Ibex Merino Glove Liners are an eco-friendly alternative to sweaty, short-lived synthetic touchscreen gloves. Here’s our unbiased review after a full winter season with these (spoiler!) excellent, high-performance glove liners which also work great as a standalone glove.
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Want to take photos or send messages in the snow without freezing your fingers off? These beautiful glove liners are the answer!
Ibex Merino Touchscreen Gloves
Highlights: Warm, water-resistant, merino wool touchscreen glove liners made by a sustainably minded company using mulesing-free wool. Snug fitting with excellent conductivity and a cozy, quality feel.
- Made with ethically sourced merino
- Excellent conductivity for touchscreen use
- Remain warm even when wet
- Thermoregulating and moisture-wicking
- Great glove liner in extreme cold or standalone glove
- Low profile stitching to fit snug under gloves
- Sustainably packaged
- Handwash only
- Not vegan (obviously)
- Made with virgin material
- Run small (so size up as needed)
My pair of gloves is made of 95% merino and 5% elastane. On its website, Ibex says it uses 94% merino (270 gm2 ) and 6% elastane to create these glove liners, suggesting it may have changed a little since 2022. The upshot, though, is that these glove liners fit snug with a slight stretch.
They have conductive material on the thumb and index finger, so you can use touchscreens without having to remove your glove. From first-hand experience, I can confirm that these gloves still work with touchscreens even when they’re soggy from snow or rain.
Ibex Merino Glove Liners are lightweight and insulating, making them ideal for a wide range of climates and activities. I’ve used these gloves on cold, rainy days, on crisp and clear days, and when playing in the snow for several hours. Magically, they still keep your hands warm even when wet, and remain conductive too!
Other reviewers have noted that these glove liners are great for:
- Bike rides in cold, wet weather
- Winter hikes
- Winter running
- Wearing indoors when A/C triggers arthritis pain in your hands!
Because these glove liners are made with super fine merino, they aren’t at all itchy. This makes them a great choice if you have some gorgeous wool mittens you want to wear but just can’t because they make your skin crawl. Slip on these liners and enjoy that knitted gift without irritation!
What customers say about Ibex Merino Glove Liners
Perfect weight and warmth for outdoor running during winter in the Pacific Northwest!
These glove liners feel great and fit very well. A big plus is that the touchscreen-compatible finger and thumb tips work better than any gloves I’ve tried. That might be because the fingers fit so well that the tips are snug and don’t move around when I touch my phone screen.
I use them for road biking. Between temps 45-65 they are great gloves by themselves. If you want them to last I highly recommend hand washing and air dry.
I will use all year round as air conditioning sets my arthritis off too!
Sizing and care
Because the Ibex Merino Glove Liners are, well, glove liners, it’s best not to use your regular glove size when ordering.
I have quite small hands and assumed I would be an XS. However, I measured my hand circumference and length to work out the fit and ended up ordering a Small, which fit perfectly. I suspect the extra small would be too snug and the medium too loose.
I strongly suggest you measure and refer to Ibex’s size chart before ordering. The glove liners are available in sizes XS, S, M, L, and XL. This ranges from 6 inches to 8.75 inches for hand circumference and 6.5 inches to 8.5 inches for hand length.
As with any 100% merino product, these glove liners do best when hand-washed cool and air dried. At a pinch, you could machine wash on a cold gentle cycle, but this could compromise the touchscreen capability and isn’t worth the risk.
Sustainably sourced merino from Ibex
Ibex specializes in merino base layers, including these gloves. The company goes above and beyond to make sure all Ibex materials and suppliers are sustainably certified and operate ethically.
Ibex manufacturers are all WRAP certified. WRAP stands for Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production, and basically means that the folks making Ibex gear do so in safe, lawful, humane, and ethical conditions without discrimination.
These touchscreen gloves are made with Woolmark Certified, mulesing-free wool from Australia with Responsible Wool Standard certification.
Ibex also carries ISO 14001 certification, meaning it has a proper environmental management system.
One downside to Ibex is that the company uses a lot of virgin materials, including merino wool. This isn’t great in terms of its environmental footprint, though the materials are mostly natural and organic. In recent years, Ibex has started using some recycled polyester and nylon in its apparel. This includes recycled synthetics in its Wool Aire Hoodie (another Ibex favorite of mine!).
Other sustainability initiatives at Ibex
At first glance, it might seem there’s not much to differentiate Ibex from other companies making top quality merino wool products. Upon closer examination, though, you’ll see that Ibex has a firm commitment to sustainable operations.
Ibex has:
- An on-site 5-stage water treatment plant that recycles up to 85% of its manufacturing water waste
- Water is reused for more manufacturing or agricultural purposes and industry
- A full rooftop solar array!
- Ibex’s array generates 35% of the power it needs for manufacturing.
Ibex is also climate neutral, having offset all emissions, and it packages its products minimally with biodegradable, home compostable, recycled, and recyclable materials.
Final thoughts on Ibex merino glove liners
These glove liners are, hands down, the best I’ve ever owned. I live in fear of losing them as I relied on them every single day this winter and continued using them into spring.
Compared to synthetic touchscreen gloves and other glove liners I’ve used previously, the Ibex liners perform perfectly and consistently. The touchscreen capability doesn’t fail when the gloves are wet, the conductive material hasn’t just fallen off or degraded, and the gloves keep my hands warm even in snowy, soggy conditions and cold and sweaty conditions too.
For winter running, biking, or hiking, or just for an everyday glove or glove liner, Ibex is a top choice.
Ibex Merino Touchscreen Gloves
Highlights: Warm, water-resistant, merino wool touchscreen glove liners made by a sustainably minded company using mulesing-free wool. Snug fitting with excellent conductivity and a cozy, quality feel.