garage work gloves - thickness discussion

tvmaster

True Classic
I bought a box of surgical/latex/whatever gloves from Harbor Freight some months ago to work in the garage with paint, grease, etc.
They are 5 mil, but tear and rip if you look at them sideways.
What‘s a decent thickness for garage work that combines dexterity and durability, as I’m down to my last six in the 5 mil box.
 
Yeah, I only buy the blue ones they sell. While they still do rip at times, it usually because they should based on what I am doing. The white/clear latex ones they sell are for people who want something to protect them against house paint.
 
I use the HF blue gloves. They do tear, but I like them. The thicker ones are nice as well, I am just cheap. :)

I learned the other day not to hold onto the socket extension and pull the trigger on your impact wrench. The glove tore almost completely off my hand. There was enough glove left intact that it pinned my hand to the extension. The speed at which this happened scared me a bit, but since the glove is so weak, I just had to finish tearing it off to free my hand. No injuries were sustained during this teaching moment, so that's a win. :cool:
 
I only use the blue surgical gloves for painting. For working on the car I like these. ~$5 at Princess Auto, 2 pair per box.

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HF has two "blue" colored gloves; a 5 mil "light" blue and a 7 mil "dark" blue. I'm not clear which one some of the above comments are referring to. But the 5 mil ones @tvmaster refers to are horrible - often breaking just putting them on. The 7 mil work really well for most uses; much stronger to resist tearing and holds up to many chemicals without instantly falling apart like the 5 mil does. The heavier (black) 9 mil ones that @Jefco mentions are even better, but maybe too good - I find them a bit difficult to get on and off. Even the 7 mil (dark blue) ones are more difficult to put on than the 5 mil (light blue) ones, so I buy a size larger to make it easier.

However this is very different from the HF gloves of the past. Not long ago I found a really old box of the HF 5 mil gloves hiding in one of my storage boxes. I must have purchased them many years ago but never opened it. I realized they are much heavier than the current 5 mil ones (almost as heavy as the current 7 mil), much more resilient to tearing and chemicals, and there were twice as many in the box (which itself was much larger and heavier). I vaguely remember them being a lot less expensive back then as well. So I guess the standard dimension for a "mil" has been reduced over the years. :p

I'll add that the HF gloves are a pretty decent deal cost wise, despite the lack of great quality. At least in comparison to what I used to pay for medical exam gloves anyway. Until the virus pandemic hit you could not find disposable gloves in many places. Now several stores sell them but at a higher price than HF.
 
Yeah, I only buy the blue ones they sell. While they still do rip at times, it usually because they should based on what I am doing. The white/clear latex ones they sell are for people who want something to protect them against house paint.
I buy the blue ones as well, but the 5mil are weak. What thickness do you buy?
 
I use the 5 mil, light blue gloves when building transmissions, changing oil, packing wheel bearings or CVs with grease, or similar things. Yes, I tear gloves and replace them frequently but I can typically get through a particular chore with a single pair. I do go through them but they aren't expensive. For parts cleaning or other, heavier, jobs I use the 7 mil (dark blue) gloves. They last longer and don't tear as easily. I keep both on hand.

I also keep mechanic's gloves and virtually never work without gloves, either the nitrile gloves or mechanic's gloves. I like the red/gray Hardy gloves from Harbor Freight. They are about $10/pair and last reasonably well. I keep a couple pair on had all the time.
 
The best gloves I have came to me for free. I use Valvoline full synthetic in my hybrid and one time the 5 quart container came with a coupon for free Valvoline mechanics gloves. I usually go through mechanics gloves nearly as fast as the thin rubber ones but I've had these for almost 5 years and they still are completely intact. I even use them with my wood chipper which tends to be tough on gloves as it rips logs out of your hands.

They are made by a glove company whose name I should write down and try to find some more.
 
I use the 5 mil, light blue gloves when building transmissions, changing oil, packing wheel bearings or CVs with grease, or similar things. Yes, I tear gloves and replace them frequently but I can typically get through a particular chore with a single pair. I do go through them but they aren't expensive. For parts cleaning or other, heavier, jobs I use the 7 mil (dark blue) gloves. They last longer and don't tear as easily. I keep both on hand.

I also keep mechanic's gloves and virtually never work without gloves, either the nitrile gloves or mechanic's gloves. I like the red/gray Hardy gloves from Harbor Freight. They are about $10/pair and last reasonably well. I keep a couple pair on had all the time.
Actually now that you mention it Steve, I also keep some of the thinner (5 mil) light blue ones on hand. I use them for very quick jobs that don't involve solvents, or things like paint touch ups on the house, etc.. I view them as more 'disposable' due to the lower cost. And speaking of the cost, I always buy several boxes and stockpile them so I haven't purchased any since before COVID hit. I just looked on the HF site, man the price for all of them has really shot up, more than double I think?

I also keep several pairs of heavier gloves, such as mechanics, leather, rubber gripped cotton, etc, for various uses.

But for the bulk of my mechanical work I like the 7 mil (dark blue) ones. One pair lasts me as long as a few pairs of the thinner ones. So cost wise there isn't a huge difference for me. I guess I must be tough on them considering how many I go through.

This whole discussion brings up a important point; your health. When I was younger I never wore gloves for anything and just let all manor of chemicals cover my bare hands. But as I went through my medical training and realized how much it goes through the skin and gets absorbed into the bloodstream, then into all the body organs, what what that does to your overall health - short and long term...well I started getting smarter about things like this. Perhaps way too little way too late for me really, but I seriously recommend that everyone prevents any chemicals from directly contacting your skin, even a little.
 
The best gloves I have came to me for free. I use Valvoline full synthetic in my hybrid and one time the 5 quart container came with a coupon for free Valvoline mechanics gloves. I usually go through mechanics gloves nearly as fast as the thin rubber ones but I've had these for almost 5 years and they still are completely intact. I even use them with my wood chipper which tends to be tough on gloves as it rips logs out of your hands.

They are made by a glove company whose name I should write down and try to find some more.
Your mention of free gloves reminds me. When I go to various trade shows it seems I come across several vendors that sell gloves. They always have cute girls handing out free "sample" pairs of their gloves for everyone to try. The funny thing is those gloves never have any identification on them of what they are, who makes them, or who sells them. So later when you are able to use them you really have no idea how to get more. Sometimes companies have very poor marketing practices; from my business management background I see lots of things like that at those shows. :rolleyes:
 
This whole discussion brings up a important point; your health. When I was younger I never wore gloves for anything and just let all manor of chemicals cover my bare hands. But as I went through my medical training and realized how much it goes through the skin and gets absorbed into the bloodstream, then into all the body organs, what what that does to your overall health - short and long term...well I started getting smarter about things like this. Perhaps way too little way too late for me really, but I seriously recommend that everyone prevents any chemicals from directly contacting your skin, even a little.

This is a significant part of why I started wearing gloves. I grew up on a horse farm and wore work gloves daily for most chores. They were a necessity. Bailing hay, fencing, building/repairing barns and stalls, working on farm equipment, shoveling s___....

When I started working on motorcycles and then later cars, I never thought to use gloves. This was before the "invention" of Mechanix gloves. I grew up on a Horse Farm and used heavy work gloves daily. When I started racing and regularly working on my cars I tried a number of gloves to help keep my hands clean. Fingernails with grease under them wasn't the image I wanted to impart as a corporate sales executive. Later, when I owned an AAMCO transmission center I learned that cleaning solvent and transmission fluid could have detrimental effects on your health. I had an employee that wore rubber gloves because the solvent and oil made his skin break out. I later heard about transmission rebuilders who had to change careers due to their reaction to solvent and transmission fluid.

I have been using mechanics gloves since they were first available and started out buying latex gloves in the grocery store before the current nitrile gloves became available.

And yes, all nitrile and similar gloves more than doubled in price since COVID.
 
I got a good deal on some from Costco before the world went to hell in a handbasket, they work well.

I tend to prefer my general cloth mechanics gloves i buy at Menards as the prune hands I end up with from rubber gloves is less than desirable.
 
the prune hands I end up with from rubber gloves is less than desirable.
That's an even bigger issue here with the heat. Sweat pours out of the gloves every time you lift your hand upward. :confused: But I seem to be in contact with some sort of chemicals all the time, and need something that will protect me from it.
 
Yup, Im amazed how much sweat builds up in the gloves, it can get pretty yucky! Especially when it starts dripping out when you have your hands above your head 😁
 
When I lived in Florida it was common to be 90+ degrees outside with Humidity well into the upper range.

My clothes would be soaked with perspiration and the gloves would fill up. A minor annoyance. Does the same here in the summer but to a lesser extent.
 
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