Dec. 02, 2024
When you need a glove to get the job done, how do you choose?
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It&#;s easy to think that disposable gloves don&#;t require much thought. After all, you&#;ll pull them on for a quick task and then take them off. In theory, any glove could do the job. In practice, though, various qualities of the glove will dramatically impact how it handles various tasks.
For more and more industries that require durable, flexible, single-use hand protection, disposable nitrile gloves are the leading choice. But the choice of material isn't the only quality that matters. The thickness of the gloves you're using can also be a major factor in how well they perform.
So how thick should nitrile gloves be? Here's how to choose the right glove thickness for nitrile gloves.
This chart gives you a basic overview of the various nitrile gloves thicknesses, the benefits of each, and how they&#;re used. For more information, check out the next section on nitrile gloves for various industries.
Thickness Benefits Used For 2 to 3 Mils Thin Cheap, Good tactility Food service, beauticians, janitorial 4 to 5 Mils Medium Good balance of feel and toughness Medical, law enforcement, first responders 6 to 8 Mils Thick Extra chemical and puncture resistance Tattoo artists, lab workers, pest control 9 to 10 Mils Very Thick Max chemical and puncture resistance Contractors, hazardous cleanupHow thick should nitrile gloves be? The answer likely depends on your industry. The right balance of tensile strength versus tactile sensitivity is impossible to determine without knowing the work you do.
Here are a few examples of jobs well-suited to different nitrile glove thickness levels:
These thinner nitrile products are affordable yet durable choices for those like food service workers. If you just need a basic barrier and a glove you can shed quickly, these will help you avoid mess or cross-contamination.
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This nitrile glove thickness range is thick enough to withstand punctures but still thin enough to retain tactile sensitivity. Gloves in this category are appropriate for jobs where you need to worry about exposure to bodily fluids or other infectious materials. If you're working in a healthcare setting, make sure to look for medical grade gloves.
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Thicker gloves like 6 mil to 8 mil provide some extra puncture and chemical resistance for jobs involving sharp edges, harsh abrasion, and caustic materials. These are often considered industrial grade disposable gloves.
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For industrial workers, the biggest priority is puncture protection, so they&#;ll reach for the thickest nitrile gloves they can. These 9 mil to 10 mil heavy duty gloves may also be a good idea for those working with extremely dangerous chemicals.
Keep in mind that the recommendations above are only general guidelines. The specific needs of your job might dictate a need for thicker gloves than standard in your field. If you have questions about your specific industry, reach out to your nitrile gloves supplier, who should be able to find the perfect glove for your situation.
It's a common misconception that the glove's material or thickness determines whether it counts as a medical or industrial grade glove. In reality, a glove's grade has much more to do with the level of quality control backing it.
Industrial grade gloves generally have to meet an acceptable quality level (AQL) of 3.0 to 4.0, meaning less than 3-4% of a batch can have manufacturing defects. The FDA mandates an even stricter standard of 2.5 for medical grade gloves.
This doesn't necessarily mean that industrial grade gloves are lower quality or less protective than medical gloves. In fact, they're often quite a bit thicker and tougher, because the need for resistance to tears, abrasions, and punctures is greater when you're working with machinery.
However, it's considered less critical if industrial nitrile gloves contain small pinholes or other defects. Those tiny openings matter more for hospital gloves, where there's considerable danger of infections being transmitted through microscopic amounts of bodily fluids.
10 mil nitrile gloves are considered the thickest standard nitrile glove you can normally buy. You can purchase thicker nitrile gloves of 11 mil and above, but they are expensive, don't offer good tactile feel, and are hard to take on and off.
The thickness of any type of disposable glove can have a considerable impact on the kinds of jobs it can handle. It&#;s especially important with nitrile gloves, which are renowned for their durability but often used in jobs where flexibility matters almost as much. So how can you tell when you need a thin vs. thick nitrile glove?
A thin glove is more economical and cost-effective since it requires less material to produce. It also provides greater tactile sensitivity, which is important for tasks that require great precision. The thickest nitrile gloves may not be the best choice for doctors or nurses, who need to be able to feel for subtle swellings or texture differences during patient exams.
Thinner gloves also feel lighter on the hands, which is pleasant for people who stay in their gloves for a while, have sweaty hands, or only need a basic protective layer (depending on how the glove fits).
A thick glove uses more material, increasing the cost, but also making the glove much stronger. These are the gloves that can protect your hands without ripping or tearing while you're performing rough work. In the case of nitrile, thicker gloves are also more puncture and chemical resistant.
This makes thick gloves a great choice for those with jobs that call for a great deal of puncture resistance (like medical professionals or industrial workers), chemical resistance (like lab workers or cleaning staff), or both. That&#;s because there&#;s more material that has to be torn through. Having more material in the way also gives nitrile disposable gloves a longer breakthrough time (i.e. the time required for a chemical to seep through it).
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Contact us to discuss your requirements of 4 mil vs 6 mil gloves. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.
The flip side is that a thick nitrile glove is somewhat less flexible, which is something to keep in mind for quick, precise tasks requiring tactile sensitivity. Thicker gloves are also a bit harder to remove, which can be an issue for those who need to take them on and off quite easily (like food prep workers or doctors doing basic exams).
Nitrile glove thickness is generally measured in mils, where 1 mil = 0.001&#; gauge. A glove of 3 mil and below is considered thin. Gloves at 4 mils (like our HandCare blue nitrile gloves) or 6 mils (like our Advance Plus orange nitrile gloves) are considered medium thickness for nitrile gloves, ideal for those who need a balance of protection and dexterity.
