Industrial Rubber Gloves

When you need protection against chemicals, you want to use rubber gloves for the ultimate protection. Rubber gloves are key because they provide barrier protection against a range of chemicals depending on the type of material. Although industrial gloves made from leather or Kevlar can provide your hands protection from occasional splashes from chemicals, liquids penetrate these materials much faster than they would rubber gloves. If you were to work in an environment where you are in constant contact with chemicals, the only industrial gloves you need are rubber gloves.

Different Types of Rubber Gloves

Just as there are numerous types of industrial gloves, there are a wide variety of rubber gloves made from natural latex rubber as well as synthetic material. The primary thing to look for in rubber gloves is to choose the material the rubber glove is made from depending on what you need protection from. Latex gloves provide excellent protection against water-based chemicals while nitrile gloves are the popular choice for protecting against oil-based chemicals. In addition to latex and nitrile, you will find PVC and neoprene being used as materials for industrial rubber gloves.

Thicker Rubber Gloves Gives Better Protection

The next important decision for purchasing rubber glove brands will be the thickness level. Rubber gloves have different thickness depending on the brand so you can use extra-thick rubber gloves for more hazardous conditions while using thinner gloves for light-duty tasks. Thinner rubber gloves provide better tactile sensitivity and flexibility from their thicker counterparts, but the trade-off is a lower degree of protection. Once a chemical hits the surface of the rubber glove, there is a finite time period from minutes to hours on how long the rubber glove will stay intact to provide your hands protection depending on the actual chemical, the material of the rubber glove, and the thickness of the glove.

Rubber Gloves Are Intended For Single Use

One of the most important things to keep in mind is the fact that most rubber gloves are intended to be used only once. If rubber gloves are being used to protect against harsh chemicals, they should not be reused even if you try to wash the rubber gloves. For instance, if you used industrial nitrile gloves while handling formaldehyde, it would be dangerous to try and wash the chemicals off the surface of the glove with the intent of reusing the nitrile glove. As soon as the formaldehyde comes into contact with the rubber glove, the chemical starts decomposing the nitrile material and since the outer shell has started to erode, the nitrile glove will no longer store properly and becomes less reliable as time passes. To be safe, just use a new pair of rubber gloves every time you need them.

Rubber Glove Prices Depend On Material

The price of rubber gloves depend on several factors. The primary indicator of cost will be the raw material used. Latex glove prices are tied to the global demand for latex rubber and over the past years, the price of latex have consistently risen due to the strong demand for latex rubber in China since latex is also used in products like tires. As for the synthetic materials, PVC or plastic are the cheapest gloves you will find. Nitrile gloves cost more with neoprene gloves being the most expensive out of these. The next factor to determine the price of rubber gloves will be the thickness since the thicker the rubber glove is the more raw material will be needed. Other measures include the brand of rubber gloves, the economy on a macro level, the price of oil, as well as the currency exchange rate between the countries where industrial rubber gloves are manufactured and the US dollar.

Rubber Glove Brands