Do you wear latex/rubber gloves when working on the car?

[JC]

I tried a few times with gloves on, but after undoing a few bolts etc, the fingers usually rip, so then I take them off. I do have a pair of Supercheap gloves that I wear in the dead of winter (mostly to keep hands warm rather than clean), but they have that much stuff in them now, that my hands get dirtier wearing them than not. So I guess I could've answered Yes or No.

Tip for getting grease/oil off hands - use some of that Citric based nad cleaner - works a treat, but sometimes needs a few coats to get everything off. Still way better than soap.

[nugget378]

I wont even use it elsewhere,sif I'd put latex on my hands :ymca:

[stupa]

Originally Posted by JC

Citric based nad cleaner.

MMMMMM Citrusy

[redranga]

I wear gloves every day as a Diesel Mechanic. At my last employer nearly everyone wore them as it saves washing your hands 10 times a day.

At my current job I get laughed at all the time by people coming into the workshop seeing me in gloves.

I put a pair on to do engine oil and filters, another pair for when I grease the nipples.

I wear them all of the time when working on bitumen trucks and if using sikaflex.

I started wearing them because of dermatitis on my hands. To stop my hands from sweating under the latex gloves you can get cotton undergloves.

To everyone thats has laughed at it in previous posts give the gloves some thought next time that your working on your car. Imagine changing diff oil and not having to try and get that shitty smell off of your hands!

[Dazza XLT]

I'll wear a pair of gloves when working with diesel (Refuelling the ute, Forklift etc) Not latex, just my trusty old riggers gloves.
Nothing worse than Diesel on your hands.

[Jastel]

Only wear cotton fishing type gloves to stop me burning my self if working on a hot bit. And NO I cant wait for it to cool down and fix it then, losing $$$ that way. If still too hot hose it down.

[data_mine]

I keep some latex gloves in the car, in case I need to inflate tyres when I'm in work clothes (suit/tie deal), saves getting dirty.

But when working on the car, bare hands it is. Use the citrus (orange) scrubbing hand cleaner it works great on grease and brake dust etc.

[RG]

It's just not the same when you use protection...

[Hunter]

Originally Posted by FourBarrel

No, I don't like the idea of brushing up against hot headers or a hot block with latex gloves on.

I don't like the idea of brushing up against hot headers or blocks without gloves on .

I've done it before, once put my hand down on top of a set of nice and blistering hot headers... yeah not gonna do that again, burnt a nice patch on my palm.

Anyway, if you're going to work on hot engine bays, might as well get those heat resistant gloves that supercheap and other places sell.

I use latex or rubber for handling parts that need to kept clean and for parts that are extremely dirty. I use riggers gloves for handling body parts, e.g. panels or suspension components.

My cousin, who doesn't usually wear gloves, gave me a bit of a hand today putting the springs on and well I've converted him towards riggers gloves - he found them quite good.

I've done enough reading over the years to know that most of what we handle when working on cars is not very nice stuff, ranging from just giving you contact dermatitis to full blown systemic illnesses e.g. kidney failure if you're exposed to enough of some chemicals. The problem with latex though is as I said before that a lot of solvents on vehicles will just eat them right up and then start working on your hands :.

BTW after spending 6 hours working on the car today I had to clean some grease and crap off my arms but guess what, using latex gloves kept my hands nice and clean and I didn't spend ages cleaning grit and dirt out from under my nails :

[feebs]

Originally Posted by AC/DC

What if your mates came around, , and you were standing there in "lubed" up latex gloves ??????????????

Well, you'd be ready for them wouldn't you!!!

:

[Turbot]

Well don't use em myself, I do car paint repairs and gotta give the little bloke some thing to ask when I get home, he always check out the hands to see what coloured cars I painted today :-)
But the missus does she helps out a couple of days a week and now pregnant she wears these Nitrile disposable gloves there thin green, resistant to thinners and I suspect oil etc not forever lasts her bout an hour or so guess it depends on how much you get on em, we get em in a box of 100 for bout $30.

