A method of making a flexible rubber article having a lubricating layer formed from a hydrogel polymer and a surfactant bonded thereto so as to provide a skin-contacting surface of the article comprises:
(a) forming the rubber article by dipping a suitably shaped former in a rubber latex, and drying, leaching, and acid priming the article on the former, (b) dipping the article, on the former, in a solution containing a hydrophilic, hydrogel-forming polymer, a curing agent therefor, and a surfactant, (c) heating the coated article on the former to effect drying and then curing of the hydrogel polymer and vulcanisation of the rubber, and (d) stripping the resulting article from the former.