I searched Swaylocks archives to see what gloves are recommended when working with resin, acetone, MEKP, etc…you know, the really good stuff. However, there isn’t a definitive answer out there between the different glove materials…Vinyl, (disposable) Latex, Nitrile, Natural Rubber, to name a few. After some googling, I found another called Butyl.
According to the following link, butyl seems like a good choice:
What should I be using? Currently I use disposable latex, and toss them soon after use…but when I wash my tools I can feel a ‘cooling’ of the rubber/hand as the acetone evaporates. Does this mean the acetone is penetrating the glove? Some say acetone isn’t dangerous (some even wash their bare hands with it!?!), some say it is only dangerous if contaminated, others say to never let it touch your skin, etc, etc, etc.
Will the same glove that protects me from acetone equally protect me from MEKP or poly resin?
Confused,
kc
ps. I’m aware that i can avoid working with some of these chemicals by changing my construction process, however this is the road I’m on now and would like to travel as safely as possible. Thanks!
All materials interact differently with different solvents because of the different properties of the solvents. That being said, cole-parmer (big time supplier of sciencey stuff) has a good breakdown of tests on glove materials, if I remember correctly.
As for the “coolness” you mention, that is just evaporation.
That being said, I think for polyester, you are fine using latex disposables. For epoxy, there are problems with potential sensitization to latex (ruins more than the fun of safe surfboard building…), and weird interactions with the epoxy resin can cause discoloration if I remember correctly. Not to mention risk of epoxy sensitization. For epoxy, I’ve heard nitrile and vinyl both recomended. I like nitrile. Maybe its cause they come in purple and blue, or maybe I like the smell, or maybe it is because vinyl bothers my hands. Butyl is good for some solvents, not sure about their use in surfboard construction.
Acetone sucks. People say that the cooling is just evaporation off the outside of the glove, but I have felt it stinging cuts on my fingers with latex or nitrile on. I think It has a lot to do with how much you are dealing with. Wiping off a tool is much different than sticking your hands in a bucket of acetone. At my work I sometimes have to do just that, in that case I use those thick black gloves they seem to stop everything.
With poly/acetone here’s how I’d rank disposable glove from best to worst: 1 - Nitrile, 2 - Latex, 3 - Vinyl with the vinyl being just about useless with acetone. I find the Nitrile last a bit longer than the latex.
There are better gloves of the heavy reuseable type but I prefer disposeable because I’d rather just peel 'em off and replace between them when the get messy. All that washing of gloves makes for a lot of acetone waste. For me it’s less exposure to the acetone and I’d rather through out a pair of nitrile glove with hardened resin on them than figure out what to do with a bunch of nasty acetone. Plus I like the dexterity the disposable give.
But I’m just a hobbiest. If I were in production, I’m sure I’d do something differently.
burning…well, that is really not good! Small holes in the glove, is my experience.
Latex are cheap, but nitrile is durable and less reactive. Fewer holes, less leakage of acetone (or denatured alcohol for epoxy folk) that gets into the glove. This minimizes exposure risks. Oh, and burning sensations.
Nitrile/latex blend; more flexible than plain nitrile and tougher than latex. I buy them from Harbor Freight. If you want to use plain nitrile, I recommend that you get the next bigger size since they are so stiff. For real nasty cloth sanding like fin making, I use household rubber gloves and tuck the sleeves of my sanding jacket in them. Sanding jacket? Lab coats from a uniform supply. Get the long sleeve types with snaps, the anti-static kind and dust won’t stick. These are supplied to electronics assembly factories, and you can get them used for cheap.
Nitrile and vinyl are the worst, as soon as acetone and more slowly with resin, they start to stretch and break down. I use, but don’t prefer the rubber re-usable gloves, as they are bulkier. The disposible latex are my favorites, sensitive, well fitting and as soon as the lam is done, clean tools in the dirty wash, final clean up and peel and toss. Get set for the next lam, the cost is minimal
Howzit specialk, Check your local materials supplier for Chem-pro gloves. They can be reused for quite a while. If my memory serves me right they are the gloves the glasser in J.C.s glassing 101 is using. They cost about $4.00 a pair but they are worth every penny.Aloha,Kokua
A few months ago I did some homework on the gloves/resins/solvents issue. Here is a good site: www.ansellpro.com>specware online chem hand protection> I agree>choose a chemical. A long list of chems will dropdown to choose from. Then we must go to the MSDS sheets for the products we’re interested in to see just what chems they’re made of, those chems will fit the ansell list. Rutan Aircraft Factory doesn’t alllow any solvents in their shop.
