Archive for March, 2009

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Versatility of Fingerless Gloves

March 31, 2009

Many people inquire about the need for gloves that allow for maximum dexterity with optimal hand protection. The good news is there is a design of gloves that meets both requests. Fingerless gloves! What are fingerless gloves? They are gloves designed with optimal dexterity and hand protection in mind. They are similar to regular gloves with the difference being that the fingers are one-quarter to one-half length allowing the fingertips to be exposed. You may have seen bodybuilders, bicyclists, motorcyclists, inline skaters, and gardeners wearing them. As of recently, fingerless gloves have become popular with framers and those people who work in the traffic circuit.

Carhartt Fingerless Gloves

Depending on the type of work you are doing, there are several options to choose from. For example, Carhartt retails a top-notch fingerless glove ideal for industrial jobs and jobs around the house such as pruning the hedges and mowing the lawn. These gloves are made of full grain pigskin for durability with spandex on top providing optimal comfort and dexterity. A unique feature of Carhartt fingerless gloves is the thumb, first and second finger are left open to provide versatile movement. For additional comfort (and possibly reduce the occurrence of blisters) is gel padding in the palm for increased gripping ability and vibration protection.

Ironclad Framers Fingerless Gloves

There is a perfect fingerless glove designed specifically for framers. A well- known company, Ironclad, thought of framers everywhere when they designed these gloves. These gloves are the best on the market featuring reinforced stitching around the thumb, palm, and fingertips preventing rips and tears. The Ironclad framer glove provides optimal dexterity and complete hand protection in combination with breathable, flexible fabric to prevent hand fatigue.

Occunomix Fingerless Gloves

Another design of fingerless gloves is reflective from Occunomix and Ergodyne. These are perfect for construction flaggers, traffic controllers, and crossing guards. Reflective gloves by Occunomix provide the wearer the ability to be visible as far as 500 feet away. Ergodyne also retails reflective gloves with fantastic features including high gloss stop and go signals on either side of the glove. Both of these brands of gloves provide high visibility protection for both pedestrians and drivers to see the wearer.

Ergodyne Fingerless Gloves

In addition to these gloves being perfect for work environments they can be used at home too! A fine example of this is trimming the hedges. Fingerless gloves are ideal for this task providing protection from branches and thorns with more dexterity than regular gardening gloves. They are also great for cycling to decrease hand fatigue from holding the handlebars for extended periods of time. The list of possible uses for fingerless gloves is too numerous to mention. What do you use yours for? Give your fellow readers and us more ideas by leaving a comment below.

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Disposable Gloves Are Used for Various Jobs

March 26, 2009

Disposable gloves are no longer just for medical personnel. Thanks to advancements in modern science, we are finding there are more communicable diseases than ever. Now days several industries use hand protection including postal workers, law enforcement, food preparation workers, and factory workers. Disposable gloves are designed to protect blood and other bodily fluids, bacteria, and keep skin oils from products. Here is a brief description of the various types of disposable gloves.

Nitrile Gloves

Nitrile – Superior protection against acids, oils, solvents, grease, and animal fats. Increased resistance to snags, punctures, abrasions, and cuts. No fear of allergic reactions, because nitrile does not contain latex proteins. Ideal for these jobs: parts handling, maintenance, chemical processing, food processing, painting, electronics, and pesticide handling.

Vinyl – Good protection against bacteria and infection. Made from PVC (poly vinyl chloride) making them more resistant to tearing and puncturing than latex gloves. Vinyl gloves provide a temporary barrier against biological contaminants. Ideal for these jobs: food processing, food handling, janitorial maintenance, food inspector, and parts handling.

Polyethylene – Provides excellent dexterity without contamination of a product or work area. Complies with USDA and FDA regulations to be used for food processing. Ideal for these jobs: food handling, food processing, janitorial maintenance, food inspector, and mechanical repair.

Latex Gloves

Latex – Puncture resistant and provide a temporary barrier against biological contaminants. Latex gloves offer a unique blend of comfort and protection. Latex is considered the best fitting disposable glove. Ideal for these jobs: janitorial maintenance and medical personnel.

Keep this guide in mind when you are searching for disposable gloves for your job. One can never be too careful with the possibility of communicable diseases. Not only are these gloves ideal for preventing the spread of illness and other contaminants, but also for preventing skin oils from getting on parts. Some factories make it mandatory for their workers to wear gloves to prevent skin oils from contaminating the parts. Whatever your job is get your disposable gloves and be safe.

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PVC Work Gloves: Economical and Optimal Hand Protection

March 17, 2009

North DeckHand PVC Work Gloves

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among the 3.8 million work-related injuries that occur each year, the majority involve the hands and fingers. This is a staggering statistic especially when most injuries can be prevented by wearing appropriate hand protection. Several workers are in environments where they encounter dangerous substances such as petrochemical, refining, painting, oil and gas, etc. Are you a person working in one of these environments? If so, you need to read on about PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) work gloves.

