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I’ve recently started out my career as an Industrial Mechanic, and something I’ve noticed in this job as well as other jobs(not mechanically related), is that there is a very distinct preference for wearing gloves or not wearing gloves during a routine repair. I personally work either way. If I get a “trouble call” to replace a broken bearing or chain, that happens to be covered in grease, mold, oil, dirt, etc. I don’t take the time to put on gloves, instead I just complete the repair as quickly, and correctly as possible to get things back up and running. If I’m rebuilding a valve, gearbox, pump etc. Then I always wear gloves, but most of my fellow wrench turners do not. Especially the more experienced ones. More than that though, is that they make it a point to make fun of anyone that does wear gloves during a repair. As though wearing or not wearing gloves defines someone’s masculinity. It’s all in good fun, so I don’t have any hard feelings about it either way. I do think though, that gloves help with the overall cleanliness of a repair. Not so much for the mechanic doing the repair, but more for the part/machine/automobile that is being repaired.
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Most of it boils down to changing times and attitudes. Back when I first got started helping a mechanic at a surface mine, never thought of gloves, or ear plugs. Cleaned up with gas and a rag or some solvent. Personal health or safety just was not thought of much. Cut your finger? Piece of rag and some black tape and laugh it off. Now we are smarter, we think of how years of solvents, greases, oils, affect or skin and body. We learn. Just like we (some of us) adapted to changes in vehicles. Some guys resisted disc brakes, the PCM, OBD systems, TPMS now, we embrace the change and learn.
I know, long winded and all.but like the rest of the world we adapt.Gloves, I guess it depends who you are. I don’t mind getting dirty at all…I worked on a farm. Wearing gloves other than latex is cumbersome and takes away from “feel” and dexterity. I will only wear gloves if the risk of serious injury is involved if I don’t. We have Lava Soap/GOOP for a reason. As long as you keep the customers car free of grease I don’t think it matters if you wear gloves or not.
Gloves may be ok on some things such as exhaust work or wrestling a rear axle into a car but personally I don’t care for them.
I prefer the dexterity and feel as mentioned by Chevyman21.It’s tough enough to weasel a 10 MM nut onto a stud in some buried location with bare hands much less gloved ones.
Imagine that doctor putting on a pair of Mechanix gloves as he’s about to do surgery on your brain or open heart……
Personally, I can’t stand wearing gloves. It kinda reminds me of wearing a condom. (provides protection but takes away the pleasure) I’m sure I’m from the old school but one thing that I do believe is that chemicals in fluids that are used in newer cars and trucks today have substances in them that I’m sure could cause you to grow a third testicle on your chin under the right circumstances not to mention new shop chemicals we use every day.
I just lost a good friend to leukemia who was only 36 yo. He never wore gloves and washed his hands in anything that would clean them including brake cleaner and gasoline. I tried to warn him many times.
I find that unsettling to say the least. For that and other reasons I’m glad I’m close to the end of my career.
For a few years I didn’t see the point of wearing Nitrile gloves. Then last year my hands developed exeama as a result of dealing with automotive chemicals and fluids, mainly coolant. I would touch the stuff and I could almost feel my hands burning. So I ended up buying some myself and they are not cheap. So I tried to wear them when I knew I would be handling something I knew to be an irritant, or something that was just a pain in the ass to wash off. Anyway, I’m now at a dealership which supplies them and everyone uses them almost like candy, because they are supplied. I pretty much always have a pair on if there’s a car in my bay. Aside from the occasions where I’ve just needed the feel that gloves don’t allow for. It does take some getting used to but in a flat rate environment if I can save 5 minutes on every job not going across the shop to wash my hands, that’s money in my pocket.
My only serious knock on nitrile gloves is if you are doing something like interior work or in an otherwise “clean” zone. You really can’t feel any dirt on them so that has to be kept in mind.
I keep a beat up pair of “impact” gloves around for those times when you just gotta move something like a trans with sharp edges. Or When I’m playing with the torch or welding and have to deal with hot steel.
I remember one tech whose second job in the evening was waiter. You can’t be serving food with black cuticles.
I usually start whatever automotive thing I am doing wearing gloves but somewhere in the process I need the touch of a gloveless hand and the gloves get dispensed with. I think to be a glove person you need to learn wearing gloves and I didn’t.
