Working on cars - glove and rag management

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I sometimes use Dura Flock nitrile, other times I use a Ansell Hyflex 11-600 glove that has a breathable back-side, which keeps hands dry.
As long as I don't spray brake cleaner at my hands, the breathable work fine and last a long time.
 
Originally Posted by eljefino
Keep using the nitrile gloves. Your liver will thank you.

Washing sweaty hands beats washing greasy ones, and the solvents that get grease off are toxic AF.

You can do a dry wipe of your sweaty hands with a single paper towel between glove changes.

Brake fluid is gross and I'm always sweaty when dealing with it, so that helps it spread up my forearms past my gloves anyway.


Curious what products that get grease off have what toxicity profile. I usually use non pumice orange goop gel or the permatex GL white lanolin stuff. Sometimes fast orange with pumice. All work pretty well except for dirt in fingernail cuticles.

While they're filled with petroleum distillates, not sure they're exceptionally toxic compared to anything else. What were you meaning in that regard?
 
Originally Posted by atikovi
Not sure about nitrile, are they stretchy like latex? I pay under $12 for a box 100 latex gloves and a buck a roll of Bounty Select-A-Size towels. Usually only need a half sheet at a time. And 2 pairs of gloves seems enough for most jobs but I'm not scrimping on a quarter or two if I have to use more and not have greasy hands and nails for days. If your hands are sweaty, rinse in water and let dry a few minutes. Then put on new gloves or reuse the olds ones if still good.


Not really concerned with the cost, especially since I'm saving tons doing DIY to begin with. More the wastefulness, and the fact that since I get filthy anyway, it's annoying to use these items and not net a definite benefit.

Originally Posted by Mr Nice
I use heavy duty hospital gloves used for chemo, no joke. These are very heavy duty and stretch without breaking and they will cover your forearms.

The nitride glove are too flimsy and break easily.


Curious of the brand/model, type of glove and thickness.

Originally Posted by Lolvoguy

Sounds to me like you have other underlying health problems that are causing your hands to do this.

I also use gloves when DIY on the car, or doing dishes in the kitchen (no dishwasher).


Nope. In any normal situation there's no issue whatsoever. And I'm not allergic to latex or nitrile.

But working outside in unconditioned conditions, in the heat and sun like we have now, means sweat in general. Hands sweat too. Gloves don't breathe. Very simple. Build up perspiration under there and then take the gloves off, you can't re-use the removed gloves until they dry, and while wiping off sweaty hands makes putting fresh ones on works fine, the new ones don't go on as easily.
 
Originally Posted by willbur

I just apply some cheap foam shaving cream to my hands and rub it in. Grease and dirt almost fly off when I'm cleaning up after working on my vehicles. I think silicone in the cream blocks grime adhesion.


Thanks, that's a great and interesting tip!



Originally Posted by JTK
I've tried various nitrile and latex gloves over the years but they're always torn to shreds on me within minutes. If the gloves are too thick, I can't get the dexterity I need.

Never have found the right combo.


Agree. Can do most things with 5mil gloves but any sharp or pointy edge tends to snag and rip them.

Originally Posted by Rand
use the black HF extreme nitrile gloves.. very thick.. did 2 tire rotations with them and they didnt rip


Is the economics there versus using more, cheaper 5mil gloves? Wonder how the HF ones compare to the AMMEX ones mentioned.
 
I use 5mil Harbor Freight Nitrile Gloves.

Both for automotive work as well as my actual job, tattoo work. Petroleum jelly breaks down latex while nitrile gloves last. I've literally gone 1-2 hours with the same gloves on doing big pieces on people.

If you want a thicker glove, go with a 9 or 12 mil. Yourglovesource.com used to be my go to online store for gloves, that is until HF opened down the road from work.
 
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Yeah I use nitrile as well. 5mil from whatever box store I go to.

They're ok once so long as nothing sharp is encountered. Remove them and maybe they're good once more.

Not always are they totally fouled.

