Nitrile Gloves – Great Skin Protection in the Shop or Garage

Whether or not you have a pre-existing skin condition, if you work with used motor oil, solvents, harsh cleaners and chemicals in your garage or shop, consider wearing nitrile gloves. Nitrile is a synthetic rubber that is quite resistant to most household and garage chemicals.

A few years back, I had cracked skin on my fingertips that was becoming a long term condition. I believe that this was related to working with solvents for cleaning parts. I started using latex gloves and later switched to nitrile when working on vehicles. The condition has since cleared up.

Latex medical gloves may be less expensive but they are much less resistant to oil and solvents. They tend to break down and lose their shape very quickly. Nitrile gloves are also much more resistant to punctures and abrasion.

While some may feel that they lose some dexterity, we feel it is a worthwhile tradeoff. You can limit your chemical exposure to virtually nil. Used motor oils and solvents can be absorbed into your skin and can have an undesirable effect on your health over the long term.

Nitrile gloves can be re-used several times for light-duty tasks. They can be found at many autoparts shops and are relatively inexpensive. I believe that last box of 100 gloves ran around $10 (or so) at Costso. I’ve also ran across nitrile medical gloves, but I haven’t used them and can’t comment on how well they stand up to shop use.

Pick up a box for those nasty jobs and you’ll soon find yourself wearing them for dozens of tasks around your home, yard and shop.