Difflock Disposable Gloves

The Problems

In years past not many of us worried about protecting ourselves from harmful chemicals unless the effects were instant and very painful. Long-term exposure to seemingly ‘harmless’ substances such as used oils, solvents and fuels was commonplace in garages and homes throughout the land.

Sadly, this lack of care was also present throughout some industries and we have seen the results, with occupational diseases hitting the headlines more often than work related accidents.

Nowadays fortunately, most of us are better informed about the risks and industry in particular has made greater efforts to protect its workforce from what are now known to be potentially serous hazards. A host of legislation has been bought to bear on the subject, most notably the COSHH regulations or Control Of Substances Hazardous to Health.

These regulations go into great detail to describe the type of chemicals being used, the effect on our health, the recommended precautions to be taken and even the medical treatment required for serious exposure.

To some these rules and regulations can seem daunting and confusing. Luckily however, the end result of all these is quite straightforward and simply translates into preventing contact (whether by touching, eating or breathing) with the substances concerned. On other words, you should protect yourself with equipment such as goggles, gloves, masks and clothing that is designed to stop you and the hazardous substance coming together.

That’s all very well for big industry, but what about us DIY mechanics? What should we be worried about if at all?

Well, did you know that used oil and even new fuel contains chemicals that can cause cancer? Or, that diesel systems can inject fuel right through your skin into your tissues causing severe, permanent damage? Perhaps worst of all, some of the ‘o’ rings, dust and oil seals used in your vehicle can break down at high temperatures to produce an extremely dangerous acid (Hydrofluoric acid) that rapidly penetrates flesh with irreversible effects (ask any fireman!). The list goes on so how can you protect yourself and your long-term health against these dangers?

Most of the time the areas most at risk are your hands and fingers since these are doing the actual work. The simplest, most effective and inexpensive way to protect these is to wear gloves! However, there are gloves and there are gloves. As you can imagine, sticking a pair of woollen mitts on will do nothing to protect you and will make it impossible to handle small objects and tools. Even the ubiquitous pair of Marigolds pinched from the kitchen sink will be pretty useless since these break down after exposure to oils, fuels and solvents and their thickness and fit make it difficult to handle small objects.

The Solution

What then should you use? Well, good gloves for the car mechanic should have the following characteristics:

• Synthetic Nitrile rubber composition for excellent resistance to chemicals, especially oils, fuels and acids
• Skin tight fit and good sensitivity (0.1mm thickness!) for handling or assembling small objects
• Soft, elastic feel to give good dexterity and to eliminate fatigue
• Fine patterned finger and palms for good grip
• Good resistance to abrasion, punctures, tears and rips
• Disposable to avoid storage and cleaning problems
• Cheap to replace to encourage greater use but keep costs down
• No latex protein compounds that could cause skin ailments

Not surprisingly, gloves that can meet all these requirements are quite specialised and take a little bit of tracking down. We tested a variety of gloves from several manufacturers and the best pair we could find was called Finite, from a company called Superglove. Finite gloves we found out, were originally developed for medical use where all these characteristics can literally mean the difference between life and death in a matter of minutes! No surprise really then that these gloves gave the best overall performance given the stakes can be so high.

To be fair, we also found other gloves that could equal Finite in some respects. Some were equally as good at chemical resistance but lacked sensitivity or a patterned grip. Others had a soft, elastic feel and good dexterity but could be torn or ripped too easily.

One thing we did find however is that Finite gloves were not the cheapest of those we assessed. Inferior gloves were around half the price of Finite so as the old saying goes "You get what you pay for". Still, even gloves as good as Finite still work out at less than ten pence each, a small price to pay for peace of mind and ease of use.

Useful information

Finite gloves are the best that we could find, but it’s worth bearing in mind that designing gloves for one purpose may impose limitations for other purposes. For example, Finite gloves or any other thin wall disposable glove cannot protect against high temperatures and scalds.

Remember too that this type of glove cannot protect against very sharp objects or from heavy blows. Luckily, if a glove does get damaged it can be removed immediately and a new one put on (they fit either hand so you don’t have to replace both gloves if just one is damaged).

Equally, while protection against oil, fuel and solvents is excellent, exposure to extremely aggressive chemicals such as Hydrofluoric acid should only be for short periods (a few minutes at most) before the glove should be removed and disposed of.

Finite’s imprinted palms and fingers give great grip but you should always keep either an old rag or paper wipes on hand to remove excess oil as it gets onto either the gloves or items being handled. This ensures things won’t slip from your grasp, especially when applying force to say, a spanner. Be careful too when you store or dispose of old rags used in this way, if you crumple the rag into a tight ball certain substances can spontaneously combust!

Overall, Finite gloves gave excellent protection coupled with outstanding ease of use so we have no reservations about recommending these gloves to our readers. You will find cheaper gloves on the market but you will not find better.

AVAILABLE NOW! from the Difflock 4x4 Multi Store

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