A thicker nitrile glove, measuring 7 mils or more, would be unusually rugged for household use but could be well-suited to heavy-duty manual labor. (Our Dark Light black nitrile gloves are good examples.)
However, keep in mind that the thickness of a nitrile glove isn&#;t uniform. In fact, thickness changes depending on what part of the hand you measure.
Nitrile gloves are generally made by dipping a hand-shaped mold in a vat of liquid synthetic rubber and letting it dry upside down. Since the fingertips are the lowest point, a little bit more of the material tends to pool there, making them the thickest parts of the glove. The wrists, in contrast, are usually the thinnest part of the glove.
Any measurement of glove thickness is usually based on the thickness of the fingers. This makes sense, because your fingers will often have the most contact with various surfaces and are thus most susceptible to punctures and tears.
The fingertips are also usually the most important area for feeling the consistency, texture, and shape of whatever you're handling. That's one reason that thinner gloves provide greater tactile sensitivity.
No matter what nitrile gloves you and your team need to get the job done, we offer a great selection that you can count on to tackle your biggest tasks. Our collection of nitrile gloves includes every size from extra-small to XXL - not to mention thickness options from 2 mils to more than 10 mils.
Check out our nitrile gloves product page and find the hand protection your job demands.
We also offer bulk nitrile gloves for larger orders. Save up to 50% today!
Disposable gloves are good at keeping a variety of oily, sticky and potentially hazardous gunk off your hands. They&#;re readily available in just about any hardware, auto parts, or big box store, and they cost as little as 25 cents a pair when you buy them in bulk from an industrial supply house.
The question is what kind should you buy? Although online suppliers list dozens of varieties of protective gloves in their catalogs, the three most common materials for disposables are vinyl, latex, and nitrile. Choosing one over the other boils down to the specific chemical or material you&#;re going to be handling, how thick the glove should be, and how much the gloves cost.
Thickness typically ranges from 4 to 15 mils (a mil is one-thousandth of an inch), according to a tutorial posted at the website of Superior Glove, a large Canadian manufacturer. For reference, a plastic supermarket bag is about 3 mils thick.
Thinner gloves don&#;t necessarily have lower tensile strength, but a thicker glove does buy you some extra protection and should prove more durable. Robert N. Phalen, an associate professor and program chair of the Occupational Safety and Health Program at the University of Houston Clear Lake, says the difference between a 5-mil and a 6-mil glove is insignificant.
Doubling the thickness of the glove does make a difference, but the tradeoff is less dexterity and possibly less comfort. You won&#;t be as nimble in a really thick glove, a consideration when the job involves handling, say, small machine parts.
Industrial hygienists like Phalen use factors like &#;breakthrough time&#; and &#;permeation rate&#; to assess the effectiveness of gloves. These values aren&#;t going to be of much use to a builder standing in The Home Depot and wondering what kind of glove he needs for mixing up a batch of epoxy, or handling a solvent containing ketone.
A place to start is with a chemical compatability guide. Phalen suggests the Cole Parmer Chemical Resistance Guide, for example, an interactive website that allows users to plug in the chemical they&#;ll be handling to see how common glove materials will react. The guide lists a variety of brands and types.
Industrial suppliers also offer guidance on what type of glove to choose. Uline, for example, has a simple chart that lists common glove materials and the materials they&#;re best suited for. The recommendations are very general, but a good start. More detailed guides, like the ChemRest database, allows searches by a specific chemical. Kimberly-Clark also has a simple online guide for gauging the effectiveness of its nitrile gloves.
How do you know what you&#;re getting into? Check the product label for a list of what&#;s in the stuff you&#;re using. If you want a more in-depth look check the Safety Data Sheet, which is available online.
Keep in mind, Phalen adds, that disposable gloves are fine when contact with a chemical is going to be incidental. You&#;re better off switching to a thicker, chemical-resistant glove when contact will be for an extended period of time.
Last but not least is the material the glove is made from. The three most common types for disposable gloves are vinyl, latex and nitrile.
Of the three, vinyl gloves are the least durable and best suited for short-term use. They&#;re good for water, detergents, and alcohols, Uline says, but don&#;t count on them for extended wear, and they&#;re not for handling more potent chemicals such as organic solvents.
Latex is a natural material with good tear resistance. There are two potential problems with latex, according to Superior Glove. One is that some people are allergic to latex and will break out in hives and show other allergic reactions when exposed to it (some 3 million Americans share this problem). Another is that 40% of the world&#;s supply of latex comes from Thailand, which makes the material somewhat susceptible to environmental factors such as flooding.
Nitrile is a man-made polymer, so it doesn&#;t have the allergy problem that latex does. It also has good tear resistance, and is suited to a variety of chemical types.
In terms of cost, vinyl is the least expensive, followed by latex (about 80% more than vinyl), and then nitrile (double the cost of vinyl and 15% more than latex), according to Superior.
Buying in bulk can save money. In Uline&#;s extensive offerings, for example, a 6-mil &#;Supraflex&#; nitrile glove (a good middle weight) comes in cartons of 100 for $16, or 32 cents for a pair.
These basic gloves should be adequate for the finishes, glues, caulks and greasy tool parts homebuilders will typically handle. For more exotic chemicals it would be a good idea to use a detailed online guide or check with a manufacturer for more specific advice.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
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