[leadin]Each year, Flylow manufactures about 25,000 pairs of leather gloves and mittens, and they all have one thing in common.[/leadin]
They have all been baked in an oven similar to the one in your kitchen. The process of “triple baking” helps cook waterproofing into the leather and make the gloves resist the moisture of high mountain snowstorms.
After hearing about the baking process a couple years ago, I was curious to learn more. Flylow was baking gloves yesterday, so I stopped by their warehouse facility in Denver to check out the production.
Sure enough, tucked far back in the rear of the warehouse by a garage door surrounded by heaps of boxes, a woman was slathering Sno Seal on dozens of pairs of John Henry Gloves and arranging them like cookies on a baking sheet.
A train rumbled past the industrial location, blasting a horn, as the gloves slid into the oven for a 10-minute bake.
Each pair is triple-coated with Sno Seal, and baked between each coat, spending about a half-hour total in the oven.
The process certainly isn’t rocket science, but it was fun to witness first hand the final step in creating a glove that is seen all over ski hills across the country each year.
If you find yourself looking down at your hands and wondering how those leather Flylows keep you so warm and comfy, remember they were born from an oven. Not a bad place for a warming piece of gear to begin its life.
