As you might surmise, I've been doing more work on the car now that warmer weather is here. I've been trying latex and nitrile gloves, but at my local WM or HD, only one size fits all is available and they are crappy. Some people have suggested purchasing a pair of mechanic's gloves, but I would prefer throwaways.

Check out the Harbor Freight site: http://order.harborfreight.com/EasyAsk/harborfreight/results.jsp

What do you guys use?

The reason I must get gloves, is that at 54, my hands and fingers are starting to dry out so much from the washing that they hurt and bleed from the cracks and every night before I go to bed I have to apply a liberal dose of hand cream. There must be a better way!

What do the rest of you use.
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90 244 216K, 93 244 167K, 93 244 109K, 99 V-70 73K

www.harborfreight.com has nitrile on sale mail order right now at $5.99 (reg $11.99) for a pack of 100. Catalog arrived in the mail yesterday.

Item number
37050-4HHB for med
37051-4HHB fo large
37052-4HHB for X-lrg

Cheers

Nitrile Gloves are great. I've tried a few different brands from local merchants and find that Kimberly-Clark Safeskin Purple Nitrile Exam Gloves fit me better (not as large) and are a bit stronger than others. They may be more expensive than others mentioned and are available at Wallgreens, Rite Aid and Eckerd drug stores or on the web at drugstore.com.

They are one size fits all; however, I've found that glove fit definitely varies from brand to brand, so you may want to try some brands you haven't tried yet for fit and durability.
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dnvolvo '89 765T 200K - '91 245 100K

Nitrile gloves go on sale every few months at Princess Auto, a delightful chain of stores that's a combination of hardware, tools, farm/industrial equipment, and miscellaneous surplus stuff. I've been using the nitrile gloves that they carry for over a year, cheap, tough, and reusable. Not sure how they compare to others on the market but I think they're great, especially compared to latex. Regular price is around $16/100, but regularly on sale at $10-$12. Still worth it at regular price. And that's $CDN!
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Chris, Dartmouth NS Canada 70 M-B 280SE, 83 245DL, 84 244 turbo, 90 780 turbo, 92 VW Golf

My hands aren't all that big. (comes in handy sometimes when working on cars!)

Blue nitrile gloves aren't all that easy to come by in size medium.

A few years back I bought 2 gross pairs - 288 - on eBay for around $25, delivered.

Smartest thing I ever did.
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'73 142, '75 242, '75 245, '80 245, '86 244, '87 745T

I use the blue nitrile gloves all the time. They last longer and are less prone to tearing right out of the box.

Plus you can develop an allergy to latex.

Petroleum dissolves latex. Also they can generate an allergy that has been known to change the career path of medical professionals.

I've been using the nitrile gloves from HF for about five years; I feel addicted now as I can peel them off and soon sit at the dinner table.

And they can be reused often until you pinch them in a thread or do something else that in the past would leave your skin punctured. In the summer, I pull them off leaving the moisture on the inside to dry before turning them outside out again with a party balloon technique. A chef's shaker with corn starch aids in reusing them.
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Art Benstein near Baltimore

Nitrile outlast latex gloves ten to one.
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john

I agree with the others: nitrile is far more robust than latex and much better with solvents and oils. I bought mine from a local farm supply house, but now that I know Harbor Freight sells them I may take a trip down there.

Nitrile is nice because I can wash the gloves, while wearing them, in soap and water and have them come out good as new. They do not tear or dissolve as easily as latex and are not much more expensive.

I'm not far behind you and EVERYONE regardless of age should use either latex or nytril gloves in the garage and when using poisons. AND you should have a carbon filter max when working with solvents.

I keep several boxes of both in the garage (and in the house. I make the family use them when they are using cleaning solutions in the house). They resisted at first and then the wife realized that her hands weren't getting near as dried out. I too buy them from Harbor Freight (I'll buy in bulk when they go on sale).

There are plenty of studies on the mil thickness of nytril/latex required for the substance you're working with. However, it appears that there are not many studies on the impact of long term exposure to the "garage environment". The population that the researchers would want to study are too transient (shop mechanics).

Latex for general work. I might go through a pair every 30-60 minutes. Grease okay. I found during oil changes that the latex will breakdown quickly so I'll either change after I drop the pan bolt or use nytril.

Nytril for working with solvents like brake & carb cleaner, gas, kerosene, diesel. Do a test. Put a latex glove on one hand and Nytril on the other. Spray both with brake cleaner and see what happens. Nytril doesn't breakdown. Now take off the gloves and smell your hands. One will smell like brake cleaner the other will not (Nytril).

Carbon filter mask for when I'm working with the solvents.

Cheers and safe shade tree mech'n to all

The blue Nitrile gloves from Harbor Freight are several orders of magnitude better than any latex glove. I started using them when my job situation changed to one where I had to look professional and deal with people instead of machines, now I wish I'd started using them years ago.
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Dave Shannon
Spring Valley, California
'67 1800s
'73 1800ES
'88-240
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