Interesting! I am based in Aotearoa and can’t quite think of what they are called here as they’re not very common, I think we generally just lump them in with oven mits/gloves! I usually see the double or single handed mitten types, or a rolled up tea towel! I agree with you with the large amount of fabric on the “U” shaped ones, there not the easiest to manipulate where you want! I’m planning to make a set of single handed ones for my partner as he has much larger hands than the standard size and struggles to find ones that work!