Know Your Gloves
Thickness
The thickness of gloves can be measured in a few different ways. There are generally two types of measuring system used: “mils” (a unit of thickness equal to one-thousandth of an inch (.001 inch)) in America, and “microns” (a unit of length equal to one-millionth of a metre) in everywhere else in the world.
Gloves of 3 mils or less are usually used for jobs that do not deal with strong chemicals or hazardous materials. They are usually preferred for jobs that need frequent glove changes for example the food industry, cleaning services, and of sorts. Gloves between 3 to 6 mil range are dependable for numerous uses, from general duty to heavier automotive, or even industrial needs. Whereas, gloves 8 mils and above are rated for heavy-duty use.
One thing to note about glove thickness is that they have different thickness ratings on different parts of the glove. When gloves are made, they are dipped with fingers pointing down. As they dry, with the law of gravity applied, fingertips are usually thicker than wrists, and palms somewhere in the middle. The best practice is to always measure gloves by the thickness of the palm, to differentiate gloves. With that said, it is always best to feel the gloves physically, to know the difference and pick the best fit out of all.
Sizes
When it comes to evaluating gloves, proper sizing is also crucial. Here, we have a guide on “how to measure” your gloves.
Our gloves come in 4 sizes: Small, Medium, Large, and Extra Large.
Please refer to our Product Specifics Nitrile Examination Glove for exact measurement of our gloves.
Texture
The next thing to consider, would be the grip of gloves. Glove wearers are not usually given an option to control the work environment that they are in, so picking the right glove is very important and texture is another feature to factor in while picking your gloves. There is however, no standard description for glove textures. Some gloves are fully textured, while some other gloves are textured only on the fingertips and not the rest of the glove.
Here, we can roughly breakdown texture types for gloves into three:
Smooth: These gloves do not have any texture at all, and are mostly made of PVC. Smooth gloves are suitable for jobs that do not require strong grips for example the food industry, and the beauty industry.
Slightly-roughened: This is usually mostly nitrile and latex gloves. These gloves appear to have a lightly sanded surface and are most suitable in the medical industry. They provide a good grip for holding tools without any additional force.
Highly textured: These gloves are usually useful for gripping hard, big, or slippery objects predominantly in automobile industry. Highly textured gloves are also usually thicker.
How to Measure and Compare Glove Strength
There is no standardised test for measuring and comparing the strength of a glove. Strength has many different definitions depending on the context. Because you need gloves in so many diverse workplaces for a variety of different protection needs, it is hard to apply one blanket rule to determine the ‘strength’ of a glove. That is why the EN standards were created. The EN standards test for a variety of specific hazards that we can use as a guide to determine how ‘strong’ a glove is. The best indicators for the strength of a glove are tests for; Puncture resistance, Tear resistance, Abrasion resistance, Cut resistance, and Chemical resistance.
EN388 was created for Mechanical Risks. Mechanical Risks are defined as; puncture, tear, abrasion and cut resistance of the gloves.
How to measure and compare glove puncture, tear, abrasion and cut resistance. The basic definition of these tests without the industry jargon is;
- 1) Puncture resistance is how well the glove withstands puncture hazards. The higher the number, the more resistant.
- 2) Tear resistance is how likely the glove is to tear when it comes into contact with snags or pull hazards. The higher the number, the more resistant the glove will be.
- 3) Abrasion resistance is how well the glove withstands abrasion hazards. The higher the number, the more resistant to a course surface the glove is.
- 4) Cut resistance is how well the glove withstands sharp cut hazards. The higher the number, the more resistant to sharp edges, materials, knives, etc. the glove will be.
Mechanical hazards are a great way of comparing the “strength” of a glove. However, another excellent comparison tool is Chemical Resistance measured by the EN374 / AS/NZS 2161.10.1 standard.