Handy tips for gloves

When you consider the versatility, yet fragility, of the human hand and the ever-increasing diversity of hands-on activities in today’s workplace, the need for a broad range of polymer-coated gloves for hand-and-product protection is obvious.

What may not be obvious is the difference between one glove and another.  By becoming familiar with the various protective materials used to make these gloves, you can determine the correct glove for the job.

Natural rubber
Natural rubber has excellent abrasion, cut and tear resistance, standing grip and temperature resistance.  It remains flexible and durable in temperatures ranging from zero to 300 degrees F.  Natural rubber, however, has poor flame resistance.

Natural rubber withstands all liquids that mix with water, such as acetones and alcohols, but not those that do not, such as petroleum and oil-based solvents.  Natural rubber is a hydrocarbon; it swells and degrades in contact with hydrocarbon fluids such as kerosene and gasoline.  It’s not recommended where resistance to grease, oil or petroleum solvents is required.

Neoprene
Neoprene provides excellent resistance to a broad range of hazardous chemicals, including acids, alcohols, oils, caustics, inks, grease, detergents, refrigerants, ketones and fertilizers.  Neoprene provides good abrasion resistance, but not as good as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or nitrile, and good cut resistance, but not as good as natural rubber.  Neoprene has excellent tactile strength and resembles natural rubber in feel and flexibility, but is much more chemically resistant and impermeable to gases, vapor and moisture.

Neoprene performs well and resists degradation in continuous contact up to 200 F and in intermittent contact up to 300 F.  Above that, it hardens and become less resilient. Neoprene remains flexible and performs well in the range of minus-10 F.  Below that, it stiffens, becoming brittle around minus-40 F.

Nitrile
Nitrile is a synthetic rubber that provides excellent resistance to a wide range of solvents and hazardous chemicals, as well as punctures, cuts, snags and abrasions.  Nitrile offers excellent protection against oils, greases, acids, caustics and many petroleum products.

Nitrile is used to make soft, flexible, thin-gauge gloves that withstand less-permeating chemicals in intermittent contact.  Nitrile is also used in heavier-gauge gloves that provide greater resistance to chemical and physical hazards.  The thicker the nitrile glove, the greater its resistance to chemicals, but the less flexible it becomes.

Depending on glove type and application, nitrile gloves function well between minus-25 and 300 F.  Nitrile gloves have better resistance to cuts and abrasion than neoprene or PVC gloves.

Polyvinyl chloride
PVC is a synthetic thermoplastic polymer that provides excellent resistance to most acids, oils, fats, caustics and petroleum hydrocarbons, in addition to outstanding abrasion resistance.  Although fairly flexible, PVC lacks the tactile sensitivity of rubber.

PVC gloves are useful in alcohols and glycol ethers, but not in aldehydes, ketones, aromatic hydrocarbons, halogen compounds, heterocyclic compounds or nitrocompounds.

Depending on the type of glove and application, PVC gloves perform well between 25 and 150 F. PVC begins to melt around 180 F, but for brief contact, PVC gloves may be effective in temperatures of around 212 F.  Special PVC formulations may remain usable down to minus-30 F.

Butyl
Butyl rubber provides superior resistance to highly corrosive acids and is excellent for handling ketones and esters.  This synthetic rubber also provides the highest permeation resistance to gases and water vapors of any protective material used to make gloves.  It does not offer the strength, though, of natural rubber.

Butyl provides good resistance to bases, alcohols, amines and amides, glycol ethers, nitrocompounds and aldehydes, but does not perform well in halogen compounds and aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbons.

Viton
Viton is the most chemical resistant of all the rubbers and protects against such toxic and highly permeating chemicals as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated triphenyls, benzene and aniline.  This fluoroelastomer provides excellent resistance to aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons and chlorinated solvents.  However, Viton gloves do not work well in ketones.

Viton provides excellent resistance to gas and water vapors, and is flexible, but offers minimal resistance to cuts or abrasion.  For applications where Viton is recommended for chemical resistance, and protection from physical hazards is also needed, heavier-gauge Viton gloves perform best.  Viton gloves are used primarily in applications where the life span of other gloves is too short to be economical.

(Also view, "Consider these points when selecting gloves.")

Information supplied by Best Glove Manufacturing Company.

This article appeared in the February/March 1999 issue of MRO Today magazine.  Copyright, 1999.

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