Surgical Gloves

[Norm's Coupe]

I noticed the other day that someone said they raised the hood of their car and "Put on their Surgical Gloves" and dove right in to fix whatever they were working on. I know they sell them for working on cars, but never use them myself. Only time I wear gloves is when I'm cutting metal to do body work. Then it's a pair of tight fitting sheep skin gloves for that so I don't get cut by any sharp edges. So.......why and how many people wear surgical gloves to work on cars. If your hands get a little dirty there are lots of hand cleaners to clean off the grease and grime. If the hand cleaners don't work, washing the dishes by hand will also get the grease and grime out of the fingernails. If that fails, there is cooking oil, that really works good. And, if all the above fails, there's always the old standby, gas. Just dip a couple of times and wipe. Then follow up with soap and water to get the gas off.

Don't wear gloves myself because they get in my way. As for surgical gloves. Well...........hit one sharp object, or try to turn a screw or nut and they will usually rip anyway, making them useless to begin with.

[PatS....]

I have a box of them in the garage. the only time so far that I have used them is for painting and staining a few wood projects and painting the bits and pieces of the car. Once I used them for packing a wheel bearing as well. Box is still full.

I guess they have their place...this box will likely last me a lifetime.

[Merle Coggins]

The Nitrile gloves are great for working with paints, stains, or other chemicals to protect your hands. They are also quite tough and don't rip easily, so can work good to keep hands clean when working on nasty things.

You really wash your hands with Gas, Norm? Even if you wash with soap and water after that, you still smell like gas for a long time. Maybe you like that smell more than I do.

Merle

[blueskies]

I noticed the other day that someone said they raised the hood of their car and "Put on their Surgical Gloves" and dove right in to fix whatever they were working on.

I think that was me...

I love using the gloves. I buy them at my local hardware store, and they are the tough ones that don't tear on every little thing. The form fit, aren't in the way because they aren't loose, and actually give my fingers more grip to turn bolts, etc.

I think they are great because I don't like the harsh cleaners and chemicals on my hands. They dry out my skin, and and repeated exposure to grease, oil, gas, and other carcinogenic chemicals is not a good thing. The gloves keep the moisture of your hands inside the glove, so the result is the opposite of drying out my skin.

When I'm doing something really messy like packing a bearing, there's no mess when you are done. Works great for painting stuff like POR-15 that is very difficult to remove from your skin too.

Sure I can just wash my hands, but it's quick and easy to just strip off the gloves and be done with it. I used to scrub my hands with a stiff bristle brush and dish soap to get the heavy grease off, for 10 minutes or more. by the time I had my hands really clean, there wasn't much skin left... now I always have clean hands, the gloves take the beating.

The gloves are cheap, so if I do tear one, there's a box of a couple hundred in the drawer. Just toss it and get another.

I don't work on anything dirty in my garage anymore without them.

Pete

[TodFitch]

A fairly large portion of the population can become allergic to stuff in the latex gloves. Nitrile, so far, doesn't have that problem and are, in my experience, more durable when exposed to solvents.

I usually get a new box in the fall so I can keep my patrol pack stocked during the ski season then retire the surplus to the garage for working on the car or with paints. I started that practice back when I still used latex as they only had about a year shelf life before they started to tear too easily. The nitrile are better on shelf life too.

When I run out, it is no big deal and I just end up with hard to get out dirt in the skin. But it sure is nice to pop on a pair of gloves, do a quick fix or adjustment, peel off the gloves and be done with no clean up.

Even if you don't use them as a regular thing, having some in your road tool kit helps. It is a lot easier to toss the soiled gloves into a trash bag than to get your hands clean enough to touch the steering wheel after a roadside repair.

[Don Coatney]

Size is a big (is there a pun buried here somewhere) issue for me. I have never been able to put on a pair if surgical gloves without ripping them to shreads. I work in a Federal Reserve Bank. Bank policy (after 911) dictates that all incoming packges (UPS, USPS, FED-EX, etc) must be first x-rayed then taken to a special room with an expensive venting system (that is not very effecient in my opinion) and opened by a person (sometimes me) who must first don surgical gloves and a face mask. All of this is being filmed and recordrd by the in house police force. The members of this police force all carry guns. They block traffic using automatic weapons when the armored trucks arrive and enter the building to make a cash deposit. They are a force not to be messed with.

Everytime I do my duty and put on the surgical gloves to open these packages they rip and tear as my hands are way too big for the gloves. I made the mistake of by-passing this procedure last week when a UPS envelope arrived with fresh supplies sent from my employer. The in house police soon knocked on my door and made me aware that the system must not be by-passed. So I will continue to don the small ripped up gloves and wear the face mask and stand in front of the inadquaite exhaust system as required. But I do not wear surgical gloves when I work on my car.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Use nitrile gloves when I wet sand the body with acid on a overall panel refinish. Otherwise..no gloves.

[Guest tagree01]

Gloves are great. I have been doing alot of upholstery lately using alot of spray contact cement. I usually get it all over my hands and then touch stuff and get it all over that too. I almost lost my mind putting the carpet in--I kept getting glue on the carpet. It leaves a dirty mess even after it is dry. Gloves are great because I just rip em off when they get dirty.

I am a neuroscientist, so I wear gloves at work alot. Good gloves don't rip easily. Evolution One are the best I've found. Powdered gloves are crap. Ripping gloves is usually not a size issue--it is usually a moisture issue. I can get extra small gloves over my hands if my hands are dry. Very uncomfortable, but it works. It is almost impossible to get gloves of any size on sweaty hands.