[MITCHAY]

Pfft work on cars? That is why I pay mechanics to deal with that crap! My hands are always clean :

I just like to drive them fast :P

[DayTE]

No I haven't normally worn gloves whan working on my car(s). Although in the last couple of weeks I was packing up some old diesel injector pumps and I wore them then. Saved a lot of scrubbing later. Speaking of scrubbing I've found the best hand cleaner is from Wurth the So-Besto(??) stuff, you can even use it if your hands are already wet, which some hand cleaners aren't that good at.

Back when I was on the tools in the Air Force it starting coming in fairly heavily for us to wear gloves, especially when handling grease, Hydraulic fluid and fuels.

MSDS sheets were mentioned early on. I remember we (Air Force) were printing out all the sheets for all the chemicals we used. As a bit of a laugh we printed out the sheet for Barrier cream. For those that don't know you use barrier cream before handling greases, chemicals, even cold steel to help protect your hands. With out a word of a lie the sheets stated that you had to wear gloves when using barrier cream. Since them I've taken them with a grain of salt and just applied a bit of common sense.

[XBCoupeGuy]

I always wear disposable latex gloves when working on my cars.

Call me a poof if you like but I don't like having dirt and grease under my finger nails and ingrained into my fingers.

I buy boxes of them from Bunnings. They are only a couple of dollars for 100 gloves.

You wouldn't believe how tough those gloves are too. It is very rare for me to put a hole in one while working. I have occasionally snagged one on a split pin or similar and damaged one but that's about it.

I wear a full face shield and elbow length solvent resistant gloves when using my parts washer too.

I wear a full face shield and hearing protection when using my grinder or cut off wheel too.

I must be the biggest poof on earth. :-)

Over 20 years of working in the aircraft maintenance industry teaches you a lot about the long term effects of exposure to solvents and noise and also the safety risks when using power tools and machinery.

Real men know the value of protecting their health and well being. :-)

[GK351]

Only surgeons should wear gloves..I have never worn them while working on cars/trucks/construction
Cant say i have used saftey glasses whilst grinding or oxy welding either :

I just love the feel of my 120 grit sandpaper hands too much, also helps grabbing hold of the gearnob when i want to crack a 2nd.

[V3RSAC3]

Originally Posted by Falcon Coupe

Exactly.

Where is Chopper when we need him ?

at neville bartoses house, in a hail, a hail of f@*king bullets!!

[Smoke Pursuit]

Gloves when working on cars // pfft no way!

[Dvs06]

Originally Posted by ebxr8240

No.... Real men dont...

that was might thoughts too until I lost 3 nails on my right hand was cleaning some centreline rims with hydrofuric acid (didnt know) and several hours later was lookin to bite my own fingers off left it for 24 hours went to hospital only to find out that had I left it any longer I'd lost all three fingers the acid had started eating into my skin and was lucky the pain was that bad I went.rather have me teeth pulled than go through that again so yeah I will wear gloves from now on dependin on wot I'm using. Joe.

[Charliewool]

Yep... Here's mine..

[woodsy109]

Originally Posted by Turbot

Well don't use em myself, I do car paint repairs and gotta give the little bloke some thing to ask when I get home, he always check out the hands to see what coloured cars I painted today :-)
But the missus does she helps out a couple of days a week and now pregnant she wears these Nitrile disposable gloves there thin green, resistant to thinners and I suspect oil etc not forever lasts her bout an hour or so guess it depends on how much you get on em, we get em in a box of 100 for bout $30.

Yeah nitrile gloves are the way to go. Resistant to a lot more chemicals than latex and doesn't cause the allergies that some people have to latex. Also as someone else said get the non-powdered ones, they are harder to get on until you get some practice at it but they don't go sticky when you sweat in them like the powdered ones.

I don't wear them when working on the car however I work in a Lab so use them a lot at work.

