To Glove or not to Glove. That is the question

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Nitrile Gloves for fluid changes only. When doing heavy work they just tear too easily. After 45 years of wrenching my hands are used to it.
 
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice

Many mechanics have health problems late on in life because bare hands absorbed all the nasty chemicals they handled.


47 years, and any health issues I have are not caused by chemical absorbsion. Sometimes I might wear some gloves when doing a CV boot, but usually don't bother...I'll clean my hands in the solvent parts wash, then carry on with the next bit, same with repacking wheel bearings. Mechanics gloves are expensive and don't last long, so I wear leather drivers gloves when using airtools and hammers, they are cheap and last much longer.
 
Always wear nitrile gloves when dealing with any car related fluids and also sometimes good quality mechanics gloves when doing my ameteur level wrenching. I don't give a rat's patoot about what anybody else thinks about my manliness.
 
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When I think about it , I put on a pair of the cheap white cloth gloves sold by HF . They are washable and fit either left or right hand .

Wear them more so if it is cold .

That is , around the house & working on car / truck .

As I get older , it takes very little to draw blood when I bump / scrape my hands / arms against something .

As far as at WORK , I have always been pretty useless with regular work gloves .
 
Never have used gloves. Been working on cars and trucks since early 60's.
 
8 mil black nitrile when working with chemicals, solvents, etc. Mechanics gloves for everything else.

I grew up not using gloves. I got tired of dirty hands/nails and then I had kids. I just don't want to be holding them with hands that had used chemicals on them 15 minutes ago.
 
Gloves , otherwise known as hand socks . :)

Oh , I did work on a car today , kind of . Drug the extension cord , hose & small compressor outside & aired up the tires on the little red Sonic .

W/o gloves . No damage to hands / arms , this time .

Be safe out there ! :)
 
Nitrile gloves for chemicals, for sure.

When I was younger, my hands were covered in oil, brake cleaner, parts cleaner, carburetor cleaner, nasty stuff. Would not surprise me if I get cancer some day.
 
Originally Posted By: Leo99
I'm usually bare handed. If I did it for a living, I'd wear gloves.


Ditto. Probably not very smart, but its too hot here for routine glove use.

I usually have some kind of barrier cream on my hands, even if its only shaving soap or sunflower oil.
 
If you're handling, or expect to come into contact with automotive chemicals, always wear gloves. Nitrile gloves are cheap, easy to come by, and provide good protection.

I've been using these 9mil ones from HF for years, and they've always served me well.


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Be a man, sure, but be a smart man. Wear the gloves.
 
Originally Posted By: ford46guy
Oils and chemicals go right thru your skin and bloodstream. It is not just dirt.
Scratches from rust could cause blood poisoning or serious infections.

Partly true. Some chemicals are absorbed through intact skin but most are not. But it's not easy to tell which is which without looking it up.

Depending on what I'm doing, I wear leather or disposable gloves to protect my hands from blackberry thorns, scrapes and ground in oil and dirt. I find heavy kitchen type gloves keep my hands a bit cooler when draining hot oil.

Used motor oil is carcinogenic but that's primarily a concern for professional mechanics who deal with used oil every day. Changing your oil twice a year (when followed by a thorough wash up) isn't going to give you skin cancer. In fact you're far more likely to get skin cancer on your face from being outside changing the oil than skin cancer on your hands from exposure to used oil. Nonetheless wearing a fresh pair of gloves would be a good idea.

I've seen and treated many cases of skin cancer and almost all were on the face (nose, cheeks, tips of the ears mostly). A few were on bald heads. One unusual case was malignant melanoma (also caused by sunlight) on the back of a young man's hand. And no he wasn't a mechanic but he'd had a lot of sunlight exposure. Sunburns (and not simply sun exposure) are in fact the bigger risk factor.
 
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Bare hands for me. I hate the feeling of gloves; I feel like I lose my sense of touch with them. I only use disposable gloves when I'm packing bearings full of grease the "old fashioned" way. If I'm changing oil hot, I have a set of rubber gloves that insulate my hands and I can wipe the oil off them easily when I'm done. Other than that, it's bare hands.
 
Originally Posted By: rooflessVW
Ammex 8 mil

Your hands are worth protecting, and that $3 box of junk HF gloves ain't gonna do it.


Thanks for that link. I don't wear gloves because I have big hands and can't find gloves to fit me. I'll try those XXLs.
 
Originally Posted By: Astro14
Nitrile gloves. All the time. Every time.
This as well for me and I tend to go through a few pairs of them on each "project" due to tearing, but I would rather that than all of the crud on my hands or worse, the chemicals.
 
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