Guide
Gloves by the dozen
Nitrile by the box, coated knit by the pair, and what a building should keep in the closet.
3 min read · First Ave Supply, 1587 First Avenue
Which glove for which job?
| Job | Glove |
|---|---|
| Drain work, paint, adhesives, anything wet and dirty | Heavy nitrile disposable, 6 mil and up |
| Handling chemicals or cleaning all day | Reusable latex or neoprene household glove |
| General repairs, carrying, demo, cold weather | Coated knit work glove |
| Tearing out old material, sharp edges, metal | Leather palm or cut resistant |
| Welding or torch work | Welding gauntlet |
Nitrile, and why mil thickness matters
The thin blue nitrile from a drugstore box is four mil and tears the first time you put a wrench in your hand. Building work needs six mil and up, and the heavy dual layer ones are eight. The extra cost per glove is pennies and the difference is whether you burn through a box a day.
Nitrile over latex for anything involving solvent, adhesive or drain chemical, and always for anyone who might have a latex sensitivity. Latex is still fine and cheaper for clean, dry handling.
Buy by the hundred count box, not the ten pack. A super goes through a box in a couple of weeks and the per glove price roughly halves.
Coated knit is the everyday glove
The gray or black glove with the rubbery coating on the palm is the one to keep by the door. It grips wet metal, it does not slip on a pipe, you can still feel a screw through it, and it costs about ten dollars. Buy three pair and keep one in the truck, one in the closet and one in the bag.
They wash. Run them through cold and hang them, and they come back.
Reusable rubber for the porters
For anyone cleaning a compactor room, a trash area or a bathroom every day, the disposable is the wrong answer. A flock lined reusable glove costs a few dollars, lasts a month, and keeps the chemical off the hand properly. Buy sizes, not one size. A too big glove on a porter is a safety problem, not a comfort problem.
Sizing
Work gloves run medium, large and extra large, and most people are one size larger than they think in a coated knit because the coating takes up room. Disposables run one size or large and extra large. If the crew is mixed, buy a box of large and a box of extra large rather than a one size box that fits nobody.
The building closet
A hundred count box of heavy nitrile, three pair of coated knit in the sizes the crew wears, two pair of reusable rubber for the porters, and one pair of leather for demo. That is the whole program and it is under a hundred dollars.
Sign in to your First Ave account for your account pricing on box quantities. Guests see the register price, the same as at the counter on 1st Ave.
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