[woodsy109]

Originally Posted by J's EB

that was might thoughts too until I lost 3 nails on my right hand was cleaning some centreline rims with hydrofuric acid (didnt know) and several hours later was lookin to bite my own fingers off left it for 24 hours went to hospital only to find out that had I left it any longer I'd lost all three fingers the acid had started eating into my skin and was lucky the pain was that bad I went.rather have me teeth pulled than go through that again so yeah I will wear gloves from now on dependin on wot I'm using. Joe.

For everyones information, HF actually reacts with the calcium in your bones effectively eating away tissue from the inside. J's EB would have had a lucky escape as only a small exposure can be fatal. If you get a hold of some HF then use carefully as it is great for cleaning metals (not glass as it etches it) just make sure you have some calcium gluconate gel handy in case you get some on yourself. When we use it at work we have to wear two sets of gloves, apron and other gear so as not to come into contact with it.

[DDXR6T]

Personally I dont. But, we supply box-load upon box-load of them to a growing number of mechanical workshops. Worth it IMO, nothing worse that permanent rotten/filthy hands.

[Capri351]

Originally Posted by woodsy109

Yeah nitrile gloves are the way to go. Resistant to a lot more chemicals than latex and doesn't cause the allergies that some people have to latex. Also as someone else said get the non-powdered ones, they are harder to get on until you get some practice at it but they don't go sticky when you sweat in them like the powdered ones.

I don't wear them when working on the car however I work in a Lab so use them a lot at work.

Yeah, I'm a Chemist and I must say that Latex is useless for preventing skin absorption of chemicals, especially solvents. May as well not use anything.

If you must wear gloves, get Nitrile, tougher and provides much more resistance.

However, I've never used gloves while working on my cars. Real men don't wear gloves with the car

[Muzza]

I do wear gloves but not latex or rubber (those are for the privacy of the bedroom ;)

I did try several brands of the mechanics gloves.
Only one brand was to my liking, fit well and worked best for me.

I found the Mechanix brand gloves absolutely superb.... use them all the time.

Two main reasons for wearing them:-
1. Significantly reduces the "dirty hands" look for the rest of the week.
My hands clean up much more easily.
2. Saves the hands from loosing chunks of skin, getting burns, etc.

I also found that a lot of "heavier" jobs (suspension, gearboxes, engine works, etc) were sort of easier and quicker to do... did not have to be as careful with the hands.

They do have excellent feel for most work... not as good as latex for feel but the latex ones were to slippery and got torn too easily.

The Mechanix gloves are very expensive locally... like $60 a pair !!
So I get them where I get most of my tools these days... the USA (Paypal is a wonderful thing).... paid $15 each for two pairs mid last year.


Mechanix... love 'em.

PS.. and I do consider myself a real man... I have a hairy chest and everything Mechanix gloves took tough.

[merlin]

Yes. I buy the latex ones from woolies. When working on the cars it allows full feeling in the fingers and no dirty hands/cleanup later. Have worn them ever since I saw the professionals at the mechanics workshops and the NRMA guys doing the same thing.

[RG]

I reckon I might just start wearing them from now on. It's got to be better than spending half an hour cleaning my hands afterwards and then having the missus whinge at me about my dirty fingernails.

[redxm]

Id never even given it a thought unil I read this thread. Was moving lots of grease covered parts yesterday and thought Ill give it a go. All I had was a pair of green rubber gloves but it did the trick, clean hands at the end of it. My 1 year old son got dirtier 'helping dad'

[RG]

Had to have a fiddle with the XR to try to sort a couple of things out today so I thought I'd head down to the supermarket to get me some latex gloves (got a 100 pack in different colours too, some are pink! ). Best thing I have done for my hands, they don't like petrol too much but ah well I'd prefer to go through a few pairs of gloves than spend ages scrubbing my hands anyday.

[schuldiner]

totally agree with you guys on this one, been using them for probably nearly two years when i work fitting tires in my spare time (when i'm not working at my main job) they are fantastic you keep dirt and crap off tire dust being the main culprit, just rip them off and yourhands are clean to drive the customers car off or to write out a receipt i'd hate to think how many packs they go through there but definitely worth it IMO.

[TruBlu351]

I wear a set of these........bit hard when working on small bolts though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48TR0vUPQCs