Why is this weird thing in our wardrobe and how did it get there?

[5foot5]

At the weekend DH and I were carrying out a long overdue overhaul of our wardrobe and DH decided to dispose of most of his ties. Over the years he had built up quite a collection; however, he seldom needs to wear one these days so he threw almost all of them away. The ties lived on a little rail inside the wardrobe door. Once the majority of them had been removed DH found something very strange lurking underneath. He assumed that I must have an explanation because he didn't know why it was there, but I honestly have no idea and have no memory of ever having done this.

The mystery item? A small, green rubber glove (just one) with the open end tied with a piece of string which was then used to suspend it from the rail. I will try to include a picture.

We are both completely perplexed. I did ask DD (now in her 20s) whether she might have hung it there as a child as part of some game but she knows nothing about it and, actually, I don't remember that she ever did play about in our wardrobe or even in our room.

I am thinking it must have been there for years and years since we have so completely forgotten it. We have lived in this house for more than 20 years but we did bring the wardrobe with us from the old house, though surely we would have emptied it to move it? Maybe not. We hired one of those removal firms that packs everything for you so I suppose they could have moved it full or just taken out the old contents and replaced them at the other end. After this length of time I just can't remember.

Can any mumsnetters think of any rational explanation why a rubber glove might have been hung like that? My best guess so far is that one of us might have read some household tip about looking after ties or keeping your wardrobe fresh or something and acted on it, but obviously long since forgot. Does anyone recall ever having seen any advice along those lines sometime in the last 20-odd years?

It is also weird that it is so small. I have small hands but I don't think it would fit me. Maybe it shrank. Maybe it is very stretchy. I don't fancy trying it on to find out just in case it once contained something and there is still a residue.

Did you put lavender or herbs or mothballs in it many years ago after reading a life hack thread on mumsnet?

I don’t know why you’re focusing on the glove when you have Rapunzel’s plait hanging to the left of it - how did THAT get there?

Maybe it was to prevent static? (I have absolutely no knowledge of whether this would work. Nor have I ever heard of it.)

Dh has a secret rubber fetish?

Is there anything in it?

Have you tried googling - 'small, rubber glove tied with string, hanging in wardrobe'?

It could be very interesting ---- or not.

To remove pet hair/lint from clothes in the absence of a clothes brush or roller

It doesn't look that old. Doesn't rubber perish or something?

Have you opened the glove and sniffed inside it? I haven't got an idea what it might be for, but sniffing is useful detective work imo. I'd only tie something up like that if there was something liquid inside...hence the sniffing suggestion. I'd suggest tasting too, but that could potentially be unpleasant

Oh, and I agree with pp who thinks it's not that old. I have a pair of 6 month old rubber gloves under the sink (which is admittedly a damper environment than a wardrobe) and they're shrivelled and perished already.

someone was trying a practical joke I reckon....have The Hand just poking out of the wardrobe door to freak someone out.

Yeah I don't think it's that old either.

My initial thought was some kind of sex thing tbh maybe fill it with water/air and it acts like a fake hand for waking? Like in the inbetweeners with the ham

Or maybe someone was just using it s a baloom

fairislecable Surely putting any of those substances inside a rubber glove would stop them working?

MrsSarahSiddones It's not a plait! It's a belt - the rail wasn't exclusively for ties.

Walkamileinmyshoesbeforeujudge We have been married more than 30 years so I think I would have noticed by now!

Don't know if there is anything in it, it doesn't feel like it but neither f us have tried to untie it yet.

FiveShelties Tried googling but the nearest I got was some school in America that grows a garden in a glove and germinates the seeds in rubber gloves. Can't think how that works.

Member Does that work?

someone was trying a practical joke I reckon....have The Hand just poking out of the wardrobe door to freak someone out.

That actually sounds feasible but, if so, I don't know which one of us did it or how long ago.

For those saying it doesn't look that old - unless we are both going completely gaga then it must have been there for ages for us to have so completely forgotten it.

You probably put mothballs in it and they have evaporated by now.

With thicker washing up type gloves it does, not so sure how a nitrile glove would fare.

Our dentist blows up rubber gloves like a balloon and draws a face on them for the kids. Any chance it was something like this, and now all the air has leaked out?

Could it be from hands for a scarecrow or guy fawkes guy type thing? School play?

Cat toy?

I don't want to stress you out OP, but gloves come in pairs..........somewhere in your house there is another one, waiting patiently to be found.

When you moved, perhaps the packers put something else inside the wardrobe and hung the glove between the two items to make sure the didn't rub or scratch each other??

I work in a lab, and the fact that you described them as green (rather than the more usual blue) makes me think they're lab-grade gloves which are made to withstand chemical splashes, rather than medical or food-prep ones which are cheaper. Do you, DP or anyone who visits regularly work in a lab?

That string - is it the garden twine? As if so I am sorry to tell you but it literally perishes after a few years.

It's a magic glove, green in your wardrobe and bright blue on my screen.

Have you or your children had a party recently?