You fingerprints and the dirt and oil on your hands will not be the only reason your cymbals will develop a patina. there is dust, dirt and gunk in the air all around us. Wear gloves if it makes you happy, but if you're only doing it to keep your equipment shiny I think you're wasting your time.

While the gloves will stop the day after fingerprints, there are other factors in play like BosLover has said. To cover all your bases, clean up and shine after use, gloves during use shouldn`t matter.

Dave Grohl used gloves pretty often when playing with Them Crooked Vultures. He got sweaty as all hell and drank a lot of water, so he used the gloves to stop the sticks from slipping out of his hands all the time. I feel gloves are effective for that, but I'm not sure if they're worth it just to keep the cymbals clean.

I'm gonna step in and agree with everyone who says that wearing gloves, although will help if only for a brief period, will not prevent you from keeping your cymbals shiny and fingerprintless. You'd have to have your gloves on the whole time, from the time you handle them at home, to the time they're back in their case. Even then, your drum sticks will leave marks on your cymbals when you play.. It's a normal, natural thing. Attempting to keep them shiny and new

is next to impossible, even if a drummer has OCD ! ;)The air is filled with moisture, dust, particles,

especially in live music venues. Even the classiest, nicest venues will have dust and gunk in the air.

So i'm afraid you're outta luck. Leave your cymbals alone, let them get dirty and develop

a patina, until you feel it's time to give them another shine/clean up again. I still have some blood stains on

one of my crashes ! LOL ! Battle scars from a good gigging night ! :D

Paying money to have them professionally cleaned is a waste of time and $$, and can easily be done at home.

I have to agree with everyone else. I tried to do exactly what you're trying to do for years with my set of brilliant A Zildjians several years ago. I never handled them with bare hands, but I'd always end up having to clean them after a year or two. Also, someone is going to touch your cymbals eventually.

Another thing, if you try this, wear leather gloves...a stick will fly right our of hand if you wear a cotton glove. I had the black leather Zildjian gloves, but the leather breaks down over time from your sweat.

That's my :2Cents:.

Lynn

What I want to know is who the hell is claiming to be a professional cymbal cleaner and charging for it???

+1 to all above comments.

Someone suggested this product on DFO, there is a thread on cymbal polishing.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Malco-Twinkle-4.4-Oz.-Copper-Cleaner/19663351

I used gloves when I had hand problems and a lot of gigs. I had a long illness which took my strength away and I lost a lot of weight. So when I got better, I was still thin but didn't build the strength back in my hands so I just had problem after problem of gripping the sticks at the end of a 2-3hr gig. My 6As or 8as would break so I went to larger sticks and just had to go to gloves when it got louder.

As I got my strength back and went back to 8a's, I no longer needed the gloves.

The whole thing about keeping cymbals pristine sounds a little compulsive/obsessive to me. Cymbals will tarnish and take on a patina over time no matter what you do. Personally, I don't like gloves because I feel like I lose 'touch' with the sticks. It just feels uncomfortable to me. Cymbals are going to tarnish... make your peace with reality. Funny, I actually like my cymbals with their age patina. It may not be true, but I think it even makes them sound mellower.

John