[quote=”barneyb” post=127359]I remember one tech whose second job in the evening was waiter. You can’t be serving food with black cuticles.
I usually start whatever automotive thing I am doing wearing gloves but somewhere in the process I need the touch of a gloveless hand and the gloves get dispensed with. I think to be a glove person you need to learn wearing gloves and I didn’t.[/quote] Exactly.
Yes gloves, all the time, changed out frequently, buy my own.
The dirtiness isn’t what bothers me, it’s the chemicals, oils, and road crud that causes my cuticles and knuckles to shred apart and bleed not long after working on anything anymore. I work on my own cars in my garage and take “hand” breaks with a fan to dry them out because that’s the only negative I have with using them any longer. I’ve long since gotten used to handling near anything, small or that will catch and tear the gloves, and it’s really just a learning curve that once you get used to you don’t think about or become annoyed with.
When I worked on PC’s and Electronics in the past I’d wear anti static gloves also when dealing with dusty PC’s Id wear a mask. I used to get laughed for it but I dont like breathing in dust and coughing up a storm.
Any little thing I do I wear gloves for 2 reasons.
1. Oil and harmful chemicals that can seep in through the skin, I’d rather not have that.
2. Interior work, I like being able to take off dirty gloves and have my hands clean to work with interiors, although some customers are pigs and the inside is as dirty as the outside.
I usually will wear 1 pair per day after every job flip them inside out to air dry the insides, that’s the only con as far as I’m concerned having sweaty hands isn’t fun 🙁
I buy the Diamond grip gloves same as Eric and they are awesome!
I started wearing gloves later in life when turning wrenches (latex only)… It was odd at first, but I got used to it… Only issue is on a hot day those things fill up like a lister bag with sweat (LOL)….
I could never wear anything thicker than latex (like those mechanix gloves)… If I were just putting on tires and taking them off, yeah.. OK, but you lose so much of the feel with those, cant see myself doing any intricate work with them…
Like other have mentioned, I will start with latex gloves, go through a couple, take them off when shredded and let my hands dry and cool… and before I know it, I forget to put a new set on and then I am working with bare hands again… defeats the whole point I suppose.
Overall I like them and like others here, prefer Diamond grip… My old Snappy guy used to have the lowest price on them (cheaper than the auto parts stores), but now my new Snappy guy only sells them by the case… I suppose I have a mental hickup on buying them in volumes that large.
Some have claimed that Harbor freight ones work well… I bought some and was breaking half of them putting them on….. I suppose they would work ok in light applications (computers, cleaning something, etc…) but they just don’t hold up to much wrench turning in my experience…
-Karl
If I am working on something that is covered in any fluid and/or grease I wear gloves. Otherwise I do not. Your skin toughens over time and it does take time I am at 2 years and it is still not fully toughened. I clean my hands using Gojo with pumice at work and Gojo Original no pumice at home. The trick to Gojo Original is you have to keep rubbing it in for like 2 mins until it changes the consistency to almost like water. Doing it that way will take 90% of the crap out/off of your hands. If I take a week off and use it every day you cannot even tell I am a mechanic.
I use to wear gloves all the time but, I have a palm that is in between large and medium sizes and fingers that fit perfectly in medium. So there is little out there in the way of choices. It is either have fingertips unusable or constant resistance on my palm. 1/3 of the time medium palms split when I put them on. Then add the fact that they switched manufacturers and the gloves now barely keep anything out and sparks ignite them. In addition to that they also do not buy medium gloves any more I literally have to beg for months on end. Our gloves are supplied and I can not afford the Microflex – MidKnight gloves as they are the only ones that seem to hold up enough to be worth while.
I would say that gloves would be preferable since it provides protection and if you don’t want to get grease on your hands because you’ll do some other works that will require you to have your hands clean like signing papers or docs(i don’t know) But since it’s no problem for you, I think it wouldn’t be a problem, really.
No gloves at all, with the exception of when I’m putting a lot of force on something like a wrench and it’s just digging into my hands. Then I’ll throw on my FirmGrips with the padded palm. But anything else I prefer bare hands. You can feel things much better with your skin, like whether or not a cotter pin is straightened out and ready to be pulled through or where a small nut is when your hand’s in some deep crevasse you can’t see into. Gloves just feel too clumsy to me
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