Mittens

Sally

Hi. I have only mild arthritis in most places but my hands have been terrible for years. Such swollen knuckles makes wearing gloves impossible. But I don’t want to wear woolly mitts, especially if driving. Has anyone found a source for grown up leather mittens?

[Deleted User]

Hi Sally,

Welcome to the forum, it's lovely to meet you. I sympathise, I get very cold too.

I have some 'neoprine' type wrist supports, they slip on and don't have metal in like my splints, and were from a 'pound' type shop. I know they have quite a turn-around on stock but winter should be the time to find them. They reach up to the knuckle.

Then on top I wear large men's gloves that fit my hand. That's good for driving though we also start the car about 3 or 4 mins before we leave so it warms up a bit too.

Mittens are my choice for any other time, keeping my hand together keeps it warmer. And I have reusable heat gel pads for pockets or hands. You click a metal disc inside the pad and then get warm.

Lastly I'm moving your thread to Living with Arthritis forum which seems the best forum for your query

Take care
Yvonne x

Airwave!

If you really feel the cold you can get engine pre heaters rather than starting a cold engine, it causes a lot of wear and tear, fuel use and noxious gases (NOx and CO2) to leave it idling inefficiently, it might be considered antisocial these days? Tests give 4 x increase in wear if leaving the engine idling.

I have a variety of gloves to use, thin fleece ones with holes burnt into the fingertips, thin gloves with spots of a rubber like non slip material on them, ski gloves, fingerless, depends on weather and what I'm doing. I have neoprene gloves but they are hard to get on and off due to the thickness.

Reusable handwarmers or charcoal warmers?

dreamdaisy

I would keep a steering wheel cover indoors on a radiator then slip it on the wheel once in the car, hopefully it would retain enough warmth to get you going.

Glove-wise adult mittens, usually in suede lined with sheepskin, are easily found. They are cosy and would hopefully give a reasonable grip but if not I would glue a small circle of non-slip mesh matting to the palms (of the mittens, not you ) 'Tis the season to be jolly and all that - a good Christmas present for you to be given? I wish you well. DD

tcold

[Deleted User]

Hi,

My hand warmers are reusable, you put them in boiling water to reverse the reaction, they go back to gel and the link becomes active.

We have a radiator cunningly close to the front door where my gloves and splints live, hadn't thought of a steering wheel cover DD - that's a great idea.

I haven't heard of engine preheaters I shall investigate further, thanks Airwaves

Are any of the ideas good for you Sally?

Take care
Yvonne x

Airwave!

Engine pre-heaters, loads on fleabay, VW used to sell cars with ones installed from new.

daffy2

Can you manage fingerless gloves - hand knitted or gents size are easier to fit over knuckles - and then mitts over the top. I find that gloves don't keep my hands as warm as mitts so generally only use them for shopping when I need to be able to manipulate things, and when it's really cold I use some form of wristwarmer/topless mitten( I have knitted several in various designs) as well, because keeping my wrists warm makes a real difference to overall comfort.
For leather/grip mitts it might be worth looking at more specialised sports - skiing, field sports, for something suitable. Not cheap though.
I have a couple of pairs of gents warm-lined suede gloves bought during a supermarket promotion, they are too chunky for 'normal' use but do well for driving and are loose enough to not restrict circulation or chafe knuckles.I did consider getting a leather steering wheel cover so I could use ordinary gloves without slipping, but couldn't find anything suitable(as in I was prepared to pay for), and did toy with the idea of binding with leather shoelaces....

Airwave!

I have seen the grip gloves (good for driving) in the garage shops, £5.99 or thereabouts with fuel, sorry can't remember which one.