There are several benefits to PVC work gloves. They are ideal for those people who are in working environments exposed to substances such as fats, oils, acids, caustics, because the material is chemical resistant. Chemicals such as the ones mentioned will not penetrate the gloves and cause hand injury.

PVC work gloves are also resistant to alcohols and glycol ethers, but not aromatics, aldehydes and ketones. Another significant benefit of gloves created with this material is they are the most economical choice for the level of protection provided. The gloves are reasonably priced and provide an optimal level of chemical resistance protecting one of your most precious assets – your hands.

Not only are PVC work gloves economical and chemical resistant, but they are also abrasion resistant. PVC material is durable with exceptional strength making it perfect for construction, mining, or any other work environment where chemicals and abrasions can occur. It gets better; PVC work gloves are also flame resistant with fire prevention properties. The material is difficult to ignite and in the absence of a powerful external flame will not continue to burn. This is a significant benefit if your work environment involves flammable substances.

North Trawler King PVC Work Gloves

PVC work gloves are a popular choice among workers from fish hatcheries to mines for their amazing protective properties. A pair of safety gloves to consider is Trawler King by North. They are ambidextrous, durable, and protect your hands from several chemicals preventing injury. In summary, wear your work gloves and do not become another statistic.

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Consumers’ Guide to Chemical Resistant Gloves

March 9, 2009

North NitriGuard Chemical Resistant Gloves

Do you feel like you need a dictionary when purchasing chemical resistant gloves? Trust me I doubt you are alone in that respect. The good news is there is a simple guide to help you navigate the “dictionary” of chemical resistant gloves. Keep reading for simplified definitions to terms used in relation to chemical resistant gloves.

Breakthrough Time – time that elapses during standard tests between initial contact of a chemical with the outside surface of a protective material (such as rubber glove)

Copolymer – material created by polymerizing a mixture of two (or more) starting compounds

Degradation – loss of resilience of material used for safety gloves may cause the material to soften, swell, become hard and brittle, or in severe cases – disintegrate

Penetration – movement of chemicals through zippers, stitched seams or imperfections (i.e. pinholes) in safety gloves

Permeation – process by which a chemical can pass through a material such as a protective glove

Polymer – substance formed by the union of small molecules of the same kind (monomers)

Best Nitri-Solve Chemical Resistant Gloves

Now you can leave the dictionary at home and purchase chemical resistant gloves with ease.  Two great selections for chemical resistant gloves are NitriGuard and Trawler King both manufactured by North. Also, available is Nitri-Solve manufactured by Best. All three featured selections feature comfort and optimal hand protection from chemicals.  More information about selecting chemical resistant gloves is available at

http://www.cdc.gov/NASD/docs/d001001-d001100/d001051/d001051.html.

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How to Choose Welding Gloves

March 2, 2009

Rawhyde Welding Gloves

Choosing a welding glove can be a confusing venture. I realized at one point that I need a strategy. No, this is not playing a game of Battleship. Rather it is a strategy to ensure hand safety.  According to the American Welding Society, a simple strategy to purchasing welding gloves is to remember the 3 P’s – protection, performance, and price. Using this simple strategy will help you save time and money, as well as a trip to the hospital.

The first of the 3 P’s – protection prompts you to ask yourself, “What type of protection do I need?” First, you need to assess the level of heat used in your welding processes. As the level of heat increases so does the need for additional insulation in your welding glove. I will tell you welding gloves with heat protection come with a price – lack of control due to wearing a thick glove. For example, if you are welding with high heat or doing a lot of material handling thicker gloves made from side-split cowhide, elk skin, or thick deerskin are the ways to go. These types of gloves are made to withstand higher temperatures and offer increased abrasion and cut resistance. Gloves made with thin, soft, pliable leathers such as deerskin, pigskin, or goatskin are used for tungsten arc welding applications providing better sensitivity and control.

Tillman Welding Gloves

The second of the 3 P’s – performance is determining what type of welding you will be doing. This question is best answered by Features of Various Types of Leather.

Elk Skin – Good for working with heat and flame as well as abrasion resistant.

Cowhide – Durable and heat resistant, ideal for working with flame and heat.

Deerskin – Features most comfortable fit and dexterity.

Pigskin – Features best oil and weather resistance for ultimate safety.

Goatskin – Lightweight for comfort with oil and weather resistant for safety.

The third of the 3 P’s – price is assessing a range you will pay for welding gloves. Granted this choice is entirely yours, keep in mind that sometimes inexpensive gloves are not the best way to go. Some stores prominently display these gloves, because they need to be replaced often and therefore they make more money. In most cases, it is worth your while to pay a little more money for a pair of welding gloves that will be durable and offer good hand protection.

Harley Davidson Welding Gloves

It all goes back to saving time, money, and trips to the hospital. The good news is this does not need to be a wallet gouging expense. You can purchase quality welding gloves at reasonable prices protection from several manufacturers including: Tillman, Harley-Davidson, and Rawhyde Frontier. If you have any suggestions or opinions about this topic, please leave an opinion below.

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