BizzyBee Gloves Review for “Pattern” & “Latex-Free” [pt.1]

For a while now I have been hunting for a pair of gloves to replace the trusty long sleeved Marigold gloves of which are designed for the bathroom, but actually work very well for washing up.

Pros & Cons of the Marigold

[Pro] The long sleeve prevents water sloshing into the glove!*
2. [Pro/Con] Fair quality to them with thick rubber/plastic** and decent texture on the palm grip
3. [Con] Latex inner only lasts for a few weeks of daily use before making fingers smell***
4. [Con] The availability of the gloves is not so good on the high-street, but you can get lucky. Online they are cheaper, but prices vary, they’ve never been popular in supermarkets in Large, only Medium
5. [Pro] I like the colour
* this is worse than having friends over and having one of YOUR Nintendo controllers handed back to you with greasy buttons from a clumsy friends fingers! Also, the average kitchen sink is apparently dirtier than the average persons toilet, so I don’t fill up the sink basin with water and soap, I wash my dishes under a streaming unified tap, but I still like the long cuff because it shields me from really hot water splashing onto my arms.

** Before the recession they used to be even better quality. Since I moved into a Studio room I had saved some decent gloves for a time when I would be able to use them. Only when I finally did get a decent place the recession hit and it hit the quality of the Marigold gloves, they’re weaker as a result, I compared them side-by-side.

*** I find that using a steel soap bar will remove this smell from fingers with mostly just water, but soap helps (I use a squirty one from Method)
I came across the company BizzyBee’s products well before I was familiar with their name as Sainsbury’s license their “Outdoor” gloves under their own brand. I got these for odd jobs around the house and always liked them, using them sparingly because they were expensive and I didn’t know if Sainsbury’s would stop doing them (so years later they’re still like new!). But the problem with them was that they were only sold in a large size and were always too big!

The one thing I really liked about them was the cotton lining. Now, I didn’t use them for hot water tasks, like washing-up, day in and day out, but would imagine that the cotton lining would not have made my fingers smell of latex, obviously, but from what the plastic gloves themselves are made of I do not know for sure, but I liked the feel, it was a quality feel.

On and off over the years I thought about it, but now, well a year ago now, I decided to actually switch from Marigold, if I had to. That’s the thing, people become attached to their brands, it’s a loyalty thing and brands know that, but it’s time to switch because the same problems keep repeating, even if it means switching to something more expensive and more exclusive in terms of sourcing.

I now notice that big Sainsbury’s stores stock a brand called BizzyBee, hmm, they felt and looked familiar, well as I said I found out that they were suppliers of Sainsbury’s goods, so they must be good. They had a whole range online, isn’t it always the way, nobody stocked very much of what they had, so I’d be buying blind if I bought online. I didn’t want to do that so I emailed them asking if they had cotton lined ones in a long cuff but was really confused about their sizes. In 2014 I actually emailed them about this but didn’t push myself, but here in October of 2015 I am a little more pushy and carried on that conversation from one year ago which came a happy conclusion, of sorts, as they mailed me some complementary gloves!

I was interested in:

• Elegance gloves
• Latex Free gloves

Both of them looked good (that’s important for a chap like myself) and fulfilled two of the main criteria (separately, unfortunately) as the Elegance (340mm) approached the same cuff length as the green Marigold bathroom gloves (350mm), while the Latex-Free would not leave a pong on my fingers. The remaining issue was the sizing as BizzyBee themselves admitted that different gloves from their range fitted differently and this posed a problem for them with their online site as it was only really a portal to show off all of their products. I did scold them for not having sorted this measurement issue out from last year, they know this..

Never the less, before hand I had made the effort by trying on the Medium size of their “Pattern” variety which I found to be a good fit in the supermarket, these are not sealed in a packet and can be tried on! While the “Satin Touch” were sealed in a packet and with a printed scale on the back, it turns out I was size Medium, but I had to be careful because unlike the scale on the back of a Marigold packet; where I lay my palm down flat, for BizzyBee it had to be clasped with your thumb beneath the packet.

BizzyBee replied back to me by sending over a Medium for the Elegance and both a Medium and Large in the sealed Latex Free variety, which was good of them as I mentioned.

So here is what I found..

I begun with my favourite pair the Latex-Free as these had the most promise because they have a long cuff and that is really something I do not want to have to have to compromise on.

Front

Back (simple fold through the card packing).

The first thing I wanted to see was how the two actually compared, side by side:

Almost level regarding the cuff, on the side view.

However the design lets itself down as I receive less protection from the V shaped design indentation.

The Elegance gloves I had were Medium sized and were a tight~ish fit for me round the knuckles, the glove didn’t feel to be made of very high quality, it felt quite thin and left me with an impression that it wouldn’t last, unlike the Marigold. I was disappointed, the design was more for show that for function and I think an opportunity missed.

Outside-in was a chore as the ♥︎ pattern was very grippy and made it difficult to poke the fingers through, but inside was very smooth.

I know it’s not very fair to compare, these Marigolds are a number of weeks old now, but you can see that the BizzyBee ones are just smooth inside, it’s one continuous piece of plastic, so I’m unsure how well it will insulate me from the heat of hot running water I use so much?

I use spherical neodymium magnets to hand my gloves over the sink to drip dry, this way they are out of the way and dry completely, it’s more hygienic. Unfortunately the V shape in these gloves makes that more tricky.

Side by side you can see which one of the gloves is easier to hang, but I did have the Marigold in mind when designing the system it has to be said. I am also concerned about air flow and composure of the cuff here favours the Marigold as its reinforced with a curled lip.

Now on to the Latex-Free:

I wasn’t sure what to expect, these were in a packet and I assumed that they would be of a lesser quality, but when I tried them on I was instantly surprised, pleasantly so, these were a world away in quality from the Elegance to be sure, such a nice internal feeling and they fit me very well. The Elegance just felt like plastic, this had a lining and that counts when coming from the Marigolds.

So, far, so good. But, while these were Latex-Free (and to be fair, so were the Elegance) the cuff would not have the reach of the Elegance, or so I thought:

Even though they don’t have the “reach”, because of the deep V shape, they are the same length (a glove is only as useful as it’s weakest feature) *this is the Large size of the Latex-Free*

Now the Elegance is not a contender any more, here is the reality I am faced with. *this is the Large size of the latex free*

Just on the side I’d like to draw attention to BizzyBee’s sizing, here’s the queer thing, wearing both the Medium (left) and the Large (right, obviously, I’ve not got three hands) they both fit me, quite well and I don’t have an issue with either, how so?

How come both of these fit me comfortably? I’ll take the large (right) as it has a longer cuff thanks!

Conclusion

Well, I thought I was on to a winner with the Elegance, but the website PR advertising was a little too good on their site me thinks, offering an appearance of something sturdy and with a structured body, but are quite flimsy in reality, only thicker in places of detail like the ♥︎ pattern and the logo, while the Marigold crucially has a curled lip to give it rigidity on the cuff edge and has a more structured body.

The Latex-Free ones are very nice when first put on, but I don’t know how long that will last, the first time is always the best of course, like with socks! The cuff length was never the feature I wanted most from it, but word on the grape vine is that this could soon change. As for the cuff itself, well it’s flimsy and again the PR photography on their website shows something a little more fanciful (if only the edge frills were more rigid and flower petal like in the photos!).

I’ll next be trying them in place of my Marigolds, washing up and will report back..

Photos of interest:

I still don’t know why both of these sizes fit me?

Finally, something a kin to the site’s PR photography, I just wish it was embossed to give it that quality feel.