So using the Specware Online Hand Protection Guide, I looked up acetone and styrene degradation and permeation ratings for the following glove materials: Natural Rubber (Latex), Nitrile, Butyl, and Neoprene/Latex Blend (Chemi-Pro as Kokua mentioned).
Here are the degradation ratings for the different materials, from best to worst, for each chemical:
Acetone:
Butyl - Excellent
Latex - Excellent
Neoprene/Latex - Good
Nitrile - Not Recommended
Styrene:
Butyl - Good
Latex - Not Recommended
Neoprene/Latex - Not Recommended
Nitrile - Not Recommended
Unfortunately, the guide didn’t have ratings for MEKP, which I would’ve liked to see.
Thanks for the link. Wow. I claimed opposite of what they and Jim said. Maybe I had crap latex and heavy nitrile. Huh? The nitrile I used held up better than the latex I had. Live and learn. Maybe I’ll get some good latex and see how that goes.
Well I wasn’t going to coment on this but since I have had good and bad luck with a variety of gloves, here goes. The best are for certain the blue and yellow gloves that Fiberglass Hawaii and most supply shops sell. They will last a long time if you just drop them in a bucket of acetone after each use. Let them soak a little while(not too long) then shake them out and hang them up to dry. They will last along time this way and are the glove of choice for most pro laminators. Disposables: When I was young and inexperienced I use surgical(rubber I guess) gloves to flip a board to cut a lap. The gloves left a discoloration on the rails where I had gripped the board to flip it. After that experience I went back to “saran wrap”. I still use disposables for ding repair, hot-coat and gloss, but never touch the board with them. I’ve used the green ones and latex. The green ones will fall apart in certain solvents. So here is my little secret that I will pass on. I no longer use Saran Wrap. I bought two boxes of food service gloves like they use in cafeterias. Clear plastic. I use these to flip my boards for cut laps or to move a board from rack to rack.
i went to the fiberglass hawaii website, but can’t see the gloves they offer. are THESE the blue and yellow ones you speak of? (Chemi-Pro, neoprene & latex).
No. The ones FGH sells are not cotton flocked. I’m on the West Coast, near Ventura, I’ll call down there and get the info on them for you. Cotton flock might be a problem for the cleaning method I describe( acetone soak).
Howzit specialk, Chem Pro gloves are yellow/blue but the ones in your link are Chemi Pro and not the same as the ones F.H. sells. I used them for years and they last. Unlike McDing I just dipped my gloves ( still on my hands ) into the acetone to clean them up. They come with some powder inside them which may be talc powder. Mr. Clean also sells yellow/blue gloves that look just the same but aren’t as good.Aloha,Kokua
The nitrile (blue) gloves I have used lasted far longer than the latex, and were much more tear resistant.
Most glove manufacturers should have a compatibility guide on their website or distributor info as posted above. That info I trust better than the local seller.
I don’t trust anything just because “Fiberglass Hawaii sells it”. For instance their little syringes for measuring catalyst were crap. The rubber seal came off the plunger, the cc markings went away the first time catalyst hit them. Useless. And their gloves? Pffft. Check the manufacturer. Maybe FH sells something else now, but I don’t get my gloves there.
IIRC, acetone (and maybe styrene) resistance is a strength of butyl, but butyl tends to be the most expensive.
OTOH, for most of us we’re dealing with, what, 20 minutes of exposure, so resistance is not critical.
Comment: in the mineral world, talc is found in conjunction with asbestos. Thus you don’t see talcum powder much anymore - it could have powdered asbestos in it too. Nowadays I believe cornstarch is used. And if you dust yourself with cornstarch after a surf you’ll be more comfy, even/especially when you don’t have fresh water around for a quick shower. (Camp hint).
Latex poses severe sensitization issues to a few people.
SpecialK----- I think Kokua answered the question. They are great gloves and last a long time if cared for properly. I use baby powder to dust my hands before I put them on. I use baby powder if after washing my hands they are still sticky. I usually get in a hurry doing ding repair and touch something I shouldn’t. the baby powder takes care of it and smells good too.