dry, never heat-dry. A fan is perfect. Sunlight and hair dryers cook the hide and crack it.
- Stuff them. Newspaper or cedar inserts pull moisture from inside the glove where the fan can't reach.
- Condition monthly. A thin coat of leather conditioner during monsoon; quarterly the rest of the year.
- Rotate wraps aggressively. Wet wraps inside dry gloves defeats the whole routine.
Tape Notes — the short version
- Gloves out of the bag within an hour, every time.
- Fan-dry with newspaper inside. No sun, no heaters.
- Condition the leather monthly, June to September.
A full-grain pair treated right outlasts three cheap pairs treated carelessly. The maths — and the leather — are on your side.