I looked at HF 8 mil gloves, but the highly regarded ammex diamond grip 8 mil XL gloves were cheaper on amazon for 100 then they would be at HF with 20% off.
 
I just bought some of the 9mil HF black gloves but haven't tried them yet. I usually by the 5mil blue ones and then the even cheaper latex ones. The latex ones are great with greasy things where they are on and off in minutes; they do get attacked by fluids so I wouldn't wear for more than a few minutes. I'm surprised if the blue ones last more than about 10 minutes, they get torn pretty easily, plus there seems to always be a reason why I need to pull them off and go inside or something. The blue gloves are one time use while the latex ones sometimes I can take off and put back on; haven't tried that with the black gloves yet.

I did get a set of mechanics gloves and I like them. Good for when it is more brunt work than delicate work, where I'm more likely to bash or scrape knuckles. They do load up with oils though; recently I tried washing in some Dawn to get some of that out.

I just use whatever Bounty towels the wife gets. Sometimes I'll remember to buy some cheapo paper towels for the purpose.

Recently I've started stocking up on the HF moving blankets and using those to toss onto the ground before working.

I hear you on sweating. Fall is a great time to work on cars, cool weather, dry ground, no skeeters.
 
For rags, I use old t-shirts, socks, sheets, underwear, etc. Basically old, used, torn cotton fabrics. It seems like my collection is growing faster than what I can used up.
 
I'm old fashioned. I still use Boraxo hand soap. Gets the grease and grime off very well and with no toxic additives.
 
Not so much for oil or grease, but for general hand protection I use a pair of framer gloves, which have the tips of the thumb, forefinger, and middle finger cut off. You can still hold a screw or fit a bolt or whatever but it'll protect you from scrapes and knuckle busters. Search "framer gloves" on Amazon and you'll get a couple dozen options.

jeff
 
I go through enough clothing that my rag supply is replenished often enough: t-shirts, socks, underwear, etc. But also, I don't use a lot of rags because my vehicles are all in good condition (no major/messy repairs). Most of my mechanic work is simple oil/filter and coolant changes, some air/fuel filters, and moto tire changes (hate doing those). Plus the occasional spark plugs and transmission drain/fill. Pretty light stuff really.
Generally, if it's a big job requiring lots of force (pry bars, breaker bars, etc) I will use bare hands or Mechanix gloves. If it's a lighter job or more precise/technical finger work, I will wear vinyl gloves.
My hands also get sweaty in the vinyl gloves after 30-45 minutes or so, but a cooling fan helps alot as well... if I remember to set it up first LOL
 
Originally Posted by JHZR2
I've done simple through advanced tasks as a DIY. I've always racked up the use of a lot of blue paper towels and disposable gloves; but my recent job of refurbishing calipers, and replacing brakes on a car where the whole bearing assembly has to be regreased has made me a bit more considerate of the shop supply use rates.

Usually, doing most any job it goes like this - start clean, out on nitrile gloves, use a bunch of paper, eventually gloves either rip or have to come off, hands are sweaty, don't/can't get new ones on due to soaking sweaty hands, hands get filthy, use a ton more paper, finish job, clean filth from hands and arms.

So it's almost like I might as well have not put on gloves at all. Oil changes this isn't the case (though I do use a bunch of towels), but bigger jobs it's just pretty typical.

Mechanix type gloves are ok for very big stuff like tire changes, but anything where real feel is necessary they're useless.

I don't think the economics are there for red rags. Dunno if folks wash and reuse them; I wouldn't.

So, what do you do to keep yourself and other stuff clean? How wasteful is it? Have you found good ways to keep more junk off your skin?

Just looking for ideas. Between rotor caliper refurbishments, bearings, etc, I used half a jumbo roll of blue rags and half a box of gloves. And still was absolutely filthy every step of the way. Wanting to do better.


I try to use flyers or newspaper to initially clean the dirty parts and then to the final finishing with the blue paper towels. Things like the caliper pins I let them sitting on the newspaper and I spray the brake cleaner that way the soaked newspaper helps dissolving the crud as well.
 
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