FFCars.com : Factory Five Racing Discussion Forum - View Single Post - Mechanix gloves....why did I wait so long?

tirod · 06-11-2012, 01:09 PM

Obviously we need to keep our fingers out of the way.

I've been using them since the '90s. The first reason was because I was doing a head gasket job in the street on my wife's van, it was an average of 28 degrees with three inches of sleet on the ground.

The second was a lot of cautions and warnings about distillates and chemicals were out, still are - there are some horribly noxious things we use in cans and it's best to keep them off your skin. Just read the labels.

So, Nitrile gloves became part of the routine with some jobs. I DON'T use them or mechanix if the stuff will evaporate slowly, all they do is keep it against your skin longer. There are some chemicals that seep right thru nitrile and dissolve them while you wear them.

Saw a poster at a Army Reserve shop, over 80 different gloves are necessary to resist the total variety of chemicals in commercial and industrial use. We don't mess with most of them, but it's the ones who don't know that get toxic overdoses. That can take up to five years to flush out of your body. Paint remover is particularly nasty about going right thru most gloves.

It's pretty much mandatory in disaster clean up to wear them, all the local volunteers got a pair along with a dust mask after the EF5. I wear fingerless in the summer doing carpentry work, it cuts down the splinters. Splitting wood, chain saw work, even the weed eater - cuts down on the vibration of the cheaper models.

I get the three pack for 9.99 at lumberyards when they special them, the family grabs them all summer long. Got a pair at work for handling brake rotors and doing the trash.

Going bare handed is like turning up your nose at electric screwdrivers - real men have wrists, right? Yeah, and driving 2,500 screws by hand in a 5 rib metal roof job is OK?

Like anything else, pick the right tool for the job, and it goes quicker and easier. And, if it doesn't seem to be very manly, consider the phrase "mad as a hatter." Handling mercury compounds daily killed them in their 30's.

06-11-2012, 01:09 PM	#12 (permalink)
tirod Junior Charter Member FFCars Craftsman Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: SW MO Posts: 623	Obviously we need to keep our fingers out of the way. I've been using them since the '90s. The first reason was because I was doing a head gasket job in the street on my wife's van, it was an average of 28 degrees with three inches of sleet on the ground. The second was a lot of cautions and warnings about distillates and chemicals were out, still are - there are some horribly noxious things we use in cans and it's best to keep them off your skin. Just read the labels. So, Nitrile gloves became part of the routine with some jobs. I DON'T use them or mechanix if the stuff will evaporate slowly, all they do is keep it against your skin longer. There are some chemicals that seep right thru nitrile and dissolve them while you wear them. Saw a poster at a Army Reserve shop, over 80 different gloves are necessary to resist the total variety of chemicals in commercial and industrial use. We don't mess with most of them, but it's the ones who don't know that get toxic overdoses. That can take up to five years to flush out of your body. Paint remover is particularly nasty about going right thru most gloves. It's pretty much mandatory in disaster clean up to wear them, all the local volunteers got a pair along with a dust mask after the EF5. I wear fingerless in the summer doing carpentry work, it cuts down the splinters. Splitting wood, chain saw work, even the weed eater - cuts down on the vibration of the cheaper models. I get the three pack for 9.99 at lumberyards when they special them, the family grabs them all summer long. Got a pair at work for handling brake rotors and doing the trash. Going bare handed is like turning up your nose at electric screwdrivers - real men have wrists, right? Yeah, and driving 2,500 screws by hand in a 5 rib metal roof job is OK? Like anything else, pick the right tool for the job, and it goes quicker and easier. And, if it doesn't seem to be very manly, consider the phrase "mad as a hatter." Handling mercury compounds daily killed them in their 30's.