[greg g]

I have a couple of pair of GO-JO mechanics gloves. They are knit elastic deal with nitrile contact surfaces. I usually hate gloves (and hats) but I have found these to be a nice additon to the tool box. I also have a pair in each car trunk in case I get a flat tire. They are about 6 or 7 bucks a pair not like the 20 or 30 dollar NASCAR sponsored brand. Got em at POOP BOYZ. They last quite a while and I have washed a couple of pair with the shop towels/rags and they are still quite usable. They give a good grip, especially if tool get oily, keep the goo out form under you nails, and protect from cuts and abrasions. Not brane sturgeon gloves but I like em. Next week the garage Fedora........

[Guest tagree01]

I have a couple of pair of GO-JO mechanics gloves. They are knit elastic deal with nitrile contact surfaces. I usually hate gloves (and hats) but I have found these to be a nice additon to the tool box. I also have a pair in each car trunk in case I get a flat tire. They are about 6 or 7 bucks a pair not like the 20 or 30 dollar NASCAR sponsored brand. Got em at POOP BOYZ. They last quite a while and I have washed a couple of pair with the shop towels/rags and they are still quite usable. They give a good grip, especially if tool get oily, keep the goo out form under you nails, and protect from cuts and abrasions. Not brane sturgeon gloves but I like em. Next week the garage Fedora........

Good to know. Do they work well for heat? I need a pair I can use on a hot engine.

[Brad Lustig]

I have a box of gloves in my garage, but mainly use them for barbecue rubs. The rub doesn't stick to the gloves so you don't end up with club hand. Good for frying stuff, too. Flour doesn't stick to them. Anyway, I'll use them occasionally for cleaning stuff like carbs with carb cleaner, but don't use them for much else. I'll wear the Mechanix gloves for anything that might be hot or sharp. They help with gripping, too.

[greg g]

The go jo are probaly good to about 150 or so. The rubber isn't as good as leather like welding gloves but they are better than nothing if you inadvertantly rub up against a hot surface. or when a not get hots from friction twisting it off.

[Guest usedmind]

Last time I wore gloves I was grinding down a cart cage in a kitchen and welding a headrest the night before the race. (The cart is for Purdue's GrandPrix the "Greatest Spectacle in College Racing") I used the nitrite gloves in CHEM 116 lab here at Purdue.

[Norm's Coupe]

The Nitrile gloves are great for working with paints, stains, or other chemicals to protect your hands. They are also quite tough and don't rip easily, so can work good to keep hands clean when working on nasty things.

You really wash your hands with Gas, Norm? Even if you wash with soap and water after that, you still smell like gas for a long time. Maybe you like that smell more than I do.

Merle

Merle,

Not only have I washed my hands in gas since I was a kid, I've probably used just about every other type of industrial solvent to wash them with. When I worked for another company from 1968 to 1989 we also sold liquid roof coatings and asphalt sealers. We sold directly to the maintenance department heads of all types of factories. We also supplied the equipment to spray roof coatings and asphalt sealers. When the equipment broke down the maintenance supervisor would call for us to come out. I'd go out to the plant, take off my sport coat, tuck my tie into my white shirt and pull the pump out of the 55 gallon drum of either the asphalt or tar based roof coating. Repair the pump and put it back in the drum, then test spray the material to see if the pump was working properly. So, my hands got quite dirty (not really dirty, just full of roof coating) . No hand cleaner is going to take that off, tried them all. So.........whatever solvent was in the plant dip tank is what I cleaned my hands with. Most of the time it was stoddard solvent, Tri Chlor, etc. and sometimes just plain old gas. Never got a spot of coating on my clothes except once in all those years. That time I was instructing a couple of guys at a plant in Rockford, IL. Told them not to cut the roof mat to lay into the coating, to roll it out. They cut it anyway and was trying to stretch it out. The mat got full of coating, then the wind took it, and it landed on top of me. I still had other appointments that day too. Went inside the plant, used a little Gojo on the face and arms, but that wouldn't take it out of my hair. So, to the solvent tank I went. Think that was stoddard solvent in there. On leaving the plant, I went directly to a JC Penny's store, bought new pants, shirt and tie and changed clothes in the dressing room. Then bought a bottle of cologne to get rid of the solvent smell. Then went on to my other appointments for the day. So, you don't have to keep smelling like gas or solvent.

Use to clean my hands daily about 2 to 4 times a day that way from about April to October of each year. No worse for the wear. According to all the EPA and OSHA safety rules of the various MSDS sheets, I should be dead by now using all those solvents that many years. Or, my hands should have fallen off.

[Normspeed]

I buy the green vinyl gloves at the big box store. They're like the latex or nitrile but to me they're a little looser and more comfortable. If one rips I just grab another from the package. I don't always wear them but if I'm into a lot of solvents or grease or paint I do. Also keep leather work gloves around for the tougher work and some inexpensive mechanics gloves too. I prefer using gloves to beating up and chemical washing my hands. Wish I'd started using them years ago.

[Rodney Bullock]

I use the gloves when ever possible, I just can't work on a car with dirty hands. I wash my hands sometimes like someone with a problem. The gloves give me peace of mind. Don's hands are so big they tear the gloves huh! Don, does this happen when you get mad, first the gloves then the shirt, incredible:D

[Don Coatney]

I use the gloves when ever possible, I just can't work on a car with dirty hands. I wash my hands sometimes like someone with a problem. The gloves give me peace of mind. Don's hands are so big they tear the gloves huh! Don, does this happen when you get mad, first the gloves then the shirt, incredible:D

Rodney;

You dont want to make me mad:D

[Brad Lustig]

For those that buy the gloves. Look at Harbor Freight. They have all kinds. Latex, nitrile, vinyl and some kind of blend. Less than $10/100. I think most are around $5/100. Much better quality that I was expecting. As good as those my wife brought home from the hospital.