To use exfoliating gloves, soak your skin under warm water for a few minutes, put the gloves on, add a little body wash, and rub your skin in gentle circular motions, working from your feet up toward your shoulders. Use light pressure, spend extra time on rough areas such as elbows, knees and heels, then rinse and moisturize. The gloves fit your hands, so they follow the body's curves more easily than a brush or a cloth.
What do exfoliating gloves do?
The textured fabric lifts dead skin cells from the surface as you rub, leaving skin feeling smoother. Because you are using your own hands, you can feel exactly how much pressure you are applying and reach into places a brush skips, such as behind the knees and around the ankles.
How to use them, step by step
- Soak first. Three to five minutes of warm water softens the skin.
- Wet the gloves and put them on.
- Add body wash to one palm and rub your hands together to lather. For a deeper scrub, some people use the gloves with water only, after washing.
- Start at the feet and ankles. Rub in small circles.
- Work up the legs, with circles on the knees and long strokes on the shins and thighs.
- Do the arms, from the hands toward the shoulders. Circle the elbows.
- Do the torso with a lighter touch. The chest and stomach are more delicate.
- Reach what you can of the back, across the shoulders and the lower back.
- Rinse your skin thoroughly.
- Rinse the gloves, wring them out and hang them up.
How much pressure, and how often?
| Area | Pressure |
|---|---|
| Heels, knees, elbows | Moderate |
| Legs, arms, back | Light to moderate |
| Chest, stomach, inner arms and thighs | Light |
| Face, and intimate areas | Do not use body gloves here |
Once or twice a week suits most people. Dry or sensitive skin may prefer once a week or less. If your skin is red, tight or stinging afterward, ease off on pressure and frequency.
Textured gloves for the shower
The Uexim exfoliating body massage bath gloves have a textured surface for exfoliating and massage, which the listing describes as helping remove dead skin for a smoother feel. They come in 14 styles, shown in the product photos. Check the option you choose for what is included.
Gloves compared with other tools
- Gloves: the most control and the best fit to curves. They do not reach the middle of the back well.
- Long-handled brush: reaches the whole back. Less control over pressure.
- Pouf or loofah: gentle, makes plenty of lather, mild exfoliation.
- Scrub: exfoliates with grains, and rinses away. Can be used with bare hands.
Many people use gloves for the limbs and a brush or strap for the back.
What should you do afterward?
- Pat the skin dry.
- Apply body lotion or oil within a few minutes, while the skin is still slightly damp.
- Wait a day before using strong products, such as acid body lotions, on freshly scrubbed skin.
- Protect exposed skin from the sun.
Before shaving or self-tanning
- Shaving: exfoliate before you shave, not after. It lifts hairs and clears dead skin from the razor's path.
- Self-tanner: exfoliate the day before applying it, paying attention to knees, elbows and ankles, so the color develops evenly.
How do you care for the gloves?
- Rinse out all soap and skin debris after every use.
- Wring them out and hang them to dry outside the shower stream, in moving air.
- Wash them weekly. Check the care instructions. Many fabric gloves can go in the washing machine in a mesh bag.
- Replace them when they smell, stay stained, or lose their texture.
- Do not share them.
When should you not use them?
- On sunburn, cuts, rashes or irritated skin.
- On inflamed breakouts.
- Straight after waxing or hair removal treatments.
- If you have a skin condition such as eczema or psoriasis, unless a doctor has said it is fine.
Frequently asked questions
Do I use exfoliating gloves with soap?
Either way works. Body wash gives a gentler, slippery scrub. Water alone on soaked skin gives a firmer one.
Can I use exfoliating gloves every day?
Daily use is too much for most skin. Once or twice a week is a good starting point.
Why does dead skin roll off in little balls?
On well-soaked skin, rubbing with a textured glove can gather dead cells into small rolls. It is normal, and it rinses away.
Can I use them on my face?
No. Body gloves are too rough for facial skin.
The bottom line
Soak, glove up, and rub in gentle circles from the feet upward. Rinse, moisturize, and hang the gloves to dry. Once or twice a week is enough.
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