wildblueyawner

What type of gloves offer the best skin protection when working with epoxy resins - - - latex, vinyl, nitrile, neoprene, or ???

TIA

Mel Francis

Vinyl gloves are the easiest to get these days, since some people are allergic to latex.

I've got a supply of vinyl myself, but tend to use them only on the really messy jobs.

But the key thing here, is to organize your work well, using brushes and rollers to stay as clean as you can.

Following this rule, you can wipe your hands with paper towels as often as neccessary to keep them clean, allowing you to handle the materials whenever needed.

When the lamination is done, or in the bag under vacuum, immediately wash your hands with soap and water.

davidfee

Vinyl are about the best... but the tactile feel is lacking IMHO. I use both latex and vinyl, although not generally at the same time. How much will you be working with the stuff and are you particularly prone to allergic reactions or sensitivities? If you'll be doing a lot of work or just want to be particularly careful, double up your gloves (two per hand).

-David

wildblueyawner

Thx for your comments.

Yes, based on the info I've come across so far, vinyl and latex seem to be the preferred resin-resistant glove materials.

From what I've read, it seems that vinyl, when it does get mentioned, is cited as the better of the two, however latex is recommended more often - I'm wondering if this is only because latex gloves are cheaper? than vinyl, thus more widely used? in addition to their thinness / tactile feel benefit. And is vinyl considered better because it's actually more resin-resistant or just because it's non-allergenic?

After removing latex gloves I've noticed resin odor on my hands, leading me to believe that latex allows some soak-through. Haven't tried vinyl yet, but in either case, point taken - I'll be doubling-up now on.

davidfee

Vinyl is better because it is more resin-resistant. That is, the pores are smaller and thus it provides a better barrier. You can get very thin (and very cheap) vinyl gloves at most food-service stores. They are the clear things that food prep people wear (think of your elementary school cafeteria lady). They work pretty well, can be doubled up easily... and they are very cheap.

I still prefer latex because they feel so much better and let you grip things more solidly. I get them in 2x100pc boxes at Costco. I think they are like $9.00 for 200 gloves, or about 9 cents per pair.

-David

ChuckC

My Feedback: (24)

I do this kind of selection for our researchers and maintenance employees (I'm a Certified Industrial Hygienist). This is what I've come up with:

If you're worried about chemical resistance, don't buy latex gloves-they're worthless for that application. Latex is very porous and dissolves or swells in the presence of solvents. Having said that, they would work OK with "standard" epoxies as epoxy has a pretty large molecular structure-just don't use them with the more exotic epoxies or chemicals or polyester resin or...

Just get the nitrile gloves-they're only slightly more expensive than latex and offer fairly good resistance to solvents, epoxies etc. They also fit much better, giving you the dexterity you'll need. If you can, get the ones made for laboratory use (or secondly for exam use); they're designed with the experimenter in mind who holds glassware - it's the kind I use and they're as good or better than bare hands (like when handling real light fabrics-the fabric won't snag on your hands). Another advantage of the nitrile is that you can use them for spray painting where the solvents are fairly aggressive-try that with latex and you'll find the gloves swelling up and changing by a size or two. Also no Latex allergies.

Disadvantages of nitrile are 1) availability 2) tear a little easier 3) slightly more expensive.

Neoprene work great for many applications, but they're going to be "work" gloves or very expensive and kind of hard to find.

As far as vinyl - they're good for some applications, but the reduction in dexterity is intolerable for me to warrant saving $5. Just spend the 8-10 bucks a box of 100 on the nitrile gloves and do it right -the box will last long enough. Keep the resin off your skin to begin with to prevent allergy development. You don't even want to go there-it's permanent and easy to avoid.

Charles H. Carlisle, CIH, CSP

davidfee

Charles,
Thank you for your input and for your insight regarding the needs of someone working with this sort of material. I'm a physical chemist so I try to keep my hands clean as much as possible. I have noticed that the nitriles tear more easily than the latex, as you mentioned. Do you know a reasonable place for a non-professional to get them? They seem to be about twice the price of latex, from what I have seen. I completely agree that it is worth it to protect yourself.

thanks,
-David

ChuckC

My Feedback: (24)

Have you tried a medical supply outlet? I work in a medical center and they're in such high useage due to latex allergies that the price difference is very little here. The trick is to get the better quality ones.

Lab Safety Supply comes to mind, but you know-I haven't shopped around in a while. I DO need a new box of gloves since I'm about to use a ton of them.

I'll let you know.

davidfee

Thanks for the tips, Chuck!

-David

mstroh3961

My Feedback: (4)

The nitrile gloves are increasingly popular in the maintenance shoppes as well. check auto parts and heavy truck parts suppliers as well. One other possibility, I seem to remember seeing them at home depot, in the paint department.

TT2

My Feedback: (13)

I use the non-disposable green nitrile gloves. Get them at the hardware store for around $2 a pair. The Large size fits my hands perfectly without any extra length in the fingers. I use them until they rip...usually last for hundreds of hours of mixing and handling cured CF laminates. I've tried latex, vinyl, neoprene, etc.

-Tom

RAMFlyer

My Feedback: (65)

[sm=thumbup.gif]Try www.harborfreight.com Do a search for nitrile gloves and you'll find boxes of 100 ranging from $8.99 to $11.99. Have checked them out at the local HF store and they seem to be decent quality. Not quite as good a fit as the ones I used when I practiced dentistry but then not as thin and fragile either! Very acceptable for working with chemicals in the workshop. And a bit cheaper than through a medical supply house.

davidfee

A bit cheaper, perhaps, but still double the price of latex. If only I weren't a starving grad student...

-David

buttuh

Costco has a case of 10 boxes for $45~
I just use cheap imported latex gloves at half the price of that.

Evan

Schpankme

NO rubber glove is completely impervious to all chemicals, there tested and rated for Permeation Rate for each different type of chemical. Certain types of rubber compounds (Latex, Nitrile, Butyl) have lower permeation rates with certain chemicals. The thicker the rubber glove, the longer it takes for a chemical to permeate. In many cases, a rubber that is exceptionally good at resisting permeation of epoxy resins and curing agents, are really bad at other things like solvents, Acetone, MEK, Lacquer Thinner, etc. (as is the case with nitrile). Gloves that provide many hours of protection are relatively thick and designed for use in harsh environments (high abrasion) over long periods of time. And as such, they have poor feel and are relatively expensive.

Butyl gloves are perhaps one of the best at providing good permeation resistance to a fairly broad spectrum of chemicals. But they are fairly expensive, and as such people have a tendency to re-use them over and over, beyond the point of their protective life span. Cleaning the glove off with a solvent to allow future use of the glove doesn't work either. Many times, the solvent will act as carrier, making the hazardous resin or curing agent permeates even further and faster into the rubber glove.

One can easily conclude that ANY glove is adequate protection, provided you change them out frequently enough to keep ahead of the permeation rate. Unfortunately, CHEAP seems to be the primary denominator in the Model Building world.

Nitrile gloves are a good alternative, although they do not resist solvents very well; This is in reference to the thinner versions, packaged in boxes of 100, much like latex gloves.

Never re-use your gloves. If you run out of gloves, simply don't work until get more. Avoid "deliberately" using Nitrile gloves in solvents; instead acquire a thicker Butyl glove specifically for that purpose.

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Schpankme

BFoote

The real reason you want to wear gloves is that many people BECOME allergic to epoxies and composites! There are many people who worked with epoxies and composites for a year then start breaking out in rashes anytime they are even close to such materials. Its not that they were origionally hyper allergic, its that like all other allergies etc you become more and more sensitive to such materials. There is nothing worse than enjoying your hobby or job and suddenly finding that unless you like hives, rashes, and boils, that you can't do what you enjoy anymore.

Brian Foote
Love the Glove comments... Any Medical supply house, usually across the street from a hospital will carry several types of gloves, otherwise you can buy gloves from any composites store online. Fiberlay.com is one such store here in Seattle

Schpankme

The “hardener” causes many of the reaction you suspect from epoxy. All epoxy hardener can be neutralized by rinsing-off with "white vinegar", which changes the chemical structure to a water-soluble compound. Next cleanse the skin by washing with soap and water.

(Note: "amines" used in epoxy hardeners will pass through latex gloves)


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Schpankme

deadandlovely

Hi Chuck,

this thread is 15 years old, but I want to give it a shot.

I am a designer, I sell resin jewellry and absolutely love my work. Problem is, I was reckless ( I used latex gloves and noticed that they were problematic, but I didn't mind) and now Ihave contact dermatitis.

My itches and blisters are only just starting to heal. Do you think they would come back while I use nitril gloves and work in a good ventilated area?

ibuild

I am seriously allergic to laminating epoxy, some epoxies are worse / more aggressive than others. I suspect it may damage your nerve cells and it can cause all sorts of sustaining health issues related to that so my advice is to take it seriously.
I use Nitril gloves with cotton gloves (bought on the pharmacy) on the inside to make it possible for your hands to breath, quite comfortable even at long lasting projects. If the gloves get greasy change them immediately without hesitation, if you still get skin reactions on your wrists use household gloves for cleaning the dishes - they cover more of the wrists.
Another trick to consider is to use moisture cream to fill the pores of your skin, I react on the gas from the curing process as well - I get reactions in my face - eyelids etc.. skin cream definitely makes a difference.

stephen111

There are 2 ways to clean cut resistant gloves that is machine-wash cut-resistant gloves and hand-wash cut-resistant gloves. Both of them very easy to do. Hope this ways are